Intermediate Spanish Stories

Cinco de Mayo is a yearly celebration held on May 5, which commemorates the anniversary of Mexico's victory over the Second French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862, during the Franco-Mexican War. led by General Ignacio Zaragoza.

While it is a relatively minor holiday in Mexico, in the United States, Cinco de Mayo has evolved into a commemoration of Mexican culture and heritage, particularly in areas with large Mexican-American populations.

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A California hotel reminiscent of the lodge in the horror film The Shining has had a long history of paranormal activity and what are believed to be ghostly guests.

The Padre Hotel in downtown Bakersfield first opened its doors in 1928, and the Spanish colonial revival structure has been the setting for a series of deaths and related tragedies through the years. According to local archives, examples include a woman jumping off the building’s roof, a man killing himself in a bathtub and a love triangle resulting in a deadly shooting.

Legend has it that the Padre Hotel now hosts shadowy figures that roam the eight-story historic landmark’s hallways — possibly victims from a fire in the 1950s — and what looks like a little girl’s ghostly handprint on a pillar in the lobby won’t go away even when it has been cleaned or painted over.

The upper floors, particularly the seventh, are said to be a hotbed of unexplained activity.

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Nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Bakersfield is Sharktooth Hill. First documented by William P. Blake in 1853, Sharktooth Hill is one of the most significant Miocene fossil sites in the world

Sharktooth Hill is a middle Miocene marine exposure of the Round Mountain Silt unit of the Temblor Formation. Using magnetic stratigraphy data, the age of this unit is estimated to be around 15.2 and 16 million years old (Prothero et al., 2008).

However, above the bone beds, the sediments accumulated in the Temblor Sea at a fast rate, and animal remains were not disturbed by ocean currents. So, occasionally associated specimens of marine animals, such as Cetaceans, Sea Lions, Sea Cows, and Sea Turtles can be found. Examples of these associated specimens can be seen at the Beuna Vista Museum of Natural History.

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Acapulco, a beach resort town on Mexico's Pacific coast, is set on a large bay backed by high-rises and the Sierra Madre del Sur mountains. Made famous by the jet set in the 1950s and ’60s, it's known for its high-energy nightlife, beaches, and golf.

The screen of the Flores theater projected that night the short entitled The passion for billiards. The astonishment of the large audience was almost hypnotic in the face of such a dazzling prodigy. The figures moving with great speed will suddenly freeze and noisy protests will not be long in coming.
Upstairs, in the projection booth, the inexperienced operator Enrique Flores uses his shirt to put out a small fire. The flames will rise in seconds devouring everything.

Flores is the first and then more than three hundred of the four thousand inhabitants of the port would perish that night. It was 10:10 p.m. on February 14, 1909.

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When the rain began drenching the California landscape in December 1861, none of the state’s 500,000 residents could have imagined the devastation that was about to strike the region.

Just a few months earlier, the farmers and ranchers of California had been praying for rain to spare their parched land from the two previous decades of exceptionally dry weather.

The Great Flood of 1862 began in late November 1861, when early winter storms dropped heavy snow in the higher elevations of Northern California and Oregon. In the first few days of December, temperatures in California rose dramatically, and the northern snow packs began to melt.

A deadly scenario was taking shape, and after weeks of heavy rain and snow, the real monster storms arrived.

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Flag Day, or ‘Día de la Bandera’ as it’s known in  México, is celebrated on February 24 every year, since it was first established.
 
To fly the national flag is a sign of pride and patriotism. It is a positive affirmation of loyalty and commitment. It marks out a country that has confidence in itself and is comfortable with its place in the world, its history, and its future.

The central emblem is the Mexican coat of arms, based on the Aztec symbol for Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City), the center of the Aztec empire. It recalls the legend of an eagle sitting on a cactus while devouring a serpent that signaled to the Aztecs where to found their city, Tenochtitlán.

The green represents hope for the nation, the white represents peace and unity, and the red symbolizes the blood of those who died fighting for the nation’s independence and the Aztec warriors who defended Tenochtitlán.

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If you’ve ever wondered how it would be to visit the Yucatan Peninsula and the Riviera Maya, if you are a nature lover and flora and fauna enthusiast, you’ve probably heard about some mystic places called cenotes.

A cenote is said to be quite significant to the Mayan people. Whilst cenotes were their main water source, they were also considered to be the entrance to the Xibalba, translated to the underworld, and a place where the Mayan gods would visit, especially Chaac, the Mayan god of rain, lightning, and thunder.

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This is part 4 of the Leyenda Series

The Palacio de Lecumberri is a large building, formerly a prison, in the northeast of Mexico City, Mexico, which now houses the General National Archive. Known in popular culture as The Black Palace of Lecumberri, it served as a penitentiary from 1900 to 1976. It was inaugurated by President Porfirio Díaz.

The Diary of Lecumberri by Colombian Poet Álvaro Mutis, describes his time thereafter being imprisoned in 1958. The living conditions within the prison were very dangerous due to the inmates' treatment by the guards or staff. Torture and beatings were common. Corruption was also present within the prison system.

Here are the other parts of the Leyenda Series: 

E09: Leyendas I: La Llorona
E17: Leyendas II: La Lechuza
E25: Leyendas III: El Monstruo de Xochimilco
E29: Leyendas IV: El Palacio de Lecumberri
E38 Leyendas V: Una Trágica Historia de Amor

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This is part 1 of the National Park Series

Yosemite National Park, one of the ecological treasures of the United States, is located in northern California.  The seven square miles (18 sq km) Yosemite Valley is the most popular part of the park.  The park features granite monoliths, waterfalls, streams, and Giant Sequoias.

Yosemite National Park offers breathtaking views, incredible rock formations, and the largest waterfall in North America. As one of America’s most beautiful and beloved national parks, it offers an experience of a lifetime for the entire family.

Yosemite National Park was literally carved into the earth by the movement of enormous glaciers. This created some unique topographical features not found anywhere else in the world, including five of the tallest waterfalls on Earth.

Visit Yosemite in the Spring to see the waterfalls at their fullest, carrying the melting snow down the mountains. Whether you’re a novice hiker or an adventure seeker, there are trails for everyone that lead to the waterfalls.

Animal lovers and bird watchers should seriously consider making a trip to Yosemite. There are over 400 species of animals inhabiting Yosemite, and 10% of them have special protection status, including the beloved Sierra Nevada Red Fox. During a hike in Yosemite, you have a good chance of seeing bobcats, mule deer, and bighorn sheep.

“Spectacular” does not adequately describe the sunsets at Yosemite National Park. Many opt to spend a day scaling the face of El Capitan to experience the world-famous sunsets from its peak. Other great sunset watching locations are Three Brothers peaks and the banks of the Merced River.

Here are the previous parts of this series:

E28: Parque Nacional I: Yosemite
E39: Parque Nacional II: La Tierra de Gigantes
E58 Parque Nacional III: Joshua, El Señor de los Desiertos

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With cheerful red bracts and delicate yellow flowers framed against velvety green leaves, colorful poinsettias are an indisputable symbol of Christmas. In fact, poinsettias are the most commercially important potted plant in the world because of their endearing association with the December holiday season. But how did this warm-weather shrub native to western Mexico become so closely associated with Christmas?

The original Nahuatl name for the plant we call “poinsettia” is Cuetlaxóchitl, cultivated by the Aztecs long before the European colonization of the Americas. The Aztecs used Cuetlaxóchitl for a variety of purposes, including decoration and the production of red and purple dyes, as well as for medicines derived from the plant’s milky white sap.

In 1828, Cuetlaxóchitl was taken from its native home and brought to the United States by Joel Roberts Poinsett, the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico. After successfully cultivating the unique plant in his South Carolina greenhouse, Poinsett began sharing the plant with friends and colleagues who marveled at the plant’s colorful transformation during the holiday season.

But less than a decade after being introduced to the United States, Cuetlaxóchitl came to be known by its most enduring name: poinsettia, after the man who first appropriated the plant from Mexico. Poinsett is celebrated for introducing the poinsettia flower to the United States and for co-founding the Smithsonian Institution. However, his legacy as a slave owner and his role in the displacement of countless Native Americans has led some people today to reject the name “poinsettia” in favor of the plant’s Native name, Cuetlaxóchitl.

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