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.

Evo Morales was a Bolivian congressman at the time of filming in 2004. At the time he was best known as an advocate and unofficial representative of traditional coca farmers, who are, for the most part, poor and marginalized. Today this indigenous politician and one-time farmer himself is best known for being president of Bolivia.

Take it from the boys in Skampida, the best ways to learn a language are 1) to watch a lot of tv (yabla!) and 2) to find yourself a native girlfriend/boyfriend! Skampida is one of the best bands ever from Bogotá, and we caught up with them while they were spending some time hangeando in The Big Manzana.

Just over a quarter of Mexico’s 127.5 million people are aged 18-24, and as such the “youth vote” could easily make or break any candidate in Mexico’s upcoming election on July 2. Patterned after the “Rock the Vote” campaign in the USA, Tu Rock Es Votar is running a television, radio and web campaign that hopes to improve voter turnout in the Mexican youth population despite a general desencantado (“disenchanted”) attitude found amongst all eligible voters.

Tu Rock Es Votar, a.k.a. TREV, continues its efforts to rally Mexico’s youth to get out and vote come election day. It’s something of an unspoken secret that TREV’s organizers tend to lean to the left, but they strive to make the ads non-partisan.

Micheel teaches us how to make Venezuelan sweet mandocas, a delectable donut-shaped treat that we encourage you to try at home!

Do you like riddles? In this video, Zulbany will put your solving ability to the test. Pay attention and try to guess.

We bet you know the name of a plethora of fruits in Spanish, but do you know the names of the trees they grow on? Let's find out with Cleer!

It's Carolina's turn to guess the different foods that Cleer will make her try. Let's see how she does.

In this video, Micheel will teach us all the Spanish names for the planets and other pertinent terms related to the solar system, as well as many interesting facts.

In these fun videos, our friends Cleer and Carolina will try to guess foods they taste while blindfolded. Let's see how many foods Cleer can guess!

Let's keep learning additional meanings of the verb "contar" with Silvia along with several examples and expressions, some of which you may already know.

This time, Silvia explains the vastly different meanings the verb "contar" can have as well as several different nouns and expressions related to it.

After explaining some differences between the verbs "hablar", "decir", and "contar," Silvia gives us plenty of examples of typical Spanish expressions that contain them.