Intermediate Spanish Stories

Loss of vital pollinators, due in part to temperature extremes and fluctuations, could have dire consequences for ecosystems and agriculture.

Bumblebees, among the most important pollinators, are in trouble. Fuzzy and buzzy, they excel at spreading pollen and fertilizing many types of wild flora, as well as crucial agricultural crops like tomatoes, blueberries, and squash.

But their numbers are dropping. New research using a massive dataset found that the insects are far less common than they used to be; in North America, you are nearly 50 percent less likely to see a bumblebee in any given area than you were prior to 1974.

Moreover, several once-common species have disappeared from many areas they were once found, becoming locally extinct in those places. For example, the rusty patched bumblebee, which used to flourish in Ontario, is no longer found in all of Canada—in the U.S., it’s endangered.

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The La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, California have fascinated scientists and visitors for over a century, and today, this area is the only actively excavated Ice Age fossil site found in an urban location in the world!
 Over the last 50,000 years, Ice Age animals, plants, and insects were trapped in sticky asphalt, which preserved them for us to find today. More than 100 excavations have been made at the Tar Pits since the early 1900s, and most of the fossils discovered here are housed in the museum at La Brea Tar Pits, at the center of the Tar Pits! The discoveries range in size from huge, extinct mammoths and sloths to "microfossils," or tiny remains of plants and animals that give us clues about how ancient ecosystems and climates changed.
Dire wolves are the most common large mammals from La Brea Tar Pits, with about 4,000 individuals represented in its collections. The remains of over 2,000 individual saber-toothed cats rank second and coyotes rank third.

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The federal prison on Alcatraz Island in the chilly waters of California’s San Francisco Bay housed some of America’s most difficult and dangerous felons during its years of operation from 1934 to 1963. Among those who served time at the maximum-security facility were the notorious gangster Al “Scarface” Capone (1899-1947) and murderer Robert “Birdman of Alcatraz” Stroud (1890-1963). No inmate ever successfully escaped The Rock, as the prison was nicknamed, although more than a dozen known attempts were made over the years.

After the prison was shut down due to high operating costs, the island was occupied for almost two years, starting in 1969, by a group of Native-American activists. Today, historic Alcatraz Island, which was also the site of a U.S. military prison from the late 1850s to 1933, is a popular tourist destination.

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The Golden Gate Bridge is an iconic structure connecting the city of San Francisco to Marin County, California. It spans almost two miles across the Golden Gate, the narrow strait where San Francisco Bay opens to meet the Pacific Ocean. The dream of connecting San Francisco to its northern neighbors became a reality when construction commenced in 1933.

The Golden Gate Bridge opened to the public in 1937, has endured as a picture-perfect landmark and an engineering marvel.

The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most frequently used locations to commit suicide, with more than 1,600 known suicides; the number is believed to be higher because of people whose bodies were never found. If you or a loved one needs counseling, reach out to your local suicide prevention center in your region. In the U.S, you can reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255

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Mummies in Mexico?!  Yes! The expressions on the faces of the mummies of Guanajuato show the terror they felt when they awoke in coffins and realized they had been buried alive.  The Mexican mummies you see in the Guanajuato mummy museum all share a horrifying story.

What is the story behind the Guanajuato mummies? The year was 1833. The place, Guanajuato, a colonial town in the center of Mexico. One day, townspeople suddenly became sick and died. First the very young or very old died, then everyone else. In just a few weeks the population decreased substantially.

Cholera! Panic ensued. People tried everything to ward off the disease; casting bizarre spells, applying strange and useless medicines, and prayer…lots of prayers. Still, the deaths mounted.

As the corpses piled up, the devastated population buried them as quickly as they could to prevent the spread of the disease. The dead were placed in mass graves, multiple corpses were interred in single crypts, bodies were buried in shallow graves.

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The state of Guanajuato is located in the northern-central region of the República Mexicana (Mexican Republic). Its historical significance is so great for the country, that each of its corners tells a formidable story.

 It's known for its silver mining history and colonial architecture. Its network of narrow streets, alleyways, and tunnels is typified by the Callejón del Beso (Alley of the Kiss), so named because the balconies are close enough for a couple to reach across and kiss. In a former granary, the Alhóndiga de Granaditas is an art and local history museum with pre-Columbian exhibits.

In 1810, the independence movement began in the city of Dolores, Guanajuato, when priest Miguel Hidalgo rallied patriots to rise up against Spain. On August 24, 1821, representatives of the Spanish crown recognized Mexican independence under the Plan of Iguala.

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This a special episode to celebrate my 10th episode, and I want to take this opportunity to thank all my audience for the unexpected success and for allowing me to reach out to you wherever you are in the world. 

Trust in yourself and believe you too, can reach your goals!

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This is part 1 of the Leyenda Series

Mexico is a country known worldwide for its deep-rooted cultural traditions, and legends, which balance between reality and fiction.
The legends of the colonial era are stories that have an important cultural message since they are enriched by components of the folklore of the Spanish colonies in America.
 
Generations of Mexican children have grown up afraid of La Llorona—a wailing woman whose misdeeds in life have left her spirit trapped on Earth, where she torments men, women, and little children alike. She’s the stuff of legend—a myth and spooky bedtime story whose origins date back hundreds of years to the pre-Hispanic peoples.

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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Racial segregation of Mexican students in the California public school system during the 1910s and 1920s traces its origins to racial ideologies of Anglo-Saxon superiority from the 19th century. “The Eugenics Movement”, an applied ideology of improving the genetic traits and quality of the human population strongly advocated superiority and inferiority beliefs.

In the 1930s racial segregation allowed for the creation of separate white and Mexican schools, with two distinct parallel curriculums: intellectual academic preparation for European American children and manual, agricultural, domestic, decorative, and vocational instruction for Mexican children. And thus,  generations of Mexican-American children were predestined to take their roles on the lower rungs of the socioeconomic scale, perpetuating the division of classes. 

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The Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles, California, has been the site of so many gruesome suicides, grisly murders, and unexplained deaths.  In addition to the number of guests who have passed while visiting the Cecil, at least two serial killers have stayed at this notorious hotel during their sprees, making it the kind of place where you just might sleep next door to a slayer. However, it wasn't until the LAPD released a disturbing video of a young woman who was later found dead in the water tank on the roof of the hotel that the Cecil reached a level of infamy that required the owner to change the name to Stay on Main.

Regardless of its name, this hotel is definitely the sort of place where you might check-in, but you never check-out.

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You will find the full transcript behind the show notes:  https://interspanish.buzzsprout.com

If you enjoy my work, please consider buying me a coffee. Your support means everything to me. Gracias. buymeacoffee.com/InterSpanish

If you have a story or topic you would like me to cover, please send your suggestions to: [email protected]

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