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.)