American Literature: "I Hear America Singing"

American Literature: "I Hear America Singing": Mash It Up!   We read and discussed Walt Whitman's "I Hear America Singing" as well as Langston Hughes's "I, Too."  Type your modern vers...

   I hear the farmer, running his plow, singing in tune to the beating machine.
I hear the teacher guiding young minds, leading a chorus of youthful exuberance.
I hear the mechanic, doing his work, singing alone, happy and free.
I hear the fireman, saving a life, breathing his words in hopes of survival
I hear the judge, staying true, staying right, sing to America
I hear the daughter, a families reason to be, sing a song quite out of key.
I hear the son, protector and heir, singing his song for all to hear.
I hear the mother, leader and lover, singing and quaint peace.
I hear the father, supporter and true, singing for pride.
I hear the guard, hiding an endangered light, singing in sacrifice.
I hear the policeman, cleaning the street, singing his prisoners to sleep
I hear the star, modeling young lives, singing for cause,
I hear the student, learning for life, singing for a future
  I hear America, strong and true singing her song in different colors and hues.

    The poems each have their own spin, and while I had to use Whit's as a reference mine still has a little bit of Langston's message inside. They all have America included, and they both talk about how the country either sees or shows or speaks her opinion.
    The poems differ by the way they are put together, and the final message behind them. Whit talked about how the country was put together. Langston talked about his treatment and his hope for the future, and I talked about the different personalities inside America and their contribution to the future.

American Literature: Unit 1: Creation Story You've completed your read...

American Literature: Unit 1:  Creation Story
You've completed your read...: Unit 1:  Creation Story You've completed your reading of the Iroquois's myth "The World on the Turtle's Back."  Choose one of the two opt...

American Literature: Unit 1: Creation Story You've completed your read...

Tori Hermsen 

American Literature: Unit 1:  Creation Story
You've completed your read...: Unit 1:  Creation Story You've completed your reading of the Iroquois's myth "The World on the Turtle's Back."  Choose one of the two opt...
2.  The twins in this myth represent "two ways of the world which are in all people" - the "straight mind" and the "crooked mind."  Write your reflection  in which you agree or disagree with this view of human character.  Support your opinion with examples.

In this story the two twin do represent different types of mental statuses. Such as a normal person like you or I could have a stray thought to cause some minor damage to a person we don't particularly care for. Like say, one of my old babysitters; but we are typically a good natured type of person. Then you have the truly twisted people who think of nothing but revenge and how to get the upper hand. Like say, the Left handed Twin.
The Right Handed Twin did have a slightly twisted side, because if he had been true to himself, he wouldn't have lied about his one weakness, it would have remained a fair fight throughout the rest of eternity between the twins.
The Left Handed Twin did do some real good, making sure to keep the population down of the animals his brother had created, and then telling the truth. In my own opinion, I don't honestly believe he had been as truly evil as the rest of my classmates believe him to be. Honestly, the Grandmother wouldn't have favored an evil child over a truly good one, so I do think some of this story is left out, or meant to be left to the imagination of the reader, in either case, this story does have some complex thought and some inner soul searching if you think about this story in the correct way.

Unexpected Latin Remix

The other day I was downloading a music on my iPod and I came across a song that I wanted so clicked download with out looking at the words in parenthesis. I continued browsing for more songs while it downloaded. When it was finally finished I went and listened to it and it was in English so I figured it was all in English. I continued browsing for more songs and about half way through the song a guy jumped in and started seeing in Spanish. Confused I went and looked at the name and it said "Official Latin Remix" so I kept it.

When the FFA went to the state convention, we saw many people and things. It only stands to reason that in Ames we would hear some people speaking Spanish. We were on our way to the convention hall, we had just gotten out of the elevator in our hotel, and we heard someone speaking a foreign language. Immediately we recognized it as Spanish. We all looked at each other and kinda laughed, because they were talking so fast, we could hear little snippits of the conversation, but we could recognize some of the words they were saying! It was amusing, hearing how fast they could speak and still understand what the other was saying! It kinda blew my mind! I hope someday I will be able to talk that fast!

Shopping

Me and my mom were shopping two weekends ago when we ran into a mother and daughter. The mother was talking to her daughter in spanish and was telling her that she could only get one of the three shirts that she had picked out. They walked away and later we met them at the check out again and my mom asked me what they were saying and I couldn't tell because they were talking fast and I didn't recognize the words.

World War 1

World War 1

Today in World History we were talking about World War 1. Mr. Huegel told us that the Germans didn't want the U.S. in the war so they sent Mexico a coded letter telling them to attack the United States. Thinking about that, if Mexico would have attacked us think about how history would have changed, think about how the relationship of the U.S. and Mexico would be today. Things would be so much different and I'm glad they didn't attack us because we are so close to them and we have a lot of common.

Spanish music

Every other day I have study hall with Jenna Beitz. She usually plays music off of her Ipod while we do our homework. One day while her Ipod was on shuffle, a spanish song came on. The song "El beso del Final" was playing and we were wondering if all spanish songs were the same type and beat, so we looked them up. I liked the music we heard, it sounds different then our (besides the language). It had a different beat, some was more up beat than ours and they seem to have more emotion in their songs than ours.

Spanish

Me and my brother always talk Spanish when we don't wish for anyone in the room to know what we are saying.  It infuriates my other brother because he says this is America so if I want to speak Spanish I should go down to mexico and speak it there.  Randomly I will also talk Spanish to my dad and he will counter that with some German he learned in his youth.  This is maddening to me because whenever I ask him to teach me some he refuses and yet when I make him made with Spanish I offer to teach him some but he ultimately refuses that to.

Spanish people shopping

On Sunday I had to work. I was at the register and checking out this hispanic family. They had a couple pairs of clothes and some food. It was hard to understand cause when working the register you have to try to make the customer feel welcome and make small talk with them. They spoke in Spanish the whole time and I only understood alittle of it. I heard some words that we have learned and kinda was able to pick out what they may have been talking about to their kids.

I work at the Golden Stardust.  My and Jose wash dishes there. Our boss, Jim, gives each of us Hispanic names. I am Manuel. Jose is Carlos. Alaina Feltes is Rosarita. Jim says we are his Mexican workers. The End.

Mexican Food

My family and I were at someone house last Monday and they were making food and one thing the made was a Mexican food and i forgot what they called it but it looked weird. I didn't want to try it because I don't like a lot of different foods. Like Chinese, Mexican, or stuff like that. They insist that I try it, they said, "It tastes better than it looks." So I decided to just try it so they would shut up. When I tried it I made sure I had something to drink close by. I tasted it and it didn't taste bad but it's not something I could eat a lot of or eat very often if I would eat it again. That was probably the first thing I ever tried that was like really Mexican besides like tacos and chips and dip.

So for my blogs I just googled hispanic to get an idea of what to blog about and this website for hispanic heritage. Its a cool website that lets you look at the history and people in the spanish world. there is even a memory game on it.  Yes it is designed for younger kinds but the first time I played the game the word sandia came up and without even having to look at the picture I knew what it was.
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/hispanic/index.htm
And another game that I have found to do to study my spanish Is the free rice game. which is fun. but you already have that one on your website! which is how I found it!(:

My little brothers were watching Dora one time and it was Dora's birthday on that particular episode and at the very end they sang happy birthday. It was the happy birthday that we sing in class but they added more to it kinda like how we do with ours sometimes. I thought it was interesting because I knew a few of the words but I didn't know enough to fully understand the context of what they were singing.

My little brother Preston just turned four! one day I was doing my Spanish homework and he was like sissy I want to learn your words. Which he normally says when I'm doing homework and I told him they are not just normally words mom and dad speak but he was insistant I teach him new words. So I taught him to say hola me llamo Preston. It took him forever to figure out and keep in his mind exactly what to say but he got the hang of it after awhile and ran around the house saying it. Since then I have taught him a few words but he doesn't really remember them. I have been teaching him colors lately but I lose his attention quickly. ):

 My new favorite Spanish song is Danza Kuduro by Don Omar. It's a really up beat song with lots of girls in the music video, but thats besides the point. The first time I had heard this song was at a Cedar Rapids Kernals game. A Hispanic player for the Kernals had it as his warm up song. Whenever he was up I was up dancing. Haley didn't like that too much. The song translates like this put your hands up moving only the hips turn half around dance the Kuduro don't lose your breath now because this has just started Move your head dance the Kuduro. It's a great song I would recommend that everyone listen to it.

Black Ops

Me and Martinez play a game called Call of Duty Black Ops, which takes place during the cold war and in parts of Cuba.  Before taking Spanish class I had no idea what they were saying, but now I know what the Cubans were saying.  In the game, people yell, "Sacalo Papeles!"  which means get the paper, but I have no idea why they would say that.  I can also understand lots of other Spanish sayings in the game and I am glad I can understand it.  (I can't upload a picture from my computer it says error so here is a link.) BLACK OPS

Hair Dye

The other day my mom was dying her hair and I was looking at the instructions.  It had both english and spanish.  I tried to figure it out and then I would look at the english side and see if i was right.  I got a few right.  It had lavarse in it and cabello.  I thought it was interesting that they used cabello instead of pelo for hair.  It was also interesting that on the box I couldn't find any spanish but the instructions came in both english and spanish.  It's cool knowing another language.

Spanish Soccer

Last Night I was talking to a girl from Monticello that I know and she plays on their schools soccer team. She was talking about the next time we would see eachother and I mentioned we had a track meet there next thursday and she said she had a soccer game at West Liberty or somewhere and she was like their team is all mexicans. She said that when they play them they speak spanish on the feild. She said to play a joke because she is of asian of chinesse decent (not for sure exactly which one) she would speak in jibberish and they would look at her funny and be like "no say". She said it was best playing them and to get to play those jokes on them.

Spanish is Everywhere

I was in the shower one day and I was grabbing my shampoo bottle and I looked at it and realized that there was spanish on it. I started reading it and then I compared what I thought it was saying to the english. It's so weird to know another language and tell what it's trying to say. Also it's weird that you can read something in spanish and some spanish people could be trying to read the english side to see if they can understand it. I love knowing another language and having the opportunity to learn it and someday use it. I want to be a teacher so being able to say that I know spanish could help me in the long run.

Spanish at the movies

A few months ago my dad and I went to Act  of Valor in Dubuque. The movie was intense and full of action. It even had Spanish in it! The movie is about a team of active duty Navy Seals that have to stop these people from smuggling bombs into major US cities. Towards the end of the movie The Navy Seals had to coax the mexicans to give them the bombs but they wouldn't so their was a huge fire fight. I tried to listen to see if I could understand them but they were talking really fast so I just read the subtitles. So to be in an elite part of the military you have to know many languages.  

Excellent Teacher

I was over at my friends house and she has a cousins that are Mexican.  They are the ages 14,19 and 3.  The littlest one was learning his colors so I thought I would help.  They speak no English at all.  We got his book out of his mom's bag and I pointed to colors.  It was so cute because he would yell out the color in Spanish and we would laugh and he would hide his face because he was embarrassed.  Some of the colors he needed help saying and didn't know very well.  One was amarillo, he couldn't get yellow at all.  I wanted to teach him the English words of the colors but I didn't want to confuse them.

Recently my spanish speaking aunt came up from Texas with my uncle for my grandmas birthday. While they were up here, I had walked into my grandmas house and she was on the phone. The next thing I knew she was speaking spanish. I tried to listen in on what she was saying but she was so fast and snappy I couldnt understand what she had said. It just shows how fluent she is and the experience she has at speaking spanish, It gave me a headache so I left.

The other night I watched the movie from prada to nada. Its about these girls who are mexican that lose all their money and have to move into the hispanic part of L.A. The cool thing was when they would walk around the neighborhood and you could see all the store signs. Like they went past a gas station and I saw a big sign that said con plomo and I knew that it meant leaded and they celebrate a mexican holiday in the movie and it was cool to watch because they got all dressed up in nice clothes and ate a bunch of food. The food looked Amazing!!!!

While some of the MV FFA chapter was in Ames for state convention, when we went out to eat there was a table of spanish speaking people, I tried to understand what they were saying but I had noidea! I listen to them for a looooooong time trying to figure at least a little bit of what they were talking about, then I remembered that we were told that there were different types of spanish in the world and I got the feeling they were speaking on I didn't know.

When the FFA went to the state convention, we saw many people and things. It only stands to reason that in Ames we would hear some people speaking Spanish. We were on our way to the convention hall, we had just gotten out of the elevator in our hotel, and we heard someone speaking a foreign language. Immediately we recognized it as Spanish. We all looked at each other and kinda laughed, because they were talking so fast, we could hear little snippits of the conversation, but we could recognize some of the words they were saying! It was amusing, hearing how fast they could speak and still understand what the other was saying! It kinda blew my mind! I hope someday I will be able to talk that fast!

'bano'

I have come to notice that the only time that I ever can tell what mexicans are talking about is the bathroom 'bano'. I think it has to do with that they talk so stinking fast! I think its crazy how fast they talk but, I guess it is like when we talk really fast in english and we dont even know that we are really doing it. I is most likely the same with them. But why the word bano stands out to me I have noidea. It could be the fact that I ask to go the bathroom a lot.

Court House

When I was at the court house there was a mexican family in there. They were so cute, short and a little chubby, I could tell that they didn't speak very good english, and the person trying to help they didn't know spanish. The dad was trying to comunicate with the lady, but it wasn't going to well. The mother of the family was looking around like she was nervous and her son was saying mama mama mama, I guess I was kinda staring at them when she looked at me and said bano? bano? I was like YES!!! I know what she wants so I showed her the bathroom. My day was complete. Even if that is the only time that I have to help someone that speaks spanish I can say my spanish came in handy!

Wal-Mart

With the construction of the new walmart in Manchester, there are mexicans working there and they speak Spanish. I was in Wal-mart with Nicole E, we were walking back by the pharmisty and there was a group of Spanish speaking guys in the middle of a large group. While we were walking by they were talking and smiling while looking at us, of coarse we thought they were talking about us, and I know that you say that they are most likely not talking about us but I swear they were. haha. (:

Mexico

Last year when we went to mexico with the Huber's we had so much fun!  After we got home the kids were already planning another trip together.  Even the parents agreed that we should go on another trip when I graduate.  We were debating either Florida or Mexico again.  Both sounded fun but Mexico won! We decided that we would go to mexico the year that I will graduate, but we will go to a different resort.  We have not stopped talking about it and we can't wait!  The warm weather, the good food, and the nice, friendly people.  I hope we can make this trip even more fun then the last one!

el mexicano blog

Scott fajita is a NFL linebacker for the cleveland browns. He was suspended for the actions he took with the whole saints Bounty Scandal. This scandal was to pay players to purposly injur players on the other team. So he has been suspended without pay for the entire 2012 season.

Espanol Blog

      Just the other day I was in the dentist office in Manchester getting my teeth cleaned.  I noticed in the other room that the hygenist was talking but the young patient wasn't talking.  I started to run through the scenarios of why he was not talking, one he was extremely shy or didn't speak English.  My answer was soon found when he suddenly said, "No, porfavor."  I smiled to myself and thought the hygenist could be a little richer ih she could speak to him.  I learned another life lesson on being bilingual.

spanish yeah

When we whent on vacation to florida we had to get used t dealing with just about every race imaginable. When we went to the flea market the amount of hispanics there was un real but the kool thing is that i could pick out some of the things that they were saying so it was nice to be able to understand some spanish #spanishyeah

Spanish While Working

I was working on my truck last weekend.  I was installing lights on my roll bars.  I looked at the switch that my stepdad bought for me, and I saw that it had spanish translations on it.  So, I tried to test my spanish skills before reading the English even though I already knew it was a switch.  But, from reading the spanish, I found out that it was only supposed to be used for lights.  I was impressed at how good I got at spanish over the last year and a half.

Last tuesday me and my girlfriend went to the mexican restaurant in manchester and we each got the borrito things. I got the chicken one and she had gotten the beef one. Well we sat there and we enjoyed our supper and once we were ready for the check our waiter brought to us. He was very nice about everything and when i went up to pay i only had twenty in cash and they i was goiung to pay the restin debit but the debit card was not working and i sat there and i felt so stupid but the nice waiter justtold us to bring the rest in nexttime we come and he told us to have a good day. Thatwas the nicest waiter i have ever been around.

George lopez is my idol. The other day i was sitting on the couch with my girlfriend atour apartment and we were watching george lopez. We both have taken spanish so we kinda had a little fun and when george lopez gets upset or something he always speaks in  spanish so me and my girlfriend sat there and everytime he would speak a sentence or two in spanish we would try and see if we could figure out what it was that he was saying and we, i dont think did to bad. Knowing spanish was very interesting for the rest of the night. She kept trying to tell me to do things in spanish and it was not going to bad because she knows more than i do but i just kept saying repeaten porfavor? haha! it was pretty funny!

So the other day I was working as a server at pizza hut and these four mexicans came in and got 2 large pizzas and three bread sticks. They could kind of speak english but not very well. I honestly think they were the same ones i seen in Wal-mart in my last post. They were ordering their food and they would pretty much say every other world in spanish but luckely i caught on enough to place their order and serve them everything they had asked for. They would try and speak english with me but when I would walk away they would start speaking spanish and They were saying bien a lot so I took that as either i am being a good waiter or the food was good, or maybe even both. That made my day and it was a little entertainment for me at work.

my dad and linda

Me and my dad went to a mexican restaurant and my aunt linda translates spanish for the cops. When she ordered she talked in spanish and it was very very fast and i only picked up a few things. The waiter didn't talk as fast as my aunt i guess thats because she is used to talking to everyone in english.

going to walmart

Yesterday I went to walmart with my mom and sister to get my dad a new gril. When we were looking at the the grils there was this family next to us that was talking in spanish about the same gril we were looking at. They were talking so fast but I could understand some of the words they were saying like it looks nice and how much is it. I told my mom that I new what they were saying and she just smiled.

Telemarketers

Last week I was at home watching T.V. and the home phone rang. I usually don't pick it up because it is usually telemarketers. I thought this time would be different, but it wasn't. I picked it up and the person on the other line was speaking very bad english. I could tell he was hispanic so i decided to speak spanish to him. I said me llamo Jesus and when he heard that he went into road gear! I have never heard someone talk that fast. I picked up a few words like bien and hablo. I then told him goodbye and hung up. It felt good that I knew that much Spanish, and can almost have a conversation with someone who speaks Spanish that fluent.

Toothpaste

   
Today, I was searching for Spanish around my house to write about in my blog. When I was brushing my teeth, I became curious on whether or not my Crest toothpaste tube had Spanish directions. As it turns out, it has a lot of Spanish on it! I tried to read as much as I could and I was surprised on how much of it I knew! Adultos y ninos de 2 anos o mayores: Cepille bien los dientes despues de cada comida. It's amazing how quickly I can translate this sentence. It says: Adults and children two years and older: Brush teeth well after meals. I feel like Spanish is getting easier and easier the more time I spend learning it. I really think that Spanish will come in handy now and later in life!

Dairy Queen

On Monday Beia and I went to Dairy Queen in Manchester. After we ordered we went to go find a seat in a booth. While we were sitting there, Beia said, "The people behind us are speaking Spanish!" We tried eavesdropping and figuring out what they were saying. We did get some of the conversation, but not all of it. They were talking super fast! It's exciting to listen to spanish speaking people because that could be us someday.

I Love Lucy

Last weekend I was watchin I Love Lucy with my grandparents! Lucy's husaband is hispanic and his mother is coming to visit. When she arrives Lucy, who does not know any Spanish, is the only one home. She tries to communicate through actions but neither of them can understand the other. Lucy hears a work that her mother in law says and realizes that it is a cognate and they start to understand each other. It was interesting to see how they tried to communicate

Subtitles

                   I was watching a movie last week and I had seen it at least three times and was bored of it, so I turned on the subtitles and made them Spanish. It was fun to hear English and read the Spanish translation. I couldn't keep up with the whole movie but I tried. It was good practice for me. I learned some words that I didn't know and it was easy to listen to English and match the Spanish words with the English. I realized that I know more Spanish than I realized.

Prom: Fake Nails

This weekend was prom! And Megan had bought some fake nails and wanted me to do designs on them. So as I helped her put them on I was reading the direcions on the back so I wouldn't mess them up.  And what do you know...... Spanish!! And so I told Megan that I was going to follow the Spanish directions not the English ones and she didn't like that very much.  Because "I don't want you messing them up!!" But if you don't know me..... I don't listen very well (At least to my siblings) But I read the Spanish directions anyway.  They were really easy.  " Lipie y pula ligeramente las unas.: Clean and buff nail lightly.  Aplicacion=Application.  To Remove=Para Remover. Some words I didn't know but I learned them.  Most of them were basic Spanish 1 and 2 words.  I felt very proud of myself but Megan on the other hand wasn't so happy! :) But ohh well. 

Bounce Dryer Sheets

We are recently painting our house.  So everything is in our kitchen and livingroom.  Things are just laying there.  Which kind of bothers me because I am a perfectionist! But anyway, I was eating lunch one day and saw a box of dryer sheets.  And to my suprise there was Spanish on it! And some other language... that I do not know! I pretty much knew every word. I was so proud of myself! I felt like I accomplished something in the two years of Spanish that I took! It had "Primavera y Flores" which translated to Spring Flower Secent.  "Tiempo Limitado" which is Limited Time. This one was the hardest, "Bounce contiene suavizantes cationicos y perfume." which ended up translating to Bounce contains cationic softners and perfume. Spanish is everywhere and when Senorita tells us that it is everywhere... believe her.  I now will believe her too :)

Website for Picture:  http://www.groceries-express.com/images/30000%5C37000%5C04489%5C3700004489CF.GIF

Mario Lopez

Mario was born on October 10th 1973 in San Diego, California. He was born to Mario Sr. Lopez and Elvira Lopez. His first acting job occured on a.k.a Pablo. His first big break was on the hit television series Saved By the Bell. Ever since Mario has had a successful and steady acting career. I believe that he is a very good actor. He is also extremely attractive.

Ricky Rubio

Ricard Rubio is a Spanish basketball artist who was born on October 21, 1990 in Barcelona.

Ricky lives in a family atmosphere and takes his grandmother to most of all of his games. His friends, his studies and his Playstation games make up a normal life.Ricky made ​​his debut setting the record for being the youngest player to do so.At the end of the season 2006-07 was awarded the Newcomer of the ACB league and in season 2007-08 again made ​​history by becoming the youngest player of all time to be included in the ideal team in the league . He went into the draft and got picked number 5th.

Spanish People

One day I was walking through town with my dog and we passed these apartments. Most of the Spanish people in Dyersville live there. There were some people standing outside of their door and were talking. I tried to listen as I was walking by but heard barely nothing. They were speaking way too fast for me to understand but I still caught onto some of the words that they were saying. I think they were talking about going to play soccer. So I continued my walk through towns and passed the soccer fields. There I saw some Spanish people playing soccer. They were very good. One of them was even my old friend from grade school named Jose. I said hi and walked along. I think it is fun and good to have a diverse community.

Spanish Translator

So my mom and I were talking the other day, and she was asking me what I wanted to do with my life. I keep telling her I don't really know for sure, but I want to do something with Spanish. I know I don't want to be a teacher though. Mom keeps telling me that I should be a translator but I keep second guessing that. I was also told to be a translator for court cases. Decisions, decisions........My sister even tells me if I enjoy Spanish as much as I do, to do something in Spanish.

Movies

Sometimes when I watch movies and they have a little bit of Spanish, I listen closely to see if I understand any of it. I really enjoy when I do understand because it makes me feel a little smarter. I pick out basic words, and even though I don't always understand the whole sentence, I get the basic meaning of it. One movie that I really enjoy that has some Spanish in it is Courageous. There is Mexican man who is in the back of his friend's police car because he's getting a ride to work. His friends then have to pick up a criminal and have Javier pretend to be a leader in a gang. Javier talks about going out for lunch and what he's going to get. The criminal thinks Javier is threatening him and trying to kill him. I think it's pretty funny. If the criminal understood some Spanish, he would realize Javier wasn't threatening him at all.

My blog

Over the weekend my uncle injured his knee so I helped get him from the hospital back to my grandparents house. I was bored so I started talking some spanish with my uncle. He doesn't understand a word of spanish so it always make him really mad when I start talking it. I talked to him in spanish for a few minutes but then I lost interest in it because he threatened me with telling my grandparents who wanted him to rest.

Ser Padres

When I have my clinic visits at the hospital in Iowa City I have to wait in the waiting room for awhile. They have this magazine called Ser Padres. Sometimes I look through it just to see what I know. I can usually read most of the big headings and titles of articles. I can read parts of some articles, too, but some parts are confusing. I see the magazine every time that I go.

My Mexican Alias

I work at the Golden Stardust in Delhi. My boss seams to think that I am mexican due to my dark complexion during the summer. He now refers to me as Carlos and has gotten all the regulars to join in on it. He always asks me for my green card and wants to know how well i can speak english. Now, Thanks to my boss I'm referred to as Carlos. Ever sense me all dishwashers have a mexican alias, including Cody Lahr(Jesus).

Celia Cruz

Born in 1929 she was a cuban-american singer. she started singing as a teenager and joined cubas most popular band in 1950. A year later she left Cuba and was an exile in the US fro the rest of her life. She sand in almost all major latin bands after that that were in the US She dies in 2003

Alberto Alfonso

Born in Havana Cuba he spent mostly all of his life dancing and coreographing. He founded a ballet studio that was in Cuba in 1948. In 1993 he came to the united states in Gainscille Florida and stayed there until he died 12/31/2007. While in florida he became the maser artist in Santa Fe Community College and a resident coreographer.

Christina Aguilera

Born in Staten Island New York on 12 18 1980. She started singing at a really young age. She came to Star search at the age 9 and got a big break on The New Mickey House Club. at ages 12 she started to get the eye of people with her amazing vocals. At age 15 she signed with RCA. On that she got to sign the soundtrack for Mulan. She released her first self-titled debut album in 1999.

Spanish Channel

Most people refuse to watch the spanish channel because of all those commercials. Others watch them because thats all they can understand. Well, I'm different. I think there are some good shows on that channel, one of them being Miami Ink.

One day I was standing by a chair, watching Kat Von D tattoo a fairly large individual, when it went to commercial. I left the room because frankly I don't like commercials. After awhile I hear that the show has come back on, so I walk back into the room and sit down. Right as I'm sitting down, my sister begins to yell at me. With a puzzled look on my face I ask her what I did. She reply's, "You left me in here, all by myself, listening to the spanish commercials." So I decided this time when a commercial comes on, I would stay to watch it.

A commercial came on and I waited and watched. They looked the same to an english commercial, but they talked so fast I got confused. I understood some little words, but otherwise I was lost. This is why I will no longer watch the spanish commercials.

Jesus BLoggy

I was eating supper at ryan's steakhouse with Carter Funke last weekend. The food there is great! There was a lot of different people there. I saw this hispanic family there. When I was getting my ice cream they were waiting in line and the dad said Donde Esta? He was wondering where the cones were.

When he said that I knew right away what he was talking about. I felt like I should of said something back in spanish but I just told him they were out of cones, and walked away.

Hispanic Heritage month

In Advanced Algebra yesterday Tanner said something about how they should have a mexican month like they have black history month. We wanted to see if there was one because none of us knew for sure and we looked it up and they actually do have a Hispanic Heritage month that takes place from September 15 to October 15. They start it on September 15 because that is the independence day for latin america. Looking back though I should have know there was one because we did papers over hispanic to hang up in the hall for it.

US Drug Wars

Last night I was watching U.S. Drug Wars and they were patrolling the mexican border for people who were smuggling drugs into the US and they caught these 4 mexicans and they didn't speak english so they had a cop who could speak spanish to them and it was really interesting to listen to because he was speaking super fast like they do but every once and awhile I could catch a words that I understood.

World War 1

Today in World History we were talking about World War 1. Mr. Huegel told us that the Germans didn't want the U.S. in the war so they sent Mexico a coded letter telling them to attack the United States. Thinking about that, if Mexico would have attacked us think about how history would have changed, think about how the relationship of the U.S. and Mexico would be today. Things would be so much different and I'm glad they didn't attack us because we are so close to them and we have a lot of common.

Mall in Dbq

I was in the mall last weekend and when I went to the Finish Line and I was looking at shoes for myself for track. Two people came in and started to talk in spanish. I stopped looking at the shoes and tried to pick out some of the they were saying. I caught a little bit of the convo. They were talking about how much money they had and what shoes they like. I heard dinero and zaptos and Jordans. I was very surprised to see that I knew some of the words that they were speaking. I was going to start talking spanish with them but I got scared and started looking for shoes again.

Victor Espinoza

Victor Espinoza was born on May 23, 1972 in Mexico City, Mexico. Victor started being a jockey for Thoroughbred racing in 1992, and a year later he moved his career to America. He then went and graduated from jockey school and became certified to ride in the US Since then he has become one of the best and most wanted rider in the United States. He has won some of the greatest races in America, such as the Breeders Cup, Kentucky Derby, and Preakness Stakes. In 2011 alone he won $6,261,880. He has donated most of his money to needy societies and to race tracks in need of improvement. He has also ridden some of the best horses of our time, such as Midnight Interlude, The Tin Man, and War Emblem. He came from another country and has made his mark on an important American sport. He still rides to this day and plans to be riding for a long time to come.

Ihop

I was at Ihop on Tuesday night with Josh. We went there for pancakes but I was still hungry and so was he so we looked through the menus. As I was reading, I found myself reading the Spanish words underneath the English. I was really suprised by the amount of Spanish that I knew and that I could read it without looking at the actual title of the meal. Every day I catch myself reading Spanish even if I don't have to. As I get further through Spanish class, I notice it more than I would have without taking it in high school. :)

Mexican school fights

Last night I was talking with my cousin over skype. He lives in Champlian Park, Minnesota. The school that he goes to is so much larger than ours having about 5,000 kids in his class alone. With this many kids comes tons of different races. He told me it also gets pretty divided at times Mexicans hangout with Mexicans whites with whites and so on.

One day he was eating lunch with his white friends when a group of Asians walked up to the table of Mexicans. They started arguing and soon broke out into a fight. He told me the Mexicans tried defending themselves but the Asians knew some sort of martial arts so the Mexicans got hurt extremely bad. I thought it was very ironic that asians knew a form of martial arts that they used on the Mexicans.

j-lo

The Oscars were last sunday and it was a very odd day for Jenifer Lopez because she decided to wear a dress that was very exposing. Me being a guy made me think it looked good but hollywood thought otherwise about her dress. All over the news people were bashing her about her dress. I am so thankfull i am not a celebrity because I wouldn't be able to cope with the stress.

Just the other day i went to walmart and there was a big gang of Mexicans and they were looking around and talking back in fourth in spanish and I did not want to make it totally obvious but i sat there and i tried to listen to them and pick out works that i new and they as far as i know were trying to find the meat section and pop because i heard them say cola and carne. I did not want to go up to them and try speecking spanish because i did not want to make a sentence and have it mean something that would get me in trouble or something so i just kinda walk back and fourth by them and listened to them talk for a wile but them it was time to go so i left and had the pleasures of knowing what those guys and girl all said or at least some of it.

Selling My Toyota Truck

One day I decided to put my Toyota truck on craigslist for $1100 with a blown motor. Out of the six different callers that called four of them were Mexican. One guy was really hard to understand but I could still understand him. He came and looked at the truck but he seen that the frame had a little crack in it. He said he didn't want it because the frames are what they really want down in Guatemala he said these trucks are the only basic ones that the use down there. Then the next day a dad and son came that were Mexican and wanted to buy the truck. They sat there and looked at it and then when they would talk they would talk to me in English but then when they would talk to each other they would speak in Spanish. Then the dad called a guy on the phone and talked really fast in Spanish. I could tell for the majority of what they were saying only because I knew the subject would be about my truck. I picked up the word carro a lot and comprar a lot as they were discussing what they wanted to give for it. Then they did end up giving me what I wanted for it and they were happy with it.

Que Pasa

Maddie Digmann and I are always together at lunch and most times on of us will complain about something and the other will go ?que pasa? and the other one will say que pasa and we will go back and forth forever. Its so funny that we are saying the same thing to each other but it has a different meaning when we saying. People that are not in Spanish most likely look at us like we are freaks saying the samething back and forth to each other.

Bonita

So I find myself speaking Spanish all the time. I don't just start saying complete sentences but I will just say random words at random times. I don't mean to but sometimes I just say it. I say I really don't speak spanish except for in Spanish class but then I realize that I really do. I don't realize it until I think about it and then i notice that I use it a lot. It is just the random words that I use all the time and in Spanish we always use. when I am with my friends and family I always find myself saying gracias and simple words like that and they sometimes respond in Spanish. I never thought I would be the one who was talking in Spanish but I guess I am.

Selling Eric W's Truck

A few weeks ago I was at Eric's house while he was trying to sell a toyota truck to a guy from craigslist. I heard the guy talking on the phone, and I could tell he was mexican. When he got their, we all looked over the truck hoping that the guy would buy it. After a while of looking at it, the guy called someone, and started talking to them about the truck, in SPANISH! When I heard him start talking, I decided that I would try to translate what he was saying. All I was able to translate and remember though was carro and a few other words. He was talking really fast on the phone, and after hearing that it really made me want to study some of our notes.

Chad Johnson

Chad Johnson (Ocho Cinco) plays for the New England Patriots. Every time I hear his name I think, "Why would you ever want to change your last name to a bunch of Spanish numbers, even if it is your number?" Well this guy did it. He liked the number 85 so much he changed his last name to Ocho Cinco. Chad "Ocho Cinco" Chad is a wide reciever for the New England Patriots, and helps score most of the team's points. He was recently in the Super Bowl and lost to the Giants.

Diego Sanchez

Diego Sanchez is one of my favorite fighters in the UFC. Why I'm writing about him is because he is hispanic. Diego is one of the most entertaining fighters I have ever watched. Diego's nickname is The Dream. As a pro fighter Diego has a record of 25 wins with 5 losses. Whenever I watch his fights I know I'm in for a treat. He is a really positive person. He will run into the ring screaming yes!

Spanish Lessons!

During on of our snow days, while trapped inside, I decided to try to make use of my time. My brother Blake was home from college that day visiting the family. I thought of a great idea. I went and got my Spanish folder and notebook and offered to teach him a little Spanish since he never took it in high school. I started off with our very first vocab list from all the way back in Spanish 1. He surprisingly learned something. I then taught him how to conjugate verbs properly. This was a little difficult for him. But he did eventually write a whole sentence all by himself. Teaching someone else something really helps you learn the concept yourself. After teaching him that Spanish I felt like I was way more comfortable with it.

Hugo Sanchez

Soccer is the dominated sport of Mexico. Everywhere you go you will see a soccer ball. But one of the greatest soccer players came from Mexico. A man named Hugo Sanchez was born to play soccer from day one. He grew up and became one of Mexicos greatest soccer players of all time. He was born in Mexico City and became a legend. He won 5 consecutive league titles and scored 46 goals with the Mexico National Team. He was known for doing backflips after scoring a goal. He is now done playing soccer but did coach for the National Team.

Just Dance 3!

When I first got Just Dance 3 for Christmas, I realized that there was a Spanish song on it. I try to pick out what they are saying but it is kind of difficult to dance and attempt to translate at the same time. This dance is pretty fun because you get to experience the way that the Spanish people dance and express themselves. It's also fun to see how fast they can sing. :)

one time when i was on facebook i was playing a game and you could talk to people on it. There was some guy n that was talking spanish and i got a little of what he was saying but then i got lost after a while because he was saying stuff i didn't know and i tried to tell him that i didn't understand what he was saying but i don't think he could understand me because i think i spelled it wrong.

Carlos O Kellys

Last weekend I went to Carlos O Kellys. That is a Spanish restaurant. I like it a lot even though it isnt very authentic. The last time I went there i got enchiladas with cheese. It was so good. Before your meal they give you chips and salsa. I guess thats what a lot of people in Mexico eat. Their food is so good. It isnt my favorite mexican restaurant but it is still very tasty and i enjoy going there. :)

Clue!

A few weeks ago I was babtsitting my brother. He wanted to play a game and he came up with Clue. I havnt played clue in a long time so I wasn't sure about the rules. I told Lucas that the only instructions that i could find were the Spanish ones. I read the Spanish ones out loud to him and he asked me what they meant. I told him what I could understand from that. I am always teaching Lucas words in Spanish!

Spanish Book!

The other day I went to Hopkinton to visit my grandparents. My grandma had a book sitting on the table that she said came out of the cereal box. I can't remember the name of it but it was in spanish. There was also the English translation. My brother wanted me to read it to him so I read the Spanish part without looking at the English translation and tried to tell him what it meant. Some of the animals I didn't know but a lot of them were cognates. I also taught my brother some Spanish!

Modern Warfare 2

Just the other day I was playing an online game known as Call of Duty Modern Warfare II. It is an extremely fun game where you run around with new guns and talk to people on your own team. No one was talking, but then I heard a fast muffled voice and immediately detected it as being Spanish. Though the sound quality was poor I realized the advantage I now have when playing with Spanish speaking kids.

Spanish at Home

Now that I know more Spanish I try to speak it more often, especially at home. I started probably around the beginning of this year. I started saying "si" and small talk like that. And now I'm working on more sentences like "tengo hombre" and ''estoy consado" and larger sentences. I think it's funny because nobody else really knows what I'm saying, but it really makes my mom and dad angry especially when i answer "si" when she tells me something. I just say I'm practicing my Spanish!

On playstation network

So on playstation network you often encounter players from a diffrent country that speak a diffrent language. And when your searching for a game lobby to play in you'll almost always have those game lobbies where you dont know what there saying and then leave the game lobby to search for another one. One day i was hosting a party for my online friends and i to play zombies in and one of my friends invited his friend ruben. When he joined the party he was speaking in spanish and i was supprised how many words i could understand. I remember him asking for his madre then asking her if she could make him some food. when we were playing and when things weren't going hes way hed yell por que and when hed get really mad hed yell what i believe to be spanish swear words that i couldent understand. And ruben became like one of my favorite online friends.

Spanish on my shampoo bottle

I was in the shower last night and I decided to attempt reading the Spanish on my shampoo bottle. When I looked at the bottle of Biolage, my shampoo, there was an English translation and under it a Spanish translation. The English translation was Hydrating Shampoo-Continuous moisture for dry, stressed hair. The Spanish translation was Champu Hidratante-Hidratacion continua para cabello seco y estresado. I was surprised that I knew a whole sentence on a shampoo bottle. I knew enough Spanish to know what it was saying. Hidratacion is a cognate for hydration, continua is a cognate for continuous, para is for, cabello is hair, and estresado is a cognate for stressed. I compared both translations at the end to see if I was right. I was so happy that I could read something that last year, I wouldn't have been able to read.

Spanish is Everywhere

We went to a hotel this past weekend and most of the workers at the hotel were spanish speaking. When we were just sitting in the room one of the workers came in and asked if she wanted us to clean her room, well the people we were with didn't understand what they asked so I kind of picked up on what she said and told them that she asked if we wanted her to clean up the room. It's amazing to me that spanish is everywhere we go whether we realize it or not and it's fun to know that we can use it and if we hear it we can put peices of it together and understand what they are trying to say. I love learning it too, its really fun!

Spanish Everywhere

Lately I've noticed Spanish everywhere. At the hotel I was in this weekend I read the do not disturb sign and it was in Spanish. The movie I watched had Spanish subtitles and it was a lot easier than I thought it'd be to match the words with what I heard. I see signs everywhere that are in English and Spanish. It is fun to see how much Spanish I know and I enjoy using it everyday.

IKEA

Last night my brother, mom, dad and aunt were in IKEA. I saw a poster with spanish on it and was extremely surprised that I could read it. I turned to Brett and started talking spanish. We kept talking back and forth and no one else could understand what we were saying. I was very surprised how much I could actually speak and understand. It was fun and very interesting at the same time.

Classic freak out

I was working this saturday at the Gold Room, my grandma Bear's bar and grill, and a man walked in and sat down near the door. He had on a leather jacket, a pair of dark jeans, I didn't pay attention to his shoes, and he ploped his wallet on the counter, all big and bad. Then he started speaking spanish. I got so confused trying to keep up with his order. Then when I said the classic No hoblo espanol! He spoke english. I need to reveiw my resturaunt vocab again!

going out to eat with the family

One day my family and I went shopping. When we were done we went out to eat at texas road house. When we were waiting to go to our table I was standing right across people that were speaking spanish. It was kinda hard to here them because it was so loud but I caught some of the words that they said. So when we got sat down at our table I told my parents what I heard and they were amazed that I could tranzlate some of the words that people were saying

Cuñado

So awhile back I was in Wal-Mart with my mom and we were checking out. She saw some guys from her work who just so happened to be Mexican. One was an older one named Martin and a younger one in his 20s named Louis. So anyways I got tired of waiting to check out so I went to the car. The next day mom said that Louis asked how old I was, etc... Evidently he kept calling my brother (who also works with him) cuñado. My brother of course had no idea what it meant so he asked one of the other Mexicans what it meant. Turns out it means brother-in-law and that Louis has a crush on me. And still, he calls Ashton cuñado.

The other day me and my girlfriend were starving, we both just got off of work, we were hungary so we made a call to find out what this mexican food was made out of because she used to eat it all the time but she could not think of what it was called so she made a call and this mexican meet called tereso that you put in taco shells with cheese, peppers, and salsa turned out top be very very good. Tereso is pretty much hamburger with a lot of spices and things added to it to make it a hot mexican treat. So I am telling you all that you should go to fairway and grab a pund of tereso and salsa and some hot pepers and throw it all in a pan, cook it and then enjoy!

Can't Stop Talking :)

It's been a long boring day sitting home alone on this snow day. Mom and dad finally get home and I automatically start talking in Spanish. Ever since they got home, I have been talking in Spanish. So as I sit here typing this blog, I am singing to myself, along with my parents, "Tu Eres Mi Cancion." They look at me with their worried eyes and probably ask themselves why. The fact that i have the love for Spanish, worries them too. I'm sure they wonder how I am theirs most days. :)

1-800-stopcallingme

So our phone rings the other night and it says it is a toll free caller so I answer it..

me: hola. [long pause]

lady: hello, uhh is jesse wooten there?

me: no sé.

lady: do you speak english?

me: no.

lady: okay i will have someone else call back later.

Moral of the story I was really waiting for someone to call because I had all these things I wanted to say in Spanish. No one ever called with really depressed me, but I guess I got over it. :)

Mexican!!

Marlaina and I were waiting outside to go to a movie and with our luck the movie got sold out so we had to think of something else to do. So we went out to Las Flores. I was kinda dissapointed that I couldn't go to the movie. But I was okay with Mexican. The waiter came over and asked for our order in English and I felt really smart that day so I told him I was going to order in Spanish. He smiled at me and said okay. So I said "Querro nachos de carne" and he said "muy bien" So then the rest of the night he spoke entirely in Spanish! Ohh boy! The were some words and phrases I didn't know. So I just looked at him and gave him the smile that said I have no idea what you are talking about, and then he tried to explain it too me. We were pretty proud of ourselfs. We had a good time and I can't wait to go back.

Mexican Border

As I said I was in the last two blogs I was in Texas.... And my family went with my grandpa and his girlfriend to the border. Right when you got there you had to go through security. Then you parked and paid to go over to Mexico. You could only go over to Mexico if you had a passport or an ID on you. My dad and megan had their passports and Drew had his license. I didn't bring mine that day becasue I thought... What would I do with my license in Texas! Yeah I know real smart! But They went over and came back and the rest of us stood by the shore and watched. Almost all of the guys on the boat spoke spanish and pretty much everybody that crossed.

Then after that we went to "Ropa" which was a clothing store. There is so much clothes there they put the clothes in piles on the floor and tables. And then they bale them up like when farmers bale hay. Then they take the bales of clothes and load them in a truck with a skidloader. All of the people in there spoke Spanish. I was the first one to walk in and a lady came up to me and was asking all of these questions and I had no idea what she was saying! So with my spanish skills I said. " no hablo Espanol." then shortly realized that I spoke to her in spanish but I said I didn't talk spanish. So the I said, "Hablo espanol pequeno" And she walked away.

Cowboys

When we were in Texas, my grandpa took us to a cattle farm. They had about 23,000 head of cattle. It was really cool to see. The men that take care of the farm are cowboys. They ride around on horses and do chorse. Well when we got there, 4 guys (cowboys) came riding up on their horses and my dad rolled down the window and said "hola!"... If you don't know my dad, he plays jokes and jokes around A LOT! So I think he was trying to sound smart and in return one of the cowboys said "HI!" And then looked at my dad like he was crazy. It was one of the funniest moments of the trip.

Texas

As most of you know I went to Texas over Christmas break. My grandpa lives down there and he was having surgery so we decided to visit. I don't think I have ever seen or heard that much spanish at one time! People are constantly talking in Spanish. And they talk so fast that it is very hard to even hear what they are saying. The first day I had a headache because I just wasn't used to it! Well I don't know if the headache was from the Spanish or the 22 hour car drive sitting in between your two younger sisters! Either way it was a lot of spanish. Alomost everything was in English and Spanish. My Grandpa lived in Mission, Texas which is further down in Texas so the spanish was heavier. With going through one and a half years of spanish I felt pretty confident in knowing Spanish until I realized that when people talked I could only pick up little things like "and, eat, drink, and walk" But now I realize that Senorita was right and there is sooo much more spanish to learn.

Las Flores Con Mi Madre Y Hermano(:

So on Christmas Break I went out with my mom and brother to go furniture shopping since Ashton was moving. After we were all done shopping we decided to go out to eat at Las Flores. The chips and salsa were good and we waited for our food. I ordered chicken fajitas which were amazing. And then my mom decided to order dessert. Since she doesn't like fried ice cream or flan, we ordered sopapillas. I suggested we get it with ice cream since everything tastes better with ice cream. The sopapillas came out looking like a pie crust covered in cinnamon and sugar with butter and carmel on top. Needless to say, the dessert was amazing and I really enjoyed it. Sopapillas are definitely up there with fried ice cream as one of my favorite desserts now. Going out to eat for Mexican is for sure my favorite thing to do, I love trying all the new food and dessert and I love the atmosphere of the restaurants.