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An exciting archaeological discovery in Mexico City is shaking things up for pre-Hispanic historians. Salvador Guilliem Arroyo announced that his team had uncovered ancient ruins in Tlatelolco, a neighborhood in the center of the sprawling capital. Believed to be built between 800 and 1,100 A.D., the site’s Templo Mayor (Main Temple) could be 225 to 525 years older than any other previously-known Aztec remnant. If the teac can corroborate these initial findings, the discovery will necessitate revision of the established timeline for the development of the Aztec civilization.
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In he midst of much negative press coming out of Latin America, there is one piece of news that is cause for celebration. Last month, the UN’s Economic Commission on Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) released its report on the current state of poverty in the region, Social Panorama of Latin America 2007, applauding last year’s progress and stating optimistically that the region is 87% of the way to the goal of halving its 1990 poverty levels by 2015. Between 2005 and 2006, Latin America and the Caribbean experienced a 3% reduction in poverty, and extreme poverty (characterized by a family’s inability to afford food for all members) was lowered by 2%. The report remarks that the achievements in poverty reduction are even more positive than they might seem, because they represent the 3rd year of continuous improvement, in sharp contrast to the years of stagnation experienced prior to 2004.
The greatest improvements between 2002 and 2006 were seen in Argentina and Venezuela, which dropped poverty by 24.4% and 18.4% and extreme poverty by 13.7 and 12.3 respectively. In the case of Venezuela, these results were attributed to the aggressive implementation of social programs by that country’s government. Overall improvement across the region is attributed to general economic growth, leading to the largest increase in GDP per capita since the 1970s.
Unfortunately, there were also a couple of countries that experiences an increase in
poverty in the period 2002-2006. Bolivia and Uruguay saw small increases in the number of impoverished, while extreme poverty increased in Uruguay and the Dominican Republic.
Despite the generally optimistic findings of the Social Panorama report, there is plenty of progress still to be made. The report cites that the current level of poverty across the region is 36.5%, while extreme poverty affects 13.4% of the population. Although these are the lowest levels since 1980, they are still very high and the region continues to be characterized by enormous economic inequality.
Read the Spanish version of the report here: http://www.eclac.org/cgi-bin/getProd.asp?xml=/publicaciones/xml/5/30305/P30305.xml&xsl=/dds/tpl/p9f.xsl&base=/tpl/top-bottom.xsl
Read the English version of the report here: http://www.eclac.org/cgi-bin/getProd.asp?xml=/publicaciones/xml/9/30309/P30309.xml&xsl=/dds/tpl-i/p9f.xsl&base=/tpl-i/top-bottom.xsl
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Spain has been the birthplace of some of the world’s most illustrious art masters. From El Greco and Velásquez to Picasso and Salvador Dalí, the Iberian nation has produced centuries of groundbreaking artistic expression in painting and sculpture. Many of the most important early works (from the 12th to the 19th centuries) are displayed in Madrid’s renowned Museo Nacional del Prado, the oldest of the museums making up the city’s Triángulo de Arte. Opened in 1819, the Prado museum first served both to give the public access to the crown’s vast collection and to prove to the rest of Europe that the Spanish had an artistic tradition as rich as any other nation’s. These days the museum welcomes more than two and a half million visitors a year and is a major attraction for any art lover. Many of the paintings derive from the personal collections of the Spanish royal family, art amassed by the monarchs to decorate the walls of their palaces and country homes, often through direct commission, gifts, or diplomatic offerings. El Museo Nacional del Prado has come to house the most important and extensive collections of the Spaniards El Greco, Goya, Velázquez, Murillo and others, as well as important non-Spanish artists.
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[editor: Today we welcome a new contributor, Adir Ferreira to the Spanish Blog. Adir has many years experience teaching both English and Spanish; I am sure you will enjoy his helpful and thorough approach to language learning!]
Homophones (from Greek homós ’same’ y phoné ’sound’) are words that have exactly the same sound (pronunciation) but different meanings and (usually) spelling. Spanish is not different when it comes to homophones. There are several words which, written as one mean one thing and written as two words, mean another. Let´s have a look at some of them:
Avemaría : Hail Mary (the prayer)
¡Ave María! : type of informal greeting or an exclamation of surprise
Cumpleaños: birthday
Cumple años: conjugated form of the verb “cumplir años” (be someone´s birthday) María cumple años hoy. (It´s Maria´s birthday today.)
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As we greet the New Year, now might be just the time to introduce a loved one (or yourself!) to the varied and delicious world of Latin American literature. The following is a partial list of some of my favorite Spanish-language novels (in no particular order), all of which are easy to find in Spanish or English.
One Hundred Years of Solitude/Cien años de soledad, Gabriel García Márquez
This is the most famous work by the Nobel Prize-winning Colombian author. The novel chronicles a century in the lives of the Buendía family, and combines real events in Latin American history with magical realism, the literary device for which García Márquez is most famous.
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