Mexico – Fake Flamenco

Afro-Latinos, history, Immigration, Mexico, Spanish Culture and Language

Freedom 1st Step on Mexican Soil

Did you know the Underground Railway went south to Mexico as well as north to Canada? The route was more informal, but the liberation was just as real. At least 5,000 to 10,000 enslaved Africans sought their freedom in Mexico in the 1800s. Why? In Mexico, the enslaved Africans were freed by law in 1829, […]

Humor, Spanish Culture and Language

April 1 and Day of the Holy Innocents

I’m happy to report that we have made it safely to Caracas! Tomorrow we’ll check out the botanical gardens, the Teleférico (aerial cable car) and the Museo Bolívar. We love Venezuelan food, we’ve tried it in Madison and we know this will be a tasty trip. It’s so amazing how we traveled the 2500 miles […]

Architecture, history, Indigenous Peoples

Throwback Thursday: 5 Key Sights at Chichen Itza

Throwback Thursday takes us to the magnificent Chichén Itzá, our destination in 2005 days after our Ruta Puuc tour. (Click name to see the earlier August post.) The site is four square miles, so give yourself a full day to look around. El Castillo – Temple of Kukulkan (Quetzalcoatl) This tremendous monument was built in […]

archeology, Architecture, history, Spanish Culture and Language, travel

Throwback Thursday: Ruta Puuc in Mexico

Do you miss the surprises of traveling, matching wits against a novel situation? I do. In 2005, we learned a lot on our trip to the Yucatan Peninsula. In Mérida, I was researching articles for a translation. I’ll save that story for another Thursday. When my work was complete, we bought bus tickets for the […]

Spanish Culture and Language, writing

Tanka Contest Winners/Ganadores del Concurso Tanka

Congratulations to all the poets who entered the Fake Flamenco Tanka Contest! We were honored with entries from three countries; Mexico, England and Puerto Rico. I have translated all three poems to make them more accessible to both Spanish and English speakers. One is a tribute to our current moment in history, the second to […]

En español, Spanish Culture and Language, writing

4 Spanish Haiku Winners/Los 4 ganadores del concurso haiku

Deceptive simplicity is the cornerstone of haiku poetry. How much can we express in three lines, seventeen syllables? From what we see in your contest entries, these snapshots, these Polaroids of poetry can deliver a message in a handful of words. La sencillez engañosa es fundamental en la poesía haiku. ¿Cuánto podemos expresar en tres […]