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Language Learning Center
Smullin Hall
Willamette University
900 State Street
Salem, Oregon 97301
(503) 375-5492 voice
llc@willamette.edu
A flash of a Oaxacan Market:
On the main square of a historic downtown there are two well known traditional markets in Oaxaca City: Benito Juárez and 20 de Noviembre. ¨Benito Juárez¨is located two blocks southwest of the Zócalo which is the main square in downtown that was built in 1893.
Hola a todos! Yo soy Rebeca.
I am Rebeca Lavariega, I am one of the Spanish assistants here at Willamette University this year. I am from Mexico and I was born in Oaxaca city.The name of Oaxaca comes from the Nahuatl word Huaxyacac. It's roots are Huaxin (kind of an acacia) and Yacalt (which means a peak, edge, or top), top of the acacias. King Carlos V of Spain elevated Oaxaca to the rank of 'City' in 1532. Oaxaca City is located in the Southwest of Mexico, it is an enchanting city with the largest bio-diversity of the Mexican Republic.
After five months of protest in the city of Oaxaca, the Federal Goverment decided to send the federal police to bring back order and peace to the city. Continue reading "An unforgettable "Dia de los Muertos" in Oaxaca"
Despite of all the social and politicial problems that Oaxaca is facing nowadays, the traditions are still being preserved and people are getting ready to celebrate one of the most important traditions in the year "El Dia de los Muertos" (the day of the Dead). Even though the Dia de Muertos celebration takes place during the first two days in November, from this point on you can feel that "air" of the Muertos. Actually for me, everytime I go to the cemetery during this time of the year I experience something new. The theme at the cemeteries changes with all the colorful flowers and the dances performed there.
Hi everybody,
Mexican Congress weighs allowing compatriots in U.S. to vote
This article is about a new bill that the Mexican government tries to set. It is a bill that gives Mexican immigrants that live in the United States the right to vote in the presidential elections of Mexico in 2006. It would probably cause several problems and would allow corruption to occur. If this bill is approved, it will need to have a lot of money invested, as well as people and time. Obviously for the next presidential elections in June 2006, there is not to much time to organize all the Mexicans living in the states, neither to establish regulations nor verify them.
Healing with the flesh of the gods, Maria Sabina and her legacy
If you are interested in all about healing, magic and mystic issues this article will interest you. Also, Maria Sabina is a very important woman in the Mexican and Oaxacan culture. Her knowledge was a gift given by her ancestors or as she said, “of the Gods”. This article gives a description of this mythical woman and what happened to her power after she passed away. This site is very cool, enjoy it!
Controversial crater probe ends in reef shipwreck
Sometimes science is not good for our nature even though it tries to “help” it. Man can make mistakes that cause terrible damages in just seconds and it takes more than millions of year for those damages to repair. A good example is this probe in the Yucatan Sea, it really damaged coral reefs which are not replaceable.
Hi everybody,
My name is Mariana Vasquez and I am from Oaxaca, Mexico. I am new on campus and I will be here just for this term. However this is such a great experience and I am sure it will be unforgettable.
I would like to share some information about my country with you. Oaxaca is the fifth largest state in Mexico and it is located in the southwest. It is rich in history, nature, and culture. Oaxaca was also the settlement of two very important indigenous cultures: the Mixteca and Zapoteca. Today, we have still preserved 16 indigenous languages throughout the region.
I will try to provide some web sites links so that you will know what is going on in Mexico. If you want to know something about Mexican culture or Oaxaca, or just practice your Spanish, just e-mail me, I will be glad to help you.
This is a site where you can find lately news about Oaxaca, just as an introduction.
Blast in Nuevo Progreso kills six, injures over a dozen.
A gas explosion in the border town of Nuevo Progreso levelled a two-story cement building containing a restaurant and clothing stores located about two blocks from the international bridge over the Rio Grande that connects Mexico and the United States. The explosion was accidental, caused by a gas leak from either a restaurant or a dentists' office in the building.
Stability Restored in Mexico
Ten years ago, Mexico was lurching toward bankruptcy and mired in rebellion, plots and assassinations, a spiral that reached its height on March 23, 1994, when presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio was gunned down at a campaign rally. Today, Mexico has unprecedented economic stability, the highest foreign reserves in its history, a healthy trade balance and greater democracy. But Mexicans are scared again, because little appears to have changed in the country’s violent, cloak-and-dagger politics.
More than 30 people dead in Rio Grande flood
Five neighborhoods were evacuated early today in this border town devastated by flash flooding, while emergency crews searched for more than a dozen people still missing after heavy weekend rains. The death toll rose to 34, city spokeswoman Marcela Aguirre said today. Many residents began burying the dead, while others returned to water-logged homes to see what they could salvage.
Mexico welcomes the exemption of fingerprinting and photographs for quick border crossings
Mexicans who cross the Mexico-USA border with a valid visa and nearby destination will no longer be fingerprinted, a practice that is being called a "good-faith gesture toward (...) Mexicans." With millions of visa-holding mexicans crossing the border each day for work and school, this is a first step towards streamlining the immigration issues between Mexico and the USA.
Mexico struggles to secure its southern border
Mexico's southern border, cloaked in jungle and largely uninhabited stretches of mountain, traversed by hundreds of Guatemalan immigrants on their way north, has begun to draw attention. "Mexico struggles with some of the same safety, security and fairness issues regarding the waves of poor Central American immigrants who flow illegally through its southern border on the way to the United States."
Corruption hits airwaves, politicians exposed in Mexico
Corruption is endemic in Mexico, ingrained in its political system from the very roots to the crown. In many cases it is impossible to get as simple a transaction as a drivers licence in a decent amount of time whithout having to fork over a bribe. Recently, through President Fox's efforts to minimize corruption throughout the country, such as creating special "payment" offices for transactions such as drivers licenses, he has come to declare that although there are still large incidences of corruption in Mexico, the country has become "more democratic." Upon this positive wave there has been an outburst of "outings" in an apparent anti-corruption war.
Mexican legislators propose law to prevent possible presidential bid by first lady
The wife of high-profile president Vicente Fox, the first to break Mexico's decade-long single party monopoly, has grown steadily in the public eye through a direct media campaign. Denying accusations of misappropriation of funds through her "Vamos Mexico" charity organization, she may soon grow to be one of Mexico's leading presidential candidates for 2006.
Mexico deputies seek crackdown on child sex tourism
"Mexican deputies are pushing for a clampdown on the child prostitution industry, which is turning some of the country's most popular resorts into sordid haunts for pedophiles and sex tourists (...) Mexico is a paradise. Tourists flock here and nobody asks them what they are coming for..."
Mexico's unsolved murders draw fury
Hundreds protest slaying of 370 women in Juarez
Huge numbers of girls have been kidnapped, mutilated and murdered in Juarez, Mexico. A city of sweatshop factories and a way-town for inmigrants on their way north to the USA, this desert city is also rife with gang violence related to the drug trade. A thoroughly corrupt administration is falling under public scrutiny, being called attention to by a host of international celebrities. Even Willamette University's Vagina Monologues drew special attention tot he plight of the women of Juarez.
'Made in China' strikes fear in Mexico
Millions of street vendors live in apalling poverty, depending on inexpensive chinese imports to fuel their trade. After restricting importation from china, these people are finding it extremely hard to make a living in what were already extenuating conditions.
'Black waters' measure crisis in Mexico City
A city with over 20 million people, forced to pump its wastewater out of a "cup" formed by surrounding mountains. Most of the city has no sewage treatment whatsoever.
Peace Corps on a Hi-Tech mission to Mexico
Mexico has taken to the internet with surprising vigor. Internet cafes for under a dollar an hour can be found everywhere from hi-tech Mexico City to indian villages throughout the countryside. The Peace Corps moves in to work with & investigate the phenomenon.
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