El laberinto del fauno

With being home unwell I was able to watch a movie that I've wanted to for a while now. The film is called Pan's Labyrinth and was made by Mexican film maker Guillermo del Toro. It came out in 2006 and was highly acclaimed for it's visual effects and imaginative storyline. The story itself is based out of Spain in 1944 during the post civil war era when Francisco Franco was still in power. The main character, Ofelia, is traveling with her pregnant mother to live with her step father in the mountains while he fights off any remaining Spanish Maquis guerrillas. The life that Ofelia has is chaotic and violent and to escape it she creates a fairytale world involving an abandoned labyrinth near her new home where she is visited by fairies and Pan himself. She is told by Pan that she is a princess but in order to get back to her throne and with her king father she must prove herself by following three difficult tasks.

The story connects reality with fantasy very well and at times made me wonder if what was happening to Ofelia was real or in her head. The movie was visually beautiful and captivating, having both a curious charm and an eerily dark plot.

This movie contains violence and harsh language and has a few disturbing scenes.

Side note, I watched the movie with subtitles and left the original language playing. This is the first time I've watched a Spanish film while taking a Spanish class and I got a kick out of being able to understand snippets of words without looking at the subtitles......but I still need them, for now.

Hispanic Festival

Sorry I have not had my computer for a while so I didn't have a chance to post my blog until now! On Sunday the 13th I attended the Hispanic Festival at Soldiers Memorial Park downtown. I can still remember my parents taking me to this event when I was young and having a ton of fun with all of the toys, face paintings, and food. A few things have changed though, now that I am older I have memories of different things from the festival. I thought the empanadas were amazing and enjoyed a chicken one. I also had an apple empanada which was delicious. My boyfriend had a steak burrito which he said was very good as well. They had many singers and dancers, one which I thought was exceptionally great although I could not understand him. There were tons of people and booths with many types of Hispanic foods, I thought it was a great time! I have many more pictures but for some reason it will not allow me to upload them

Hispanic Festival

I got a pass from my wife on Saturday and went downtown to the Hispanic Festival. The weather was beautiful, the empanadas were excellent and the Pacifico was cold. Many Central and South American countries were represented. I enjoyed the dance demonstrations that were put on. An enjoyable way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Greater Saint Louis Hispanic Festival

I went to the Greater Saint Louis Hispanic festival Saturday with my three children. I found it interesting and fun. Like most festivals many things cost too much for us. There was free face painting with little toys given away.

A young boy was doing the painting who was very sweet. He sat another boy down and asked him "do you speak more than one language?" Yes. " what language" Spanish. "Me too."

There was music, dancing, activities for children, jewelry, clothing, food and shows.

Alejandro Fernandez

In class, we were asked to describe the famous person in the picture we were given. Brandon and I got Alejandro Fernandez. No one knew who he was, so I did some youtubing, and watched a few of his music videos. It's not exactly my taste, but I bet he's highly liked in Spanish-speaking cultures.

Check it out! This song is called "Loco" ("Crazy")

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW0Jct1qLPU&feature=channel

Festival of Nations

I spent this past Sunday afternoon at Tower Grove Park in St. Louis at the Festival of Nations.  At times, I’d just walk and listen.  Sometimes I get caught up in my little American bubble and I forget how little of this world I’ve experienced.  As I walked around, I heard many conversations spoken in several different languages.  There we were, people from all different walks of life, together in one place! It was a really cool experience!

Diarios de motocicleta

The Motorcycle Diaries is based on a memoir following Ernest Guevara as he travels across South America starting when he was 23 years-old. His traveling companion is Alberto Granado, and they travel 500cc Norton motorcycle. During their travels, Guevara sees how many people live in poverty and realizes that he would have never been exposed to how people live in such conditions. He was born into a middle-class family with more opportunities. He has a grasp of Latin American identity and changes his name to Che Guevara. He becomes anti-authority and wishes to see a united Latin American and improve the lives of those that are impoverished and suffer injustice due to where they were born in society. He lives among a leper colony towards the end of his journey and he is eventually assassinated by the CIA in 1967 in Bolivia.

Que cantante o grupo de musica te gusta?

Mana: A popular Mexican rock band from Guadalajara which began in the early 80's as a group of friends playing songs from other artists they admired, but then branched into their own Latin pop/rock group. It is made up of singer, Jose Fernando Olvera, electric guitarist,Gustavo Orozco, and then the Calleros brothers on bass, electric, and drums. The band was a big hit in Latin America and Spain, and has recently gained popularity in the US, Western Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. They have sold more than 22 million albums and earned various awards around the world for their unique reggae rock/pop sound. I, personally, think the attractive one with all the tats is the main reason for their success...

Cual es tu comida favorita?

Paella: a Spanish dish of rice cooked with onion, tomato, garlic, saffron, vegetables, and various meats, including chicken, chorizo, and/or shellfish. Mmm, sounds tasty... We should probably take a day to eat this in class, Mrs. Carruthers, so that we can become more familiar with Spanish dishes...

On Saturday eveneing I attended the Festival of Nations in St. Louis. The festival was rather large and had many tents with large country banners on them. I walked down the long sidewalk to look at all of these tents and noticed there was a large variety of countries. There were even a few countries that I have never heard of. Some of the countries performed dances which were from places such as West Africa, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and many more. Some of the places which had food tents I had never heard of included Nepale, Eritrean, and Senegal. My boyfriend and I stopped at one of the Mexican food booths and bought an Apple Empanada which was very good. We also stopped at one of the Greek booths and bought some Backlava which I also enjoyed. After eating we walked around and looked at some of the store tents. The ones for Mexico weres selling things such as small skirts, lots of Jewlery, and decorations. I thought that the festival was a lot of fun and I wish I had been able to eat more! My favorite part though was definitely the Apple Empanada.

I went to the International Festival in St. Louis. It was much bigger than I expected it to be. There were many food tents and tents with merchandise related to the sponsoring country. I took some pictures of some of the Spanish dances. I also took pictures of the masses of people that attended the event. My biggest memory of the event was a little girl that lost her balloon and I found ran and got her another one. I did not try the food because it was not free. You see I am a poor college student and have to save money wherever I can. I must say though it was a pleasant experience seeing so many different people and cultures in the same area all cooperating and having fun together.

Laboratory Minutes

Use this Blog to provide prove of your laboratory minutes that you do when attending an event or watching a movie/TV. You need to write 50 words about the movie or TV show and provide pictures for the event.

Events are worth 100 minutes
TV show or Movie is worth 50 minutes