Echarri and his sister grew up without excess wealth, and even a hint of poverty, but they were happy. Circumstances only served to pull the family together and make them stronger.

Pablo’s sister, Roxa, came on the scene when he was seven. Like millions of little children before him, faced with the arrival of a rival, he was none too pleased. Today they are inseparable.

Carolina talks about different accents and styles of speaking Spanish, particularly those found within Spain itself. Carolina is from Andalusia, in the South, and she contrasts her accent and common expressions with those of people from Barcelona and other regions.

The game of brisca uses 40 cards known as the “Spanish deck.” One aspect of play involves using body language to reveal your hand to your partner. This is why the gentleman says “we blink an eye and we do like this…” He is making a joke about this body language/cards relationship when he says “your head aches when you have the ace of oros.”

The feisty Sevillian María La Mala Rodriquez talks about her career as a Spanish hip-hop artist. True to her “southern” roots, she often drops her “s” sounds, the way Carolina mentions in her clip on the various accents of Spain.

Patricia talks about ways to stay active in Coro, Venezuela, patrimonio cultural de la humanidad. She enjoys the gym and classes in Tae Bo, an exercise phenomenon that seems to know no political boundaries. She also enjoys going out on Friday nights with friends to the local disco. As far as boys go, it seems a young man named Leopaldo is winning the race to her heart…

Medical student Patricia Martí tells us about the study she is conducting in the village of Adícora. The study is a look at the incidence of skin problems caused by sun exposure in this town where many people work outdoors, including quite a few fishermen.

Patricia will soon be a full-fledged doctor of medicine, but first she must complete the internship she is doing in the rural Venezuelan community of Charaima, on the Peninsula de Paraguaná. She tells us a little bit about the road she’s travelled to get to this point in her academic career.

In a time of pretty sharp political divide in Venezuela, Patricia, gives a frank middle-of-the-road explanation of the current political climate and her place in the country’s politics as apolitica.