Ecuadorian filmmaker, Julia Silva, shares with us a bit about her second short film, "Crisálida" (Chyrsalis), as well as what she loves about shorts as opposed to feature films.

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.”

Accompanied by current Latin rhythms and influenced by vallenato (one of Colombia's most representative musical genres), "La Plata" [Money] is an upbeat tune in Colombian artist Juanes' signature style, with a special guest appearance by Colombian reggaeton artist, Lalo Ebratt.

Juan Luis Guerra, undoubtedly the most well-known musician from the Dominican Republic, performs his song "La Travesía" [The Journey] live.

José Rodriguez, the caretaker of a beautiful finca, or farm, is kind enough to show us around and tell us a bit about the area and himself. You will probably realize that pues, as José employs it, is a common muletilla (“filler” word), used to add a bit of emphasis or just as a matter of speech style, and doesn’t really always have to be translated (though it can often be thought of as akin to “well”).

"Si Me Dejan" (If They Leave Me) is a collaboration between Colombian Vallenato sensation, Jorge Celedón, and Vicentico, the former frontman of the Argentinean ska band, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs (The Fabulous Cadillacs).

As an artesan, Javier Marin works with a variety of materials, employing many techniques to create his pieces. He has been kind enough to take the time to explain some of these materials and processes. Javier’s father, in the days well before email, used to transmit telegraph messages via morse code in the building adjacent to where his son now works.

Ecological awareness is universal these days, especially among young people. Javier explains his own use of natural and biological materials, a use that does not involve the destruction of any living creatures, but rather the reuse of materials that have been jettisoned by their original animal owners.

We’ve all heard of the bolero, which has its modern roots in nineteenth century Santiago de Cuba (even though we might not be able to hum one on cue). But what about the cuartetazo? Born in Córdoba, Argentina, and derived from Spanish and Italian dances, the name is derived from the fact that the earliest players were invariably four-piece bands. The rhythm is similar to merengue.

¿Quién es Javier García? With his producer (and two-time Academy Award winner) Gustavo Santaolalla, Javier Garcia talks about his roots and influences. Also, we learn about some noted musicians who contributed to the album 13, including the great trumpet player, Arturo Sandoval.

The narrator of the 1998 single, “Agua,” from Spanish rock band, Jarabe de Palo’s second album, Depende, wants far more than his friend from their seemingly ambiguous relationship.

After a dramatic, illegal entrance into a Colombian world heritage site, the Tayrona Natural National Park, our hostess explains the reasons why this is damaging to the park's ecosystems as well as giving us an introduction to the many adventures that await us in future episodes of this seven-part series.

In part two of this seven part series about Colombia’s Tayrona Park, María Cecilia Sánchez escapes her frenetic city life to explore this natural national park from the standpoint of nature conservation, enlisting the help of field expert, José Castro, who explains geographic, historical and touristic aspects of the park's terrestrial ecosystem.

María Cecilia continues her exploration of Tayrona Park, embarking upon her first scuba dive to explore its underwater ecosystem.

Part four of this seven-part series about Colombia's Tayrona National Park explains a bit about the importance of its coral reefs and how they are studied.