Sin Nombre: Relevant, Intense, Heart-Wrenching
SUMMARY: I review Sin Nombre, the best film I’ve seen in a long time about a Mexican gang member trying to escape his past and help an innocent Honduran girl safely enter the United States. Themes discussed include MS-13, immigration and human rights, love, and more.
I wasn’t going to include this post on this blog (only my other blog), but WordPress.com apparently doesn’t allow embedding YouTube videos so I’m posting it here as well because I spent a lot of time finding those fucking videos!
Sin Nombre is the best film I’ve seen in a long time. It’s also the first Spanish-language movie I watched without subtitles. They weren’t available at the pirated DVD market where I bought the disc. Fortunately I had no trouble understanding. … Read more
Chicha: An Ode to Peruvian Cumbia
SUMMARY: This post is my tribute to Peruvian cumbia, chicha, with some embedded videos and a breakdown of why the music is so cool.
Chicha is Peruvian cumbia, and it’s among the most beautiful music I’ve ever heard. It’s addictive; I can’t stop listening to it. The gringo ear, if not acclimated to Latin music, may not appreciate these songs on the first listen. Unfortunately, many Peruvians don’t like or even hate Peruvian cumbia. It’s seen as a lower-class music, but it’s apparently gaining popularity compared to a generation ago (as it should).
American groups, from rock bands to hip hop acts, typically have four or five people at most. Salsa and cumbia bands bring out the whole neighborhood: trombones, trumpets, guitars, various percussion instruments, leading vocals, backup vocals, etc. The horns are the key that differentiates salsa and different types of cumbia from gringo music. Once you come to love the sound of the horns, you’ll be addicted too. … Read more
My Juanes Post
SUMMARY: I live in Colombia, and I blog, so I must blog about Juanes. Just this once.
Juanes is a Colombian musician who’s sold over ten million albums and won a record 17 Latin Grammy awards. He’s widely considered the most successful Latin musician of his generation. For his personal philanthropy, Juanes campaigns against anti-personnel mines, which are a serious issue in Colombia. Juanes was selected by TIME Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in 2005. … Read more
The Mick’s Prison Murder
SUMMARY: The Mick participated in murdering a fellow inmate during the first year of his 4-year sentence in Colombian prison. This is the story.
WARNING: There’s graphic violence in this story. Women, children, parents, nuns, clergy – you’ve been warned. If you don’t want to read grisly prison violence, then do NOT click:
Alcohol and Sensitivity in Latin America
A Facebook friend currently in Buenos Aires recently updated with:
Movie “Hangover” is titled / advertised in Argentina: “Que Paso Ayer?” which literally means, “What happened yesterday?” Subtle difference.
I commented on his update:
The word for ‘hangover’ is different in almost every Spanish-speaking country.
Mexico: estar crudo
Peru: tener resaca / estar resaquiado
Colombia: tener guayabo / estar enguayabado
And those are just the regional variations that I’ve learned. Spanish is like that for a lot of words. Pain in the ass if you ask me.
And then some dude commented this:
Or it simply could be that they found the word “hangover” offensive as a title and changed it so that it still reflected the theme of the movie.
I’m not going to argue with some dude I don’t know on a friend’s Facebook update. But that comment indicated that there are some completely uninformed people about Latin culture out there. I thought of all the things I would say to him in explaining exactly how wrong he is. And I realized that these might be interesting stories for the blog. I hope so. … Read more
Nasty Follow-Ups
SUMMARY: Developments to old stories sometimes get left out of this blog. This post sums up those most interesting regarding hazing, basketball, racism, sex, work and Peruvian culture in the following sections: From Hazed to Hazer, San Jose Basketball, Cholo Cholin, AQP Gringo Tours, Anita, Milagros, and Scrawny Anorexic.
From Hazed To Hazer
A week after the team put Icy Hot in my ass, I met Sebastián – a new addition to the team who wasn’t at our initiation. Coach said Sebastián must adhere to tradition. I was in the back of the locker room but Flaco singled me out – probably due to my performance when the team subdued me. He addressed me in English while pointing at Sebastián, “Kah-lahn, fetch.” … Read more
