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It just came to my attention over the weekend that September 15-October 15 of every year is celebrated in the US as National Hispanic Heritage Month. According to http://answers.usa.gov, “During this time, America celebrates the culture and traditions of U.S. residents who trace their roots to Spain, Mexico and the Spanish-speaking nations of Central America, South America and the Caribbean.”
I think anyone would call me an all-American country girl. I am what I am. Somehow in the mountains of North Carolina, where we’re not exactly known for our diversity, I found a Cuban man to marry. Or did he find me? It depends on who you ask. 🙂 He has enriched my life in so many ways, not least of which is by sharing his beautiful, vibrant culture with me. His family has always been welcoming and generous with their affection, and while I won’t be moving to Miami (too overwhelming for me), I do wish that I could see more of them and hear more of their stories. I keep finding more and more to love about Hispanic culture. I tutored a Guatemalan lady in English. One of my best friends is Puerto Rican. An Argentinian lady and a Salvadorian lady work with me. I love them all. I am fascinated by their culture and their history and their heritage.
I thought this would be a good time for me to learn a little more about–well, all of it. And then I thought some of you might want to join me. I know it’s last minute, but I’ll throw the offer out there.
So here’s the challenge: just write one post that pertains to Hispanic culture in some way. Review, personal story, recipe, you name it. I can’t make it any easier than that.
My plans are vague, but I think you can expect to see some reviews of books written by Hispanic authors, some Character Connections featuring their characters, and if my husband will help me, I might go for some extracurricular posts about cooking and music.
According to Wikipedia, Hispanic America consists of
- Argentina
- Bolivia
- Chile
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Mexico
- Nicaragua
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Puerto Rico
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
I know the official celebration is for Hispanic Americans, but it seems odd to me to leave out Spanish-speaking people from the rest of the world. So I’m going to say they count for the challenge too. That obviously includes Spain, but I’m not sure where else. If you know, please point it out to me.
If you write any posts for this challenge, please link them here. I hope you join in, have fun, and learn a little something along the way!
My posts:
- Portrait in Sepia by Isabel Allende–Friday Flashback Review
- Sopa de Pollo (Cuban Chicken Soup)–Recipe
- The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzales–Review
- Learning to Die in Miami: Confessions of a Refugee Boy by Carlos Eire–Waiting on Wednesday
- Yunior de las Casas–Character Connection
- Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez–Friday Flashback Review
- The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz–Friday Flashback Review
4 Comments
I just returned from a month in Argentina, and got a notice that Santa Evita is waiting for me at the library, so I'm excited to participate. ¡Qué divertido!
It's interesting that Spain is not on the Wikipedia list. Even though, in the early days, Spain acted like a jerk, it still influneced the culture of all Hispanic countries.
I'll link to some posts too 🙂
Cuban culture is probably one of my favorites. The food, music, history, dance, literature, beauty of the country!
This sounds like a wonderful idea. I will display the button and link up after I've dug up something to do for the challenge.
Oh, this is great! My cousin who studies Spanish introduced me to some great Hispanic literature and I will try to write a review about a Marquez novel tomorrow. Cool!