The Mexican-American Family

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The Cuban-American Family

Adrian Tremble

Cuba is one of the most popular Islands of the Carribeans and the largest at that. BUt when you think of Cuba first you think about there unique cuisine and some might think of there music and dancing. Spaniards took over and colonized Cuba in the early 1500’s making Spanish the official language of Cuba. English is mainly spoken in tourist areas such as Varadero and a small choice of hotels in Havana and is hard to function anywhere else in Cuba without knowing some Spanish. Havana, one of the most popular cities in Cuba was the site for the first Catholic mass and it was performed under a massive silk-cotton tree. This is why most of Cubans are Roman Catholics and a select few practice Santeria which is a form of African worship originating from Nigeria. The History of Cuba stated in October 27, 1492 with Christopher Columbus and his journey to find a westward trail to India and they came upon a continent they didn’t know about. Christopher Columbus described the land as “The most beautiful land my eyes have ever seen”. Soon Diego de Velazquez came to Cuba with his small army and ended up on the Southeast end of the island, today known as Guantanamo. Valaquez created seven garrison towns known as Baracoa, Santiago, Bayamo, Camaguey, Sancti Spiritus, Trinidad and batabano and became known as “the key to Gulf” during the 1500’s due to the lack of labor forces caused the Spanish to import slaves from over the continent but the majority came from West Africa and soon Spanish and African traditions became somewhat of a foundation for today’s Cuban cultural expression. Cuba’s identity started to become felt in the 1800’s when Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, Known as the Father of the Nation, freed his slaves and pushed them towards independence.

Cuban is known for music, they introduced a new rhythm and beat based on African percussion instruments like the drums. Ernesto LeCuona, Moises Simons and Miguel Matamoros are known across the Island for their creative compositions and styles. Alicia Alonzo who is described as a prima ballerina is the reason Cuban dance is summarized by the national ballet put Cuba on the map in Latin American, Europe, and the United States. Cuba and many other countries were influenced by African slaves. As far as education The University of Havana would be the best choice even though its Cuba’s oldest university that was founded in 1720 it is the most popular and other universities include Universidad de Oriente (built in 1947) and Universidad Central de Las Villas (founded in 1857) and private universities included: Universidad Católica de Santo Tomás de Villanueva (founded in 1946); Universidad Masónica, and the Universidad de la Salle in Nuevo Vedado. In 1961. In Cuba they celebrate a lot some public holidays celebrated in Cuba are Liberation Day (jan 1) Labour day (May 1), commemoration of the Assult of the Moncada garrison (July 26), Independence Day(October 10), and Christmas.

http://www.cubanculture.com/

http://www.afrocubaweb.com/default.htm

http://www.escapeartist.com/cuba/cuba1.htm

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The Puerto Rican Family

Diana Gracia

Puerto Rico is located just south of Florida. Puerto Rico is known in particular for its amazing beautiful look and peaceful atmosphere. Puerto Rico is surrounded with 60% of beautiful mountains, astonishing variety of rain forest, deserts, beaches, caves, oceans and rivers. The island of Puerto Rico is one of the most popular island’s that tourist visit. Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, but the Puerto Ricans don’t have the same privilege as the Americans do, they cannot vote in presidential elections or pay federal income taxes. Approximately over 3.8 million Puerto Ricans reside in the United States. Most Puerto Ricans live in the East coast in the United States. The racial mix of Puerto Ricans consists of Spaniard, Taino Indian, Chinese, Italian, French, German, and Lebanese people. Puerto Ricans speak and write fluently Spanish and English. Puerto Ricans are known as "Puertorriqueños” or "Boricuas" in Puerto Rico and as well as here in the United States. One of the most popular dances in Puerto Rico is their soft rhythm danza, to the traditional “folk music”, and “plena” to “hot salsa” and the latest “reggaeton”. They have made reggaeton and other dances popular here in the United States. The Puerto Rican religion is the Roman Catholic, they believe in God, Jesus, and the Virgin Mary and many other Santos. I was surprised to find out that one of the main family ritual’s Puerto Ricans perform, is when a family member dies, one of the closets friends cuts the hair of the deceased and builds a charm with it, which symbolizes the love they had for the person that had died. Criollo (Creole) is a word used today by the Puerto Ricans to describe things native to the island, such as music, cuisine, language, arts, people, religion, and other aspects of island culture.

One particular holiday celebration Puerto Ricans celebrate is Ash Wednesday. The carnival begins on February 2nd and ends forty days before Ash Wednesday. They go to a near by park where they gather together. The men have to dress with scary bright color clothes and masks with devilish shapes. Their role is to scare people, but in particular the children. Puerto Ricans are family oriented; they are very close with one another. The Puerto Rican cuisine is very important in their culture. Puerto Ricans call their delicious cuisine “cocina crillo". The "cocina crillo" is a unique blend of Spanish, African, Taino, and Mexican food. Puerto Ricans adore chicken and use it to make tasty dishes like arroz con pollo (chicken and rice), pollo dulce (sweet and sour chicken), and asopao de pollo (chicken asopao). Most Puerto Ricans clothing is very simple, men where guayaberas, sandals, and simple silky shirt, (and others dress to impress) and the women’s clothing is regular shirts with skirts or pants. Puerto Ricans love to gamble, they train their roosters to cockfight to win, and the winner at the end collects the money, rooters, and the respect of the others. I came to the conclusion that Puerto Rico is a very popular island that many people love to visit not just for its gorgeous look or history it’s beyond that. “La Isla Del Encanto” is known for the generosity and love of the Puerto Ricans.

http://welcome.topuertorico.org/history.shtml

http://medinawebdesigns.com/pr/Traditions.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico

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The Peruvian Family

Susie Felix

Peru is located in South America’s country, is the third largest country in South America. Peru is divided into three distinct regions: The Sierra of the Andes, known as one of the best visiting places in Peru. The Andes is a mountain region which contains massive peaks and canyons. It’s a dry cold place and contains pre-Columbian archaeological sites. Machu Picchu known as “the great city of the clouds” is the Lost City of the Incas. Is a wonderful amazing place, a pre-Columbian site visited by millions of tourists a year. The second region is the Coast, covered by the Atacama Desert, a cooler environment due to the coastal shore. The third final region is the Jungle, surrounded by forests and by the Amazon River, a place known to be hot and humid. Peru has many beautiful sites to enjoy!!! Peruvians roots come from the Incas, but they were conquered by the Spanish in the 1500’s. However, Peruvians have kept their Inca roots traditions and cultures that they still follow up to this day. Cuzco a wonderful city up north, was the capital of the Inca Empire and today it’s the Cultural and Natural Patrimony of Humanity by UNESCO. Quechua is referred to the Inca civilization and the official language they spoke. Quechua is still spoken today in the Andean region. Peruvians primary language is Spanish. Aymara is another language spoken in Peru near the border of Bolivia. Roman Catholicism is the dominant religion in Peru. Since Peru’s majority population consists of indigenous people, their traditional dress is influenced by the Incas and Europeans ancestors. The Inca people wear bright colorful clothing made off woolen and cotton. They wear clothing such as, multi layered polleras (petticoats) and women wear black skirts with colorful ponchos. In Cuzco women don’t wear black skirts; they wear color skirts with gold and silver threads designs. Up north in the highlands, women wear skirts with red and black edging prints. Men usually wear ponchos with colorful designs or figures. Men and women also wear black and colorful hats depending in what region they live in. The colorful hats are worn to cover the ears from the cold weather. Indigenous clothing mainly consists of red, black, and yellow colors. However, their clothing represents their colorful roots.

Peru celebrates thousands of holidays a year, but the most important holidays they celebrate throughout the state is saint’s day. Peruvians are very devoted religious people. They celebrate many saints’ holidays for each saint they believe in. For example, El Senor de los Temblores is a very important saint holiday they celebrate. They honor Jesus Christ for saving Cuzco from being destroyed of an earthquake. La Virgen del Carmen is another saint holiday they celebrate. They honor the virgin with prayers and dancing rituals from the ancestors. It’s a fun traditional holiday. They also honor the Virgen Maria by prayers, dancing and by making posadas. There are more saints they celebrate on. New Year’s Day is a big and fun holiday they celebrate on. Families and friends gathered up and party all night. They use the yellow color to start off a new good year. Peru’s cuisine is influenced by the Incas, Europeans, Africans, and the Japanese’s. Peru has a finest cuisine from seafood to soups. Peru’s number one plate is "Ceviche", a seafood meal made of fish concentrated of Limon’s juice. "Lomo Saltado" is another traditional meal eaten in Peru. Is meat or chicken with fries, onions, tomatoes, and bell peppers. Peruvians use white rice with every meal they cook is a tradition carrying on from the Japanese ancestors. Peru has one of the best arts and crafts in world, arts such as, beautiful pottery and colorful weavings. Peru’s arts are being expanded and carrying on to Europe, North America, and Asia. Peruvians also have a wonderful variety of music, they play ancient music and they listen to modern music. They have also created new genres like the Chicha or Peruvian cumbia. They love Salsa music it’s within their roots. In overall Peru is an outstanding place to visit and enjoy with the company of your family or friends. Peru has beautiful sites everyone can enjoy from north to south.

http://www.culturexplorers.com/Pages/Destinations/Peru/Peru_IntroTo.html

http://www.peru.info/e_ftoculturaeng.asp?ids=1503&ic=2&pdr=757&jrq=5.5

http://www.viva-peru.com/peuvianculture.aspx

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__The Brazilian Family__

Brazil is a country that is into there religion which is mostly Roman Catholic and Salvador Bahia is one of the cities that has nothing but churches around the place. And the second one close to Catholic is Christians. They have other religions but Catholic and Christians are the most popular ones out of them all. Brazil has a diversity of different people which some are Indians, Africans, and European. Brazil is well know for there site seeing and the sport playing. Brazil has many different places you can go to see a good cite if you are a tourist. Some of the sites you can go to look at could be the amazing water falls that you can take a tour threw, there famous beaches, the rain forest and the Iguacu Falls. It is also know for there sport playing which is football (A.K.A. Soccer) in 2002 Brazil has had 5 world champions. They were also know as the world best team in 2002. There are other things that brazil is famous about which is there food they have similar food as the Mexican families do. That is what I have learned about the Brazilian family that I though was the most important information about Brazil.

Images of Brazil

Brazil Background

Brazil News Sports

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The South or Central American American Family

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