This second episode of Misión Chef takes a look at some of The Culinary School for Underprivileged Youths' students and gives some background about the socioeconomic causes of poverty in Colombia.

"Misión Chef" is a culinary school that gives underprivileged youth the tools they need to become chefs.

The Planeta Palabra gang encounters a young Gypsy boy who explains to them about the Gypsy nation of Rom and its culture, providing them with a ton of new words in the process.

Maximiliano, a young Venezuelan living in the South of Italy, explains a bit about its culture and customs, particularly during Christmastime.

Venezuelan locals talk to us about "cocuy," an agave-based liquor which is produced locally in Falcón, Coro, Venezuela, comes in many flavors and is even rumored to have medicinal and/or aphrodisiac qualities!

What's the story behind the music-filled bar called "Leize Gorria"? Well, the name means "red cave" in Basque and it was founded by a musical family of 6 from Uruguay. Listen in as we learn more about the bar and its many events.

Join Eduardo and Luicana on their boat again as they tell you about the zona paqueta they are rowing by in the Río de la Plata. This posh area is where some of the children they teach live. Is it the right side of the tracks, or the right bank of the river?

You may know the baraja española, the Spanish deck of cards, with its classic renderings of kings and knights in four suits. Our illustrator friend Antonio Vargas created a uniquely Mexican baraja with native imagery drawing from the pre-Columbian Aztec, Olmec, Toltec and Mayan cultures.

Beautiful Panama has been promoted to tourists with the slogan “Se queda en tí” (“It stays with you”). Panamanian waters are great for surfing, for fishing and for floating around and chatting. Let’s meet Cholito, one of the locals, who will show us around in his boat!

Let’s listen to more of this love story, starring a German woman and a Peruvian man on a date with destiny!

Gonzalo is a Peruvian painter living in Germany. We had a great opportunity to visit him and talk about his life. Before learning about his work, let’s listen to the amazing tale of how he met his wife.

La Vela is a small town in the state of Falcón, on the northwest coast of Venezuela, where every December 28th Los Locos [“The Crazy Ones”] arrive wearing colorful and elaborated costumes. The whole town becomes a party, with businesses closing and people dancing in the streets. It’s a tradition that could be in any magical realism novel and that desperately struggles to not fall into oblivion.

Could it be that the “Tu Rock es Votar” campaign resulted in a closer Mexican 2006 election, one that ironically left the youth feeling more disillusioned than ever? Felipe Calderón Hinojosa edged out Andrés Manuel López Obrador by such a thin margin that the losing side demanded a total recount, which was not granted. The ensuing cloud surrounding the election left a bitter taste in the mouths of many Mexicans.

Armando David Ortigosa decided that something needed to be done to motivate the young people of Mexico to participate in its presidential election. He looked north for inspiration, where the “Rock the Vote” campaign used pop stars to try and get young voters to the polls. The Mexican equivalent became known as Tu Rock Es Votar.

It’s quite possible that El Día de Los Locos, as celebrated in La Vela de Coro, has its roots as far back as the Roman Empire, which celebrated Saturnalia at the same time of year. Both festivals, historically, involve turning the social order on its head, with slaves dressing like their masters.