Book Review : ' Quinceanera '

. The day of my Quinceanera started early. I had just turned 15 and it was the birthday I had always dreamed of. I was always a dama in other Quinceanera’s, but now it was time for my own celebration. In Mexican culture, a dama is just like a bridesmaid. I had 14 of my closest friends as my dama’s to be a part of my “court of honor”. All 14 girls wore beautiful hot pink dresses and had polished hairstyles. The girls looked like beautiful dolls. When my mother was a little girl she had two Quinceanera’s. One celebration took place in Mexico and the other here in California. Looking back at my

All birthdays are special. Birthdays celebrate life and the passing of time. In a young Mexican girl life, there is no birthday more important then her quinceañera. The quinceañera is a celebration of a girl’s journey into womanhood. The story of my fifteenth birthday is contributed for a better understanding of how special it is to celebrate a girl’s transformation into a lady, and how it differs from any other birthday she celebrates.

Throughout history, most young girls have a Quinceanera which is a special occasion and traditional celebration of a young girl turning fifteen on her birthday and making a transition from child to adult. Reached maturity and eligibility for marriage, which has been custom in most countries. A Quinceanera is something that started many years ago when a Spanish conqueror brought the tradition to Mexico and other countries. Throughout most countries, parents don’t celebrate their daughter’s fifteenth birthday by having a Quinceanera; they celebrated daughter’s birthday differently from other countries. While in countries like Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central, and South America are the only ones who celebrate their daughter’s

In Spanish-speaking communities in the United States, girls do still have a Quinceanera, but it has to be altered in the way that it is done. There are many people that do not speak Spanish in the U.S., so there’s has to be a way to coordinate these people into the celebration, since mostly even have the English Language in common. Invitations for Quinceanera are made both in Spanish and In English. The invitations that are in English might read “Sweet 15” instead of a Quinceanera. Traditions that are done during the ceremony might not be done, they might be done before the ceremony. A young girl may chose to have a “Sweet 16” instead of the traditional Quinceanera. A “Sweet 16” is the coming of age party in the United

Envision stepping into the venue, seeing your guests smile and conversate peacefully, the atmosphere of the room glowing, and sensing the enthusiasm grow in your chest as you know you planned a successful Quinceanera. The day a girl of the Hispanic culture turns 15, is the day her fantasies become a reality; and she becomes a woman. Quinceaneras bear plenty of decision making, particular details, and ingenious ideas; but with these simple steps it can be spectacular.

July 21st, 2016, a date that will be with me forever. This is the day that I met my sponsored child in Quiche’ Guatemala, her name is Lidia Cauanos Chingo.

Many people have experienced a Rite of Passage at least once in their lives without recognizing it. Experiencing a Rite of Passage is necessary to becoming an adult. A Rite of Passage can be both formal and informal, they both indicate a shift from one state to another. Formal Rites of Passages are weddings, Quinceañeras, and Bar Mitzvah, whereas informal Rites of Passages are a person’s first kiss, first job, and or the loss of a person 's virginity. Julia Alvarez focuses on the process and idea of Quinceañeras in her article "Selections from Once Upon A Quinceañera." Also included in this article is Jaider Sánchez that witnessed the sexual part of the ritual and Isabella Martinez Wall who talks about the benefits of the ritual on her life.Although many people believe that experiencing a Rites of Passage is not directly related to one 's self identity, these rituals both informal and formal do in fact affect one 's personal identity.

Dr. Lupe Quintanilla is an assistant professor and trains law enforcment even though she dropped out of school in the first grade. Her grandfather taught her to read, write and do math. She was classified as retarded in first grade because she did not understand the english language. No one took the time to find out she was fluent in spanish. She married and had 3 children. These children led Lupe to explore whether the school system was wrong about their classification of spanish speaking children as slow learners. One teacher suggested that Lupe learn english as a way to help her students learn in school. She had ahard time finding somewhere to learn english at first. Lupe finally had a breakthrough and enrolled in college classes. She made

A quilombo is a settlement founded by runaway slaves of African descent, the most famous of these communities was Palmares. This free territory was established in the 1600s and lasted about eighty-nine years, which is longer than any other quilombo in Brazil. In 1984, the director Carlos Diegues brought this overlooked history back into mainstream consciousness with his film Quilombo. The main historical topic covered in this film is the spirit and resistance of African people once they were separated from their homeland and subjected into slavery. History often portrays these kidnapped Africans as helpless and submissive but they did not give up their freedom quickly or silently. Diegues created this film not just to highlight the

"A quest is a journey in the course of which one advances spiritually and mentally, as well as physically travelling miles. The quester leaves the familiar for the unknown. The nature of the goal may not be clear at first and may only become fully apparent at the end of the quest" (Irwin 2011). In Don Quixote, a middle-aged man, driven half-mad by reading tales of medieval knights, attempts to recreate the world of chivalry in contemporary Spain. Quixote sets out on a quest, determined to right wrongs, even if the 'wrongs' are evil beings disguised as windmills. Quixote is on a quest to find true honor in a world where such values are no longer relevant and save his society from moral turpitude. Similarly, the protagonist of T.S. Eliot's modernist epic "The Wasteland" is on a quest to find something that no longer exists: a sense of meaning in life. Both Cervantes' prose and Eliot's poem are fragmented and episodic, reflecting the difficulties of the heroic quest to find a cohesive end and 'answer' to the questions the protagonists are seeking.

enemies would be left to rot, but in his own reality, he is doing the only

The Ballet performance Don Quixote is based on the worldwide known novel ‘Don Quixote de la Mancha’ by Miguel de Cervantes. It was originally performed by the Bolshoi Ballet of Moscow and choreographed by Marius Petipa in the year of 1869 with the music of Ludwig Minkus. Now days there are numerous Ballets performing it all over the world. The Miami City Ballet has adopted this performance as part of their season content, giving the Spanish play a hint of Latin American taste with several Hispanic dancers. The Ballet of Miami performed this Ballet in the Fort Lauderdale Performing Art Center on Friday 21 of March, and presented the story of Don Quixote in three main acts. In the first act is represented a public square in Seville where Basilio, an impoverished barber young man, flirts with young Kitri who has been determined to marry a Gamache. Gamache is a rich old ‘toreador’ and is willing to pay Lorenzo, Kitri’s father, for marrying her. In this act Don Quixote and Sancho Panza arrive to the town and try to protect Kitri from her father and Gamache. Finally they Kitri and Basilio escape from the town with Don Quixote and Sancho, but Gamache and Lorenzo are going behind them. Following the first act comes the second where the characters arrive into a gypsy encampment, the gypsies dance for Kitri and Basilio to welcome them but when Gamache and Lorenzo arrive they confuse them and help the lovers to escape again. Later on Don Quixote fins a windmill and

In Miguel de Cervantes' classic novel Don Quixote de la Mancha, a necessary counterpart to Don Quixote's character is found in Sancho Panza. Sancho is Don Quixote's so-called squire and companion through his adventures. The vital contrast between these two characters contributes to the literary success of Cervantes' novel. It is only through the eyes of Sancho that we witness Don Quixote's madness and only through the latter's madness that we evidence Sancho's sanity. Without the presence of these complementary characters, the story of Don Quixote would not exist as it does.

There has been plenty of stories about men in history but none like the one of Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde. Francisco came to power promptly after the start of the Spanish Civil War. He led the Nationalist Army to victory. After the war ended in 1939, Franco held complete control of Spain. His administration was similar to a Fascist autocracy. He carried out the functions of chief of state, prime minister, commander in chief, and leader of the Falange. In this, he adopted the title of El Caudillo, “the leader”. Although a fairly recent figure in Spain’s history, Francisco Franco played a significant role in Spain during his time and in the years since.

Charlotte Lennox was a Scottish writer of the 18th century, famous for writing The Female Quixote. The story evolves around Arabella, the heroine of the novel, who, never leaving her castle, grows up reading countless French romance novels and, consequently, expects her life as much adventurous as her favorite romantic women characters. Throughout the novel it’s clear how Arabella’s misunderstanding of reality is the major cause of the strange, and also dangerous, situations in which she frequently finds herself. In order to have her happy ending, Arabella must recognize that most of her beliefs are irrational. Charlotte Lennox wants to communicate, indeed, that romance and love are strictly related to reality and experience; therefore, they