Vocabulary
Spanish term of endearment meaning grandfather… (abuelita would be grandmother; -ito and –ita are diminutives which are sometimes added to the end of nouns to say “little” as a term of endearment).
(The young child reached up to take the hand of his abuelito, walking almost shoulder to shoulder with his stooped grandfather.)
Listless and weak; lacking in vitality…
(The anemic man had to rest between each painful step, straining to catch his breath momentarily before struggling onward and never seeming to recover his strength.)
A Russian word for grandmother; usually a triangularly folded kerchief for the head...
(The child was fascinated with the wooden Russian babushka nesting dolls, assorting them according to size again and again.)
A Spanish derivative of the word bracero which means a hired hand or temporary worker…
(The brazer moved down the field row to relieve the pliant stalks of their heavy load of ripened fruit, working diligently on the farm for a week before departing.)
A place where refreshments are sold; sometimes a cafeteria…
(The students filed into the canteen in a single-file line, waiting with clenched faces to forcefully ingest the wretched cafeteria food.)
Spanish word for old shoes or old sandals…
(The chanclas were worse for wear, a tired pair of old sandals disintegrating due to overuse.)
Spanish word for close friend or companion (female); the masculine form is compadre… (in some Spanish-speaking cultures this is a term used among mothers to refer to one another).
(The comadres stuck together through thick and through thin, a group of strong mothers looking out for one another.)
A Colombian folk dance and type of dance music; the typical instrumental mix includes guitars, accordions, brass, and deep-toned drums and other percussion…
(The sound of the cumbia music drifted in through the open window of the Mexican cantina, an intoxicating mixture of guitar, drum, and brass.)
A dense, white, fluffy, flat-based cloud with a multiple rounded top and a well-defined outline, usually formed by the ascent of thermally unstable air masses…
(The cumulus cloud drifted slowly across the clear blue sky like a battleship slowly navigating the serene sea.)
A Spanish word for a large, voluptuous woman… (connotation of this word can vary from one Spanish-speaking culture to another).
(A true mamasota, the large woman with her curving figure took charge of the dance floor with her immense dance.)
A ballroom dance of Dominican and Haitian folk origin, characterized by a sliding step…
(The swiftly revolving couple stepped effortlessly through the complicated, side-steps of the merengue dance.)
A genre of the traditional music of Mexico, traditionally written about love, patriotism, or man’s enjoyment of/connection with nature…
(The ranchera musicians grouped around the restaurant table, enchanting diners with their traditional Latin songs.)
Very simple; austere; lacking comfort (refers to the way the Ancient Spartans lived)…
(The room’s spartan furnishings were limited – a sagging mattress on a aged cot was all that was provided for the guest’s comfort in the otherwise bare room.)
A figure from both Greek and Egyptian mythology - a winged creature having the head of a woman and the body of a lion, noted for killing those who could not answer its riddle; a puzzling or mysterious person…
(The enigmatic woman was a sphinx, complete with a mysterious smile.)
To walk in a laborious, heavy-footed way; to plod…
(The figure trudged through the storm, leading his obstinate horse through the chilling rain.)