South America Archives

Tijuana – Mexico – Everything You Need to Know

Saturday, November 21st, 2009 at 6:45 am  
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Forty million people who cross its border each year, it’s the birthplace of Caesar Salad, folks in California call it TJ and it has its own verb!  It could only be Tijuana… Like most people of my generation I associate Tijuana with Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass and their Greatest Hits . Where is it? Tijuana (pronounced Tee a wan aa) is on the border between the United States of America and Mexico.  On the other side of the border is San Diego, California.  Tijuana is the largest city in the Mexican State of Baja California. What does ‘Tijuana’…

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Guatemala – Things You Need to Know

Saturday, November 14th, 2009 at 5:36 am  
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The country of Guatemala is between Mexico and Honduras, in Central America.  It’s slightly smaller than Tennessee and has a Pacific coastline.  It has a very long, rich, cultural history and was home to the amazingly evolved Mayan population.  Here’s our brief guide to this fascinating place. What does the word Guatemala mean? Although it is known that the name originated in the area, its precise origin is not known.  There are some theories.  One is that ‘Guatemala’ means ‘land of the trees’ and is from the language of the Maya-Tolec people.  Another theory is that the country was named…

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The Chicle Gatherers of Guatemala

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009 at 2:54 am  
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I was reading a blog today and in it was a picture of a large sink hole that had opened in the middle of the road in Guatemala. The effect was devistating and caused the death of a father and two teenagers. Just another of those tragic stories. It was actually reading about Guatemala that brought back childhood memories for me. Isn’t it amazing how something really simple as reading a blog can trigger off a memory. When I was a child I remember having to write an essay on the Chicle Gatherers of Guatemala. In my childs mind I…

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