El curioso

This child was growing curious at the sight of an elderly man selling rosaries and other religious items outside of the Basilica de Zapopan,Jalisco.

With my recent trip to Jalisco, I found a new sense of myself as a Latina. Though I am Central American, I married into a familia Jaliciense and after my adventures there, I could not be more proud of my tri-cultural life. This is an image I captured from a relaxing trip to Santa Maria del Oro,Nayarit,a lagoon approximately two hours from Zapopan,Jalisco where I stayed. This place is filled with beautiful scenery and is a true escape from the city noise and smog. My husband,a fishing fan,caught two bass.

A bitter translation

They didn't need to translate it all weird. Chocolate in Spanish is chocolate.

-Photo and post courtesy of Isai Rocha. Rocha is a contributor to both Foodbeast.com and Dodgernation.com blogs. He also served as sports editor on Mt. San Antonio College's award winning newspaper The Mountaineer.

Recuerdo,Recuero,same thing.

Many of us grew up with discos piratas, bootlegs, etc. We've had 'em sold to us discreetly anywhere from a restaurant in Los Angeles to on the street in broad daylight. But to have a misprint on the actual cover sleeve of the CD case and not be consistently incorrect on the side title? Esto si quedara en mi meoria por siempre!

Un clavo saca otra palabra: TACKall must tackle their translation issues

TACKall, a flooring supply distributer, has a few linguistic screws loose. 
" TACKall manufactures and distributes the best commercial grade flooring and carpet installation supplies...TACKall is committed to provide the best quality products at the most economical way. Quality and service will be the main goals TACKall strieve to reach and maintain. We take care of our people, value our relationships and fight to better the environment."
Their mission statement may seem locked tight, (unlike the rest of their bio which is filled with misspelling and punctuation errors,) but my bilingual hermanos who read the translation will see como metieron la pata /how the company put their foot in their mouth and did not live up to their statement. 
The City of Industry folks transformed a nail, as defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary, is a slender usually pointed and headed fastener designed to be pounded, into a nail that is attached to the ends of your fingers. 
The correct word for nail in Spanish clavo. 
By no means am I crucifying the company but I am sure some Spanish speakers would want to show them what a middle finger nail looks like.  Maybe the company should hire day laborers who actually utilize these supplies as language consultants before they put their "best quality products" out.

Beben y beben...

Balthazar, ready to take a holy sip at Vineland swapmeet in La Puente.

The swapmeet:

Where anything can be found on one high school/drive-in theater blacktop,

 including a unique item to sugar coat your otherwise bland nativity scene.

The three wiseman

 must have built up quite a thirst delivering frankincense and myrr to el niño Jesus because at

 Vineland Swapmeet in La Puente, CA, among dollar blouses from Forever 21 from two seasons ago and rusty herramientas, was on full display. 

Tacos y lonche y dinner...

Jessie's Mexican and Seafood restaurant on Fourth and Azusa Ave. in Azusa serves it all. Walking down the street exploring the remodeled downtown area, I came across their banner advertising what they offer as food: "Tacos y Burritos y Breakfast." This menu on their marquee is an insightful example of how California has morphed into bilingual status and Spanglish has become acceptable enough for display on Latino businesses. Desayuno is not necessary because Spanglish is embedded into our way of speaking...and that's enough to full up the already diverse Latino culture. Now, vamos a comer!