Our good friends from México City are willing to talk about everything: good, bad or ugly. Here we have their take on kidnapping, one of the growing fears of Mexicans.

Antonio Vargas is a versatile Mexican artist living in Los Cabos. He has done cartoons, commercial drawings, paintings and a lot of sculptures. In this episode Antonio is going to show us some of his cartoons containing the adventures of Surfo.

Arriving in December of ‘71, a young Arturo Vega decides that it is New York where he is going to clavar, or stay put. His journey began in Mexico, where he began his artistic life as an actor and participant in experimental theater or “happenings”—an art form which was not well received by the powers that be in that country.

A little research tells us that the musical comedy Arturo did with Héctor Suárez at the Teatro de los Insurgentes was Sigue tu onda (Follow Your Wave), a Spanish language adaptation of a Broadway show known to American theater-goers as Your Own Thing. Soon Arturo himself would be heading to New York on a tip from Paul McCartney’s agent that he could land a spot in Hair...

Arturo Vega is a big part of The Ramones’ history. We even have proof! Actually he was the one who designed the well known Ramones’ logo, which is one part presidential seal, one part outlaw biker. In this interview he tells us why they chose to be represented by an aguila.

Some people could see Arturo Vega as just a guy who happened to design the Ramones logo, but the truth is that he had to get his hands dirty with hard work, and that meant loading tons of equipment, manning the lights and basically doing whatever was needed by the band. The reward was great: thousands, maybe millions, wearing an image that he created.

Carlos from Colombia teaches us about various genres of Latin music with a focus on salsa.

Cleer interviews her cousin, Lila, who shares with us some interesting details about her travels and life.

Lida, Cleer and Lila share with us some of the unique traditions of Colombia's Christmas season, which lasts from late November until early January.

The Tsáchila community has undertaken the task of opening its doors to foreign visitors, giving them the opportunity to learn more about their traditions and culture.

Diana Quintana, a Colombian living in Italy, has formulated a special charity project to bring smiles to the faces of underprivileged children in Colombia at Christmas.

Meet the "Tutti Frutti," who'll tell us how old they are and where they're from in this fun video from El Aula Azul.

Emiro spent years crewing an oil tanker, and many more as a fisherman commanding his own lancha, so it’s no surprse to find him at the helm of his own seaside kitchen, the Pimienta Café in Adícora. Join us as we drop in to check out the menu!

Emiro used to live in oil-rich Maracaibo, where his father was headmaster of the school system Shell oil ran for the children of employees. (Did you know: Venezuela is the only country in the Americas that’s a member of OPEC? And a founding member at that!)

We visit a simple fruit stand in Mexico to find tasty avocados, smallish watermelons from the third harvest and two types of sweet mangoes. Ah, a bit of nature’s bounty found under the mango trees.

We learn more about summer fruits, thanks to our friends at Fruteria Los Mangos. So many varieties, colors and recipes to explore. Anyone up for a colorful pomegranate margarita?

Gabriela gives us an introduction to essential oils, including their diverse benefits and the three families into which they fall.

Gabriela tells us how we can use simple ingredients at home to create an aromatherapeutic concoction.

María Sol gives us some advice on learning Spanish and tells us about the advantages of studying online. Study live with Maria and other great teachers at GoSpanish.com. Your first five days are free and no credit card is needed.

Guillermo gives us an in-depth explanation of the manner in which Maya ceremonies were used to welcome the seasons, each of which represented a unique consciousness.

Guillermo speaks about how the sound of the drum represents keeping moving rather than staying stagnant in life and how increasing one's sphere of vision and confronting one's emotions can lead to balance and ultimately, happiness.

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.

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”).