Lola by Sra. Blair

Lola by Sra. Blair: "Picassohead"

September 15th-October 15th is known as Hispanic Heritage Month in the United States. During this time I will post various items for you to read and research. This week in class we will discuss what Hispanic Heritage month is all about, what does the word Hispanic mean and why is it important for us to understand the impact that the Hispanic culture has had on our own culture. To start off with, what things can you think of that are a part of our culture but have their origin from Spanish speaking countries?

Corrida de Torros-Español 1

As we discuss deportes in class, there are some sports in Spanish speaking countries that are very distinct and traditional. One such sport is Bull Fighting. Naturally, this sport has a lot of controversy associated with it. It also has a lot of cultural and historical importance to the country of Spain. Go to the following link and read about the sport of Bull Fighting and answer the following questions.
http://www.donquijote.org/culture/spain/bullfight/

1. Qué es el Toro Bravo?
2. Quíen formó las reglas del Corrida del Toro (who formed the rules)
3. Qué es paseillo?
4. Qué son las tres partes?
5. Qué es un capote?
6. Qué es tu opnión del Corrida del Toro?

Oswaldo Guayasamin

Como ustedes saben, yo fui a Quito Ecuador en 2007. Era un viaje maravilloso. Pero de todos los lugares que vi, el museo de Oswaldo Guayasamin era el más increíble. A mi me gusta el arte y me interesa el lucho de los indigenas y por eso, mi visita al museo de él fue fantastico.
Como discutimos en clase, los indigenas sufrieron abusos y mal tratamiento por cienes de años. Hasta el siglo 20 muchos indigenas sufrieron. Tuvieron que trabajar muy fuerte para sobrevivir. El arte de Guayasamin representa mucho de este sufriemiento y dolor. Tambien no solamente represente los indigenas pero todos personas del mundo que sufrieron el horror de racismo, abuso y odio.
As you view the art of Guayasamin you will see many different colors used for the skin color. His goal was to represent many different races of people, as many people in the world are a blending of different races. The eyes are often painted black to signify his desire that people would stop looking at the color of peoples skin to define them as a person. Some of his painting show anguish over centuries of suffering. Some show the nurturing love between people. Guayasamin also loved his home of quito and painted some scenes of the beautiful landscape of the city.
Please go the following website to view his art. http://www.guayasamin.com/pages/index.html
Go to galeria de obra and view the following sections:
Los Manos (should be the first thing you see)
Ternura
Paisajes y Flores
Retrato
Define each title (what is "Los Manos") and write your impressions (at least 1 sentence) per section.
For 5 bonus points...
Why do you think that Guayasamin painted such large hands?
*The pictures are from my visit to the museum. The are of one of his statues, two of my favorite paintings (see the one with the condor and the bull-this was the Yawar Fiesta we discussed), and the view of Quito from his home.

Lugares Impresionantes

Lugares Impresionantes means Impressionable places. In other words, places that will make an impression on you. I have a book in my classroom called 1,000 places to see before you die. Well alumnos, as we have been studying Peru, Ecuador, y Bolivia you have learned that they are fascinating countries. I am about to give detail on three places you must know about before we stop learning about these three countries.
The first is in Peru. In a place called Nasca (sometimes written Nazca). Here the once pre-Incan indians called the Nasca Indians lived. They had a very large civilization abut 2,000 years ago. The Nasca Indian really became famous when their amazing geoglyphs were discovered in the 1930's. Paul Kosok and Marie Reiche discovered then when flying over the area. Marie studied the geoglyphs and fought to protect them until her death in the 1998. There is record of the lines documented by a conquistador in 1547. There are thousands of geoglyphs. Many are of animals, people, and geometrical shapes. Reiche came up with theories about the glyphs as communication to the gods of the Nasca. The shapes have remained after all of these years because the lines are located in the desert where many, many years can pass without rain. Some people believe that they were created by aliens. To be able to see these amazing drawings in the land check out the following youtube video about the Nasca Lines.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRNNjbBCGMI

I recently visited with a family friend from Ecuador. I asked her what she thought was truly unique about Ecuador that I could share with my students. She suggested I tell you about the aboriginal tride still existing today in Ecuador. The group of indians is called the Tsachila. The name means true people. This group are famous for men placing a red paste in their hair turning their hair red. The paste is made from a seed called achiote. According to the Tsachila, when the Spanish arrived, they brought much disease and illness. A Tsachila leader prayed to their god for a rememdy to ward off death from the disease, and when he woke the sun was shinning on an achiote plant. To this day the Tsachila still place the red paste in their hair and wear a traditional skirt with black and white horizontal lines. Today the Tsachila live near a popular city in Ecuador located just where the Andes and the tropical jungle meet, near a city called Santo Domingo de los Colorados.
Check out the following blog with a couple of pictures of the Tsachila.
http://watchingquito.blogspot.com/2007/06/tsachila.html

The highest lake in the world is the famous Lago Titicaca. Lake Titicaca is a most sacred place when it comes to Inca religion and mythology, as it was here that the first Inca king, Manco Capac, was born by the sun god, Inti. Manco would create the Kingdom of Cusco, thus beginning the Inca Empire. If you make it to the Bolivian town of Copacabana, where pilgrims from all over the continent come to get the Virgin’s blessing, then you can take a boat to the Isla del Sol. There is a sacred rock here which marks the point from which Manco Capac emerged.
Check out the following website for some information and pictures of Lake Titicaca.
http://www.laketiticaca.org/

After exploring the above, please comment in detail your thoughts on these places, did they leave an impression on you?

BIENVENIDOS

Bienvenidos Alumnos,

I hope that you will find this blog interesting and amusing. This evening I am thinking about curiosity. I found a quote by Ellen Parr, "The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity."
What are you curious about?
One of my favorite and most challenging tasks as a teacher is to try and satisfy students curiosity. My Spanish 3 class always has so many questions concerning the subjects we are discussing, they are so curious! They want to know more, and its great!
Students, I encourage you to be curious. Don't ever stop wondering, pondering, and thinking. Seek after knowledge, it is so powerful and liberating.