FUN WORDS TO SAY
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Chimichanga
(chim-ee-chahng-guh)
A crisp tortilla with a spicy meat filling.
Burro
(boo-row)
(be sure to roll the “R”!)
Donkey; stupid (Como burro means, “like a donkey”).
Tonto
(tahn-toe)
Silly or foolish.
Chistosa
(chee-stoh-sa)
Funny; a facetious attitude.
Parangaricutirimicuaro
(pahr-rahn-gahr-ee-koo-tee-ree-MEE-kwahr-row)
The name of a town in the Southern part of Mexico; used as a nonsensical tonguetwister in much the same way as “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”
EXPRESSIONS
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Este arroz ya se coció.
“That rice has been cooked.”
(Similar to our expression, “That ship has sailed.”)
De tal palo tal astilla.
“Of such a stick is the chip.” (Like our phrase, “A chip off the old block.”)
No se puede tapar el sol con un dedo.
“You can’t cover the sun with one finger.”
Al mejor cocinero, se le queman los frijoles.
“Even the best cook burns his beans.”
Porque naces en horno, ¡no quiere decir que eres una barra de pan!
“Just because you were born in an oven doesn’t make you a loaf of bread!”
¡El mero, mero patatero!
“The real, real potato seller!”
(Like “The real McCoy,” or “It’s the real thing!”)
Spanish Food
Gazpacho
A cold uncooked bread soup usually made with stale bread, garlic, olive oil, salt, vinegar, tomato, and bell pepper
Paella
A rice dish made with saffron and olive oil and usually garnished with vegetables, meat, or seafood.
Churros
Fried-dough pastry snacks, sometimes referred to as Spanish doughnuts, or Mexican doughnuts, that originated in Spain. The long fried stick, sometimes also dipped in sugar or cinnamon, gets its name from its similarity to the horns of the Churro breed of sheep reared in the Spanish grasslands.
Spanish and Latin-American Themed Books
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
Isabel: Jewel of Castilla, Spain, 1466 by Carolyn Meyer
Daring Spanish Girls
ARANTXA SANCHEZ-VICARIO
* * *
Born in Barcelona, Spain, in 1971, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario started playing tennis at age four, following in her older brothers’ footsteps. When she was 17, she won the French Open, defeating the number-one ranked player in the world, Steffi Graf, and becoming the youngest woman ever to win the singles title. (Her record was broken the next year, when 16-year-old Monica Seles won.) Arantxa gained the nickname “Barcelona Bumblebee” due her tenaciousness and her refusal to surrender points without a fight, even if it meant flying all over the court. She became the world number-one ranked singles player in 1995, competed in the Olympics three times, and over the course of her career won four Grand Slam singles titles and six Grand Slam doubles titles. She was also the first woman since Martina Navrátilová in 1987 to simultaneously hold the number one ranking in both singles and doubles. In 2007, Arantxa was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame—only the third Spanish player (and the first Spanish woman) to achieve such an honor.
CRISTINA SÁNCHEZ DE PABLOS
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The bullfighter Cristina Sánchez de Pablos was born in Madrid in 1972 and debuted as a bullfighter in Madrid exactly one week before her twenty-first birthday. She enjoyed tremendous international success as one of the first females in the sport (“matadoras”), performing to great acclaim at bullrings in Mexico and Ecuador as well as Spain. During her career, she earned a total of 316 cuts. She retired in 1999.
ELENA GOMEZ SERVERA
Elena Gomez Servera, born November 14, 1985, on the island of Mallorca, Spain, was the first Spanish gymnast ever to win a World Championship title, and the first gymnast ever to complete a quadruple turn in competition. She won the World Championship title in 2002, and in 2003 she won the World Cup competition in Paris on the floor exercise and the bronze medal at the Anaheim World Championships. At the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Elena reached the finals on two events and finished in eighth place in the All-Around, helping the Spanish team achieve fifthplace standing. In 2006, Elena retired from competition after suffering a back injury.
Pressing Flowers
PRESSING FLOWERS is a nice skill to have when you wish to preserve some of your favorite blossoms from your flower garden. Also, pressed flowers make nice gifts when attached to a homemade card or bookmark. We like this project because it mixes daintiness with power tools.
To make the press, you’ll need:
ft Two pieces of wood cut into 6″ squares.
The wood should be ½″ to 1″ thick.
Four bolts, 2½ to 3″ long.
ft Four butterfly nuts, also called wing nuts, that fit the screws.
Cardboard, cut to 6″ squares. These are reusable.
Paper. While you have the scissors out, cut a supply of paper, same size as the cardboard. (You can also use special blotting paper.)
Drill.
Lay one piece of wood on top of the other with the paper and cardboard in between. Drill a hole ¾ of an inch from each corner, making the hole large enough for the bolts. Drilling the wood, cardboard, and paper at the same time keeps the holes lined up together, and that’s a handy tip for future projects.
To press flowers, layer in this order: bottom of the press, cardboard, paper, flower, paper, cardboard, paper, flower, and so forth. When you are done, place the top of the press over the stack. Then, tighten the bolts, and put the press away. In three to four weeks, the flowers will feel dry and rigid to the touch.
We would be remiss if we didn’t mention several alternatives. One is the tried-and-true, stick-the-flower-under-a-heavy-pile-of-books method. Another, related, is the place-the-flower-in-a-random-book-on-your-shelf-and-find-it-a-year-later approach.
A more modern technique, for those who need their flowers dried fast (but not pressed), places the flower in the microwave, on a very low setting, for three minutes.
Four Square
TO PLAY, you need at least four people, and a bouncy, 8-12 inch rubber ball—a kick ball works well. Find a court on a local playground, or draw your own with sidewalk chalk, numbering each of the four squares one through four. The objective of the game is to work your way up from square number four to square number one by eliminating players in higher ranking squares.
Each player stands in a square (if there are more than four people who want to play, have the others line up behind square number one). The player in square number one serves the ball by bouncing it once and hitting it from underneath with both hands to another player in another square. The player in the receiving square keeps the ball in play by hitting it into yet another square. Play continues until a player becomes out through fouling the ball.
The out player leaves the game and the remaining players advance toward square number one. The new player enters the game at square number four. Players are not required to stay within their square (as long as they do not interfere with other players or step in another player’s square) unless they are serving, in which case they must have at least one foot in their square.
Any of the following constitutes a foul:
♦ Hitting the ball with any part of the body except the hands.
♦ Hitting the ball with only one hand, with fingers pointing up, or with a fist.
♦ Hitting the ball more than once. before it goes to another square.
♦ Hitting a line.
♦ Not hitting a ball that bounces i
n your square.
♦ Holding/catching/stopping the ball.
♦ Serving without having at least one foot in your square.
♦ Stepping into another player’s square.
A variation of the game is “King’s Corner.” In this case instead of numbered squares, the squares are “King,” “Queen,” “Prince,” and “Princess,” and the goal is to get to be King.
SPECIAL RULES
If the players agree beforehand, the game can be played with “server’s rules,” which means the player who serves can call special rules at the start of each round. Some of these include:
7-Up
Every player who hits the ball must shout out a number, starting with one, until the number seven is reached. The number 7, or any number ending in a 7, must be skipped, and if it isn’t, the player who doesn’t skip it is out.
Around the World
Anyone who has the ball may call “Around the World” at any time during the game. Once it’s called, the ball must be hit from square to square in numerical order until it reaches the player who originally started it. After that, the game play returns to normal.
Backboards (also called Treetops)
Hit the ball upward into the air (instead of bouncing it once on the ground) before hitting it into another player’s square.
Do Overs
A penalty-free chance to redo a play without a player becoming “out.”
Friendsies
When “Friendsies” is called, players can stay in the game even if they commit a foul.
Princesses Today
WHEN MOST OF US think of princesses, we conjure up fairy tales and Disney movies, lovely Cinderella or Belle in their pale blue taffeta and yellow silk ball gowns—or the ultra-pink princess merchandise pushed on girls today.
Perhaps it’s a surprise to find beneath the glitter that these are real people who are princesses, and who lead very different lives than we see in the sugary movies—princesses who are comfortable wearing sensible wool suits and athletic clothes more often than fancy dresses and sparkly jewels.
Thirty-nine nations in the world still have monarchies—constitutional monarchies, which means the royal family is important, but that the real political power is in the elected parliament and the Prime Minister. Many of these monarchies include princesses, of all ages—some born into their royal family, like princesses Kako and Aiko of Japan, and some married in, like commoner Princess Mette-Marit of Norway.
However they became princesses, these real girls and women are as different from one another as any girls can be. Many do live with great wealth and privilege, true, but their lives can be quite conventional. They go to school, start businesses (like Princess Naa Asie Ocansey of Ghana, who has had a TV home-shopping show), and do charity work. Some are happy with their lives, and others struggle with their royal role, as did the late Diana, Princess of Wales, and the late Princess Leila of Iran.
Real princesses have various personalities, talents, and hobbies. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand writes poetry and short stories, plays Thai classical instruments, and also jogs, swims, bikes, and treks.
A closer look at just six modern-day princesses gives you an idea of the many ways to live a real life of royalty today—and not one of these princesses resembles Sleeping Beauty.
An Equestrian Princess
Her Royal Highness Haya bint Al Hussein—also known as Princess Haya—was born in 1974 and grew up in the royal family of Jordan. Her father is the late King Hussein, and her mother is Queen Alia Al Hussein. She attended St. Hilda’s College in Oxford, England, studying politics, philosophy, and economics. She is an avid sportswoman who competes in equestrian sports (horse competitions being a popular royal pastime), including the 2000 Summer Olympics at Sydney.
In 2004, when she was thirty, Princess Haya married His Highness Sheik Muhammed, the Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and moved to that vibrant city in the United Arab Emirates to be with him. In her role as princess, Haya leads many humanitarian efforts. She advocates for children’s right to play and for health care, and served as the first woman ambassador to the United Nations hunger relief program.
A Champion Fighter Princess
Her Highness Sheikha Maitha bint Muhammed al-Maktum has not traveled the standard princess-and-horses route. Born in 1980 to Sheik Muhammed bin Rashid Al Maktum of Dubai and the United Arab Emirates, Maitha has followed her passion for the martial arts and is a karate champion.
Princess Maitha has won gold medals at Tae Kwon Do championships, competes in international karate championships, and was named the Arab world’s best female athlete.
An Everygirl Princess
Mary Elizabeth Donaldson fits the image of the ordinary girl who becomes a royal princess. Born in Australia in 1972, she grew up on the island of Tasmania, where her father was a math professor. She played field hockey and swam, and after graduation from college, she worked for an ad agency and in public relations.
She met her future husband, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, at a pub in Sydney; he was in town for the 2000 Olympics. In 2004 they had a grand wedding—800 guests at the Copenhagen Cathedral—and Mary Elizabeth became the new princess of Denmark. They have since had two children: Prince Christian, born in 2005, and Princess Isabella, born in April 2007.
An Unassuming Princess
Most people know that Prince Charles is the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth, the reigning Queen of England, and know of Charles’ famous late wife, Diana. However, not as many people talk of Charles’ only sister, Anne—which is just how she wants it. Anne was born in 1950, and her full title is HRH The Princess Anne Elizabeth, Princess Royal, which denotes that she is the eldest daughter of the Queen.
Although she has not abdicated her royal status, she has led a very unassuming life outside the public eye. When she married, her first husband declined to take a royal title, even though it is considered common to do so. She chose not to pass on royal titles to her children, Peter and Zara, in order to protect them from the spotlight that hovers over children in the British royal family.
A Young Lady Princess
The youngest girl of the British royal line has also sidestepped the title Princess. Born in 2003 to Prince Edward (Charles’ younger brother) and his wife Sophie, who are also known as the Earl and Countess of Wessex, little Louise was given the title Lady instead.
The princess title is still legally hers, and when she comes of age, she can fully adopt it if she wishes.
A Rediscovered Princess
And here’s one final princess story, that of Sarah Culberson, born in 1976. Her mother and father met in college in West Virginia, fell in love, and had Sarah, but they put her up for adoption just two days after she was born. When she was twenty-two and living in San Francisco, Sarah hired an investigator to find her birth parents. She learned that her mother, a native West Virginian, had died of cancer many years before, but that her father was a royal member of the Mende Tribe in Bumpe, Sierra Leone. He was of the line of Paramount Chief, and as his long-lost daughter, Sarah was officially a princess.
Now that she has claimed her title, Sarah’s life as a princess isn’t about horses and galas. Sierra Leone had a devastatingly long civil war, and much of her family’s village, including the school, is in shambles. Sarah has focused her efforts on raising money in the United States to send back to her tribe so they can rebuild their village and school.
MORE LIVING PRINCESSES OF THE WORLD
From tiny babies to elderly women, representing both wealthy and struggling nations, belonging to vastly different cultures and families, the princesses in this chart show us that the fluffy pink princess stereotype is just that.
COUNTRY NAME BIRTH YEAR
BULGARIA Princess Kalina
Is a vegetarian and an advocate of animal rights 1972
DENMARK Princess Isabella
Isabella’s full name is styled Her Royal Highness the Princess Isabella Henrietta Ingrid Margrethe 2007<
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ENGLAND Lady Louise
Born prematurely at only 4 lbs., 9 oz. 2003
ENGLAND Princess Eugenie Victoria Helena Windsor
Had the first public christening of the royal family 1990
ENGLAND Princess Beatrice Elizabeth Mary Windsor
Undertakes many charity works, including visiting
HIV-infected children in Russia 1988
ENGLAND Princess Alexandra
Refused royal titles for her children 1936
JAPAN Princess Aiko, also known as Princess Toshi
An avid sumo wrestling fan; began kindergarten in 2006; daughter of Princess Masako 2001
JAPAN Princess Kako Akishino
Rides a unicycle and is a sign language interpreter 1994
JAPAN Princess Mako Akishino
Did a home stay in Austria at age fourteen 1991
JAPAN Princess Kiko
Fluent in English and German 1966
JAPAN Princess Masako
Refused the prince’s first marriage proposals 1963
LESOTHO Princess ’M’aSeeiso
The Republic of South Africa surrounds her country 2004
LESOTHO Princess Senate Mohato Seeiso
Lifespan in her country is decreasing from disease 2001
LUXEMBOURG Princess Alexandra
Related to every European monarch reigning in 2007 1991
MONACO Princess Stephanie
Attempted to be a pop star 1965
MONACO Princess Caroline
Fought in court for her privacy from news media; may become reigning sovereign of Monaco 1957
MOROCCO Princess Lalla Khadija
Her father pardoned prisoners in honor of her birth 2007
MOROCCO Princess Lalla Salma
Has a degree in computer science 1978
The Daring Book for Girls Page 3
