End of the Year Traditions

There are a lot of ways to celebrate the end of the year! Check out the infographic below to learn a bit about some Latin American celebrations.

Also, Kristen does a fabulous job of describing a couple of traditions. 

Hot Tamale Activities - Complete one or more of these activities as an advanced/Hot Tamale blog post. Title your post the title of this blog post.

• Translate some information from the infographic above and find images online of the celebrations to include in your blog post.
• Find end of the year (or new-years celebrations) traditions not mentioned and explain them in your blog post.
• What are your end-of-the-year traditions? What do you do to ring in the new year? What was/is your resolution? How is it going?

Map Your Favorite Recipie

Here is where ingredients of deviled eggs come from.

MapYourRecipe is a neat website that will tell you where the ingredients of your favorite food comes from.

Hot Tamale Activities - Complete one or more of these activities as a advanced/Hot Tamale blog post. Title your post the title of this blog post.

• Think of your favorite dish - find the ingredients on allrecipes.com and copy them. Paste the ingredients in the box on the left side of MapYourRecipe and see where different ingredients come from. Include the screen shot in your blog post and a brief description of what you learned about ingredients of a delicious dish!
• It's not really helpful, accurate or interesting for foods like hamburger, hot dog, meatballs, or macaroni and cheese. You may need to copy and paste a few dishes before one becomes "screen-shot-worthy."

Great Travel Videos

When I found the links on the post about Mexican cuisine, I came across this great Vimeo channel, The Perennial Plate. This channel is fantastic at showcasing the value of traveling!

Travel Is from The Perennial Plate on Vimeo.

Check out this video about food from Spain.
(It makes me miss jamon serrano and pulpo a la galega soooo bad.)

A Spanish Roadtrip from The Perennial Plate on Vimeo.

Hot Tamale Activities - Complete one or more of these activities as a advanced/Hot Tamale blog post. Title your post the title of this blog post.

• Respond to one or both of these videos - what stands out to you? Does it inspire/scare you? Explain your answer.
• For the "A Spanish Roadtrip" video take a screenshot of the food that looks that tastiest and of the food that looks the least tastiest. Include both images in your blog post along with the video. Explain why you feel the way you do.
• Find another video on The Perennial Plate channel that you enjoy. Embed it in your blog post and explain what you like about it.

Comida Infographic

Hot Tamale Activities - Complete one or more of these activities as a advanced/Hot Tamale blog post. Title your post the title of this blog post.

• Which fruta y vegetal is in season in your birthday month?
• Explain other information that this infographic tells you.
• Take your preferences from the categorize comida activity and use them to create your own infographic (using one of these websites).

Learning About the World Through Photos

Photography is one of my hobbies, and I love taking photos of my travels. (Click here to see photos of my recent trip to Spain or here for photos from my previous international adventures.

Recently I have come across some amazing photo series about life in different parts of the world that taught me a lot.

Here is a series of photos taken of a couple who are living out of a truck in Mexico.

Here is a series of photos taken of a circus school in Cuba.

Here is a series of photos that show how much different items would cost in Venezuela right now.

Here is a series of photos that show people at their jobs around the world.

Hot Tamale Activities - Complete one or more of these activities as a advanced/Hot Tamale blog post. Title your post the title of this blog post.

• Which series of photos did you like the most and why?
• Select a series of photos and link to the website on your blog post and describe the series. What did you learn about the country that these photos were taken? What surprised you the most about what you see in the photos? What questions are raised based on the photos?
• Find another set of photos of a Hispanic place and include a link to the website and give an overview of what the photos series is about. Why did you select these photos?

New Immigration Reform - Other Perspectives

I just posted about President Obama's plan to reform immigration, now I want to share different perspectives on the proposed plans.

Click here to read about Bruno, (picture above) a young undocumented immigrant who has qualified and will be applying for the Deferred Action program.

"As far as going to the hospital and enrolling in school, I use a fake name at hospitals and school never really questioned, unless it's college."

I also read a blog post by a respected Chicago teacher who talked about the speech with his students. Below are a few quotes from his students. 

“I believe Obama’s executive order is a good thing.  It gives immigrants a chance to work with a permit and travel.  In addition, the immigrants won’t get deported with a valid permit.  Furthermore, immigrants must have been in the U.S. for at least 5 years.  On the other hand, I don’t agree with people not being included because they do not have children.  It also does not legalize immigrants or give them a green card.  I also don’t like the fact that parents of DREAMers don’t qualify because they try their best to support their kids.”          --Julie

“Immigration has always been a topic to talk about or have an argument about.  I agree that, for decades, we haven’t done much about it because it just creates more conflict.  Obama called on illegal immigrants to “come out of the shadows” and “to get right with the law.”  However, how do we know if immigrants will be treated fairly or be exploited?  He says we welcome immigrants, but do we really?  Over the years, there’s been a large amount of immigrants deported and treated unfairly.  The executive order provides a 2-year permit but it does not benefit people without children.”          --Jazmine

“It was great to hear Obama finally talk about our broken immigration system. As he said in his speech, he had committed to fix the broken immigration system and he finally came to an executive order. It was time to fix the lives of many immigrants who live in fear and want to embrace the same American responsibilities. We all agree that immigrants should pay fines for the laws that were broken. We also want special resources for the border. Although after years of living here, only people with U.S born children can benefit from this. How about single responsible immigrants?   In addition after two years, what happens when Obama leaves the White House?”           --Lisseth 

Finally, here is a story broadcast on NPR with thoughts of immigrants in Texas.

"I think it's a great thing because it's an improvement on your immigration laws, says Juan Orozco. He's a 28-year-old, unmarried construction worker from Mexico who says he's been in Texas for eight years. But it doesn't go far enough, he adds, because there are many people in my situation, who have a good record - nothing criminal - but who don't have kids."

Hot Tamale Activities - Complete one or more of these activities as a advanced/Hot Tamale blog post. Title your post the title of this blog post.

• Respond to one of these perspectives that you disagree with. Explain why you disagree.
• What questions would you ask these youth? Write a letter to them.
• Select another quote from Bruno or the Chicago students, include it in your blog post as an indented quote, and explain why you agree or disagree with their statement

New Immigration Reform - The President's Plan

Recently President Obama announced plans to reform immigration laws. According to the Washington Post's transcript of the speech, the three big changes he wants to make are

• to give more resources on the border to catch people who cross the border illegally and return them to their home country quicker.
• to make it easier and faster for immigrants who are high-skilled, graduates and entrepreneurs to stay in the United States.
• Deal with the many undocumented immigrants who are already in the U.S.
• If an undocumented immigrant matches the following criteria, they can apply to stay temporarily without fear of deportation.
• has been in the country more than 5 years.
• has children who are U.S. citizens or illegal residents.
• register, pass a criminal background, and promise to pay taxes
• It's important to recognize this does not mean they will become U.S. citizens.

Read more about this flowchart here.

Hot Tamale Activities - Complete one or more of these activities as a advanced/Hot Tamale blog post. Title your post the title of this blog post.

• Do you think this is a step in the right direction for immigration reform? Explain your answer. 
• Select a quote from Obama's speech, copy it in an indented quote format on your blog, and explain why you agree or disagree with his statement.