¡Hay que estudiar!

Los estudiantes del 80 tienen un examen esta semana. We're almost done with our review of last year's materials so this is our last test before we begin our unidad on Oaxaca, México. Make sure you use your study guide para estudiar. No se olviden-¡el examen es el miércoles!

¡Viva México!

El martes Mexico celebrated el día de la independencia. On Independence Day, Mexico celebrates its freedom from Spanish rule. The Spanish arrived in 1521 and conquered the powerful Aztecs who ruled a large part of what is now Mexico, but was called Nueva España. The Spanish ruled Nueva España for a few centuries until 1808 when Napoleon invaded Spain and made his brother the king. The people living in Mexico took this opportunity to begin working for their independence from Spain. The plan was discovered so the people had to work quickly. On the morning of September 16, 1810 a priest named Father Hidalgo rang the bell of his church to call the people to fight for their independence. This action began the ten year war for independence.

Click on the links below to learn more about Mexican Independence Day.

http://www.inside-mexico.com/featureindep.htm

http://www.mexonline.com/mexican-independence.htm

Las calificaciones

¿Solamente tres semanas? It's hard to believe that we've only been in school for three weeks-everybody seems to have the school routine down already. Progress reports will be going home soon, but you don't have to wait for progress reports to check grades. Log into Parent Connect to check your grades and make sure you don't have any missing assignments!

http://sds.ccsd66.org/parentconnect/

Gold Rush

Much like the price of gasoline, the price of gold is going up. The demand for gold is affecting Guatemala in several ways. The corporation Goldcorp runs the mining industry in Guatemala and is making huge profits there. A number of groups and individuals in Guatemala complain that the presence of this company is hurting the country. Goldcorp argues that it is creating jobs for people in Guatemala and is using part of its profit to improve health facilities and education. Those against the mines say that Goldcorp has caused tensions between towns and even family members. Many Guatemalans say that Goldcorp doesn't understand the history of Guatemala. The people have been exploited for years through wars and many indigenous people, the Mayans, have been murdered for land.
Read this article about the gold mine. ¿Qué piensas? Do you think that Goldcorp is helping Guatemalans by mining in Guatemala and providing jobs or do you think that the Guatemalans should have their land back from this large corporation that doesn't understand their history?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/programmes/crossing_continents/7569810.stm

El verano en Santa Barbara

¿Qué hiciste este verano? What did you do this summer? I had a busy summer in Santa Barbara, California. I’m working on my master’s degree in Hispanic Language and Culture at UCSB and I’ll graduate next summer.

I spend six weeks there during the summer. I live in an apartment not too far from the campus. I fly out to California so I don’t have my car with me while I’m there. This summer I got around on my bike with its little basket in front that that I used to carry my books and groceries.

I was pretty busy with my classes this summer, but we had some extra excitement. There are usually several wildfires in California during the summer and this summer there was one called the Gap Fire. When it was biggest, the fire burned about 9,000 acres and it was about ten to fifteen miles from where I lived. It took almost a month for firefighters to contain it. Governor Schwarzenegger even came to check out the fire because it was so bad, but I was too busy doing homework to try to meet him. Helicopters were out all night dropping chemicals on the fire to keep it from spreading into the city. Our power went out almost every night for two weeks. I had to do my homework with a flashlight! Take a look at this slideshow that shows pictures of the fire. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpUgLThV-4k

The fire made things pretty hot outside, but there was also a lot of smoke in the air. It also rained, but not water-it rained ashes during the night and in the morning so my classmates and I had to buy masks to wear when we were outside because we kept choking on ashes. I didn’t look ridiculous at all wearing mine.

As you can see, I had a pretty busy and kind of bizarre summer. I was ready to come back home to get ready for the school. I’m excited to be back here at Lakeview and can’t wait to get the school year started.
¡Nos Vemos!

¡Las vacaciones!

¡Lo hicimos! We made it through the school year. ¡Gracias a todos for making my first year at Lakeview so great. ¡Felicidades a los estudiantes del 8 quienes se graduaron anoche, buena suerte en la escuela secundaria! I look forward to seeing los estudiantes del 7 in the fall after a well-deserved descanso.

¿Qué van a hacer este verano? Señorita Payne is going to be working pretty hard this summer. I'll be in Santa Barbara for seis semanas working on my masters degree at the University of California at Santa Barbara. When I get there, I have to sign a paper that says I'll only speak Spanish the whole time I'm there! ¡Ay ay ay! When we get back in the fall, we'll compare to see who read more books this summer-see if you can read enough to beat me! Here are some pictures of UCSB and some of mis amigos y profesores that I'll be spending time with this summer.

This is a picture of the campus at UCSB

Here's Señorita Payne with her compañeros de clase y some of her profesores

Here's Señorita Payne in a Spanish performance. What word am I holding up?

(Think about how we pronounce 'x' in Spanish...)

Here's Señorita Payne with Dra. Arias-Alvarez (una de mis profesores favoritas)

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe summer. It will be time to head back to school before we know it. ¡Hasta pronto!

St. Augustine

This fin de semana I went to St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest European-founded city in the United States. I was able to visit the Castillo de San Marcos and I drank from the Fountain of Youth. Did you notice how youthful I looked on Tuesday?

The Castillo de San Marcos was built by the Spanish to protect against attacks from the British. They began construction in 1668 and finished the fort in 1672. The fort was originally controlled by the Spanish, then by the British, the Spanish (again) and finally was handed over to the United States in 1819 when Spain yielded Florida to the United States.

The name most often associated with the Fountain of Youth is that of Ponce de León. There is a statue of him located in the Fountain of Youth National Archaelogical Park in St. Augustine. However, Ponce de León was not the first Spaniard to write of this legend, and he wasn't associated with the legend until after his death. The Fountain of Youth was written about by explorers like Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo (1535), Francisco López de Gómara (1551) and Hernando D'Escalante Fontaneda (1575). Ponce de León never found the fountain of youth, but he did make an important contribution to the exploration of the New World when he claimed "la Florida" for the king of Spain. Although the site in St. Augustine isn't the real Fountain of Youth, many people (including Señorita Payne) drink from the spring.

Visit these sites to learn more about St. Augustine and its attractions:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Augustine%2C_Florida

http://www.fountainofyouthflorida.com/index.html

http://www.oldcity.com/

http://www.nps.gov/casa/