I wrote a short novel called “La aventura de Zunzuncito”. For this fifth season of Simple Stories in Spanish, I will be sharing a chapter from the novel each week. This week is chapter 9! Zunzuncito and Monty fell into the grand lake. Thankfully, a turtle came to save them. Once they cross the grand lake, they will reach the second leg of their journey: pass through the land of giants. To the tiny hummingbird and frog, though, everything is a giant! Will they find the land they seek and pass thr...
Oct 31, 2021•14 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast I wrote a short novel called “La aventura de Zunzuncito”. For this fifth season of Simple Stories in Spanish, I will be sharing a chapter from the novel each week. This week is chapter 8! Zunzuncito is a tiny hummingbird. His friend, Monty, is an even smaller frog. The two animals are searching for a magic flower. Zunzuncito hopes that the magic flower will grant his wish to be big. Majá is a Cuban boa. According to Monty, she knows everything. There is just one problem - Zunzuncito is incredibl...
Oct 24, 2021•15 min•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast I wrote a short novel called “La aventura de Zunzuncito”. For this fifth season of Simple Stories in Spanish, I will be sharing a chapter from the novel each week. This week is chapter 7! Zunzuncito is on a mission to find the magic flower that will grant his wish to be big. He spoke with the wise snake Majá and now he knows where he must go, but how will he get there? Thankfully, he has a small sidekick, the tiny frog Monty, to help him out. This story is told in the the present tense. Repeated...
Oct 17, 2021•13 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast I wrote a short novel called “La aventura de Zunzuncito”. For this fifth season of Simple Stories in Spanish, I will be sharing a chapter from the novel each week. This week is chapter 6! Zunzuncito is a tiny hummingbird. His friend, Monty, is an even smaller frog. The two animals are searching for a magic flower. Zunzuncito hopes that the magic flower will grant his wish to be big. Majá is a Cuban boa. According to Monty, she knows everything. There is just one problem - Zunzuncito is incredibl...
Oct 10, 2021•15 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast I wrote a short novel called “La aventura de Zunzuncito”. For this fifth season of Simple Stories in Spanish, I will be sharing a chapter from the novel each week. This week is chapter 5! Zunzuncito is done dealing with the small life. He wants to be big. Luckily, his new frog friend Monty knows about a special magic flower that might be able to grant his wish. He just doesn’t know where it is. So, the hummingbird and frog head to the woods in search of the all-knowing Majá. On the way, Zunzunci...
Oct 03, 2021•12 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast I wrote a short novel called “La aventura de Zunzuncito”. For this fifth season of Simple Stories in Spanish, I will be sharing a chapter from the novel each week. This week is chapter 4! It’s not easy being the smallest bird in the world. You have to deal with bigger bully birds, bees that don’t want to share and spiders that want to suck your blood. Zunzuncito is tired of being small. Perhaps if he is big and strong, he can save himself from these sticky situations. After all, the animal that ...
Sep 26, 2021•12 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast I wrote a short novel called “La aventura de Zunzuncito”. For this fifth season of Simple Stories in Spanish, I will be sharing a chapter from the novel each week. This week is chapter 3! Zunzuncito, a tiny bee hummingbird, just wants to suck delicious nectar from beautiful flowers. But he is not the only one hunting for food. After being chased away from flowers by a group of bees, Zunzuncito is now trapped in a spiderweb. There are many large spiders in Cuba and some of them do suck the blood ...
Sep 19, 2021•13 min•Ep 3•Transcript available on Metacast I wrote a short novel called “La aventura de Zunzuncito”. For this fifth season of Simple Stories in Spanish, I will be sharing a chapter from the novel each week. This week is chapter 2! Zunzuncito, one of the tiniest hummingbirds in the world, flits from flower to flower in search of delicious nectar. However, some flowers are occupied by larger hummingbirds and insects. In this second chapter of “La aventura de Zunzuncito”, our tiny bee hummingbird finds himself in a battle for nectar with hi...
Sep 12, 2021•11 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast I wrote a short novel called “La aventura de Zunzuncito”. For this fifth season of Simple Stories in Spanish, I will be sharing a chapter from the novel each week. This week is chapter 1! Zunzuncito is one of the tiniest hummingbirds in the world. Some might think he spends all his time happily sucking nectar from flowers, and they are not wrong. However, sometimes insects and even other hummingbirds get in between Zunzuncito and his dinner. This story is told in the the present tense. Repeated ...
Sep 06, 2021•9 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the fifth season of Simple Stories in Spanish! The island nation of Cuba is full of amazing animals. One of the most fascinating is the tiny bee hummingbird, also called the zunzuncito. I was inspired by this little hummingbird and, with some motivation from my students, I wrote a short novel called “La aventura de Zunzuncito”. For this fifth season of Simple Stories in Spanish, I will be sharing a chapter from the novel each week. This story is told in the the present tense. Repeated...
Aug 29, 2021•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast This fourth season of Simple Stories in Spanish is focusing on celebrations. While not necessarily historically accurate, January 6th marks the day that the wise men gave their gifts of frankincense, gold and myrrh to the baby Jesus. This moment is celebrated as “el Día de los Reyes Magos”. While other kids around the world get presents from Santa on Christmas, kids in the Spanish-speaking world are waiting for gifts from the reyes magos. They leave out their shoes with hay for the camels and wa...
Aug 15, 2021•15 min•Ep 20•Transcript available on Metacast This fourth season of Simple Stories in Spanish is focusing on celebrations. Semana Santa, or “Holy Week” occurs the week before Easter. While it is a religious celebration all over the world, the most grand Semana Santa arguably is in Sevilla, España. The week is filled with processions of penitents and pasos that depict the events leading to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. While it is a very religious event, you do not need to be religious to appreciate the history and cultur...
Aug 09, 2021•16 min•Ep 19•Transcript available on Metacast This fourth season of Simple Stories in Spanish is focusing on celebrations. ¡Hola y bienvenidos a este episodio de Simple Stories in Spanish! Saint Thomas, or Santo Tomás, is the patron saint of Chichicastenango, Guatemala. The locals celebrate their patron saint with a variety of dances. Each dance has its own origen and theme, although with some similarities. The dancers wear bright costumes and they also wear realistic looking masks that cover their whole face with a painted one. This story ...
Aug 01, 2021•15 min•Ep 18•Transcript available on Metacast This fourth season of Simple Stories in Spanish is focusing on celebrations. While it is not a big, crazy party, the Día de la Virgen de Suyapa is an important celebration in the nation of Honduras. La Virgen de Suyapa was the name given to a small statue of the Virgin Mary that a boy discovered on the outskirts of the capital Tegucigalpa. Today, that discovery is marked with a celebration outside of the basilica and a large fair. This story is told in the the present and past tenses. Repeated w...
Jul 25, 2021•14 min•Ep 17•Transcript available on Metacast This fourth season of Simple Stories in Spanish is focusing on celebrations. In the last 70 years, Panama has made a big effort to preserve its past. One way to remember the customs of the past and ensure their existence in the future is to create celebrations centered around them. Thus we find celebrations about agriculture, greetings and even clothing throughout the country of Panamá. This story is told in the the present and past tenses. Repeated words and phrases include “costumbres” (custom...
Jul 11, 2021•14 min•Ep 16•Transcript available on Metacast This fourth season of Simple Stories in Spanish is focusing on celebrations. El Día de los Muertos, is a celebration most commonly associated with the county of Mexico. However, Día de los Muertos, or “Day of the Dead” is actually celebrated throughout Central America as well. While some of the traditions and beliefs are similar, each region gives the celebration its own flavor. Today we will look at the Día de los Muertos celebrations in the country of Guatemala. This story is told in the the p...
Jul 04, 2021•13 min•Ep 15•Transcript available on Metacast This fourth season of Simple Stories in Spanish is focusing on celebrations. The celebration of Day of the Dead, or Día de Muertos, is a bright, colorful festivity to remember and honor those who have passed away. To celebrate deceased ancestors, graves are cleaned and decorated, altars with offerings of food and drink are constructed, and faces are painted to make the dead feel comfortable and welcome as they visit the land of the living for the day. Today’s podcast will focus on how Day of the...
Jun 27, 2021•15 min•Ep 14•Transcript available on Metacast This fourth season of Simple Stories in Spanish is focusing on celebrations. During the traditional celebrations of Carnaval in the country of Uruguay, two nights stand out for their energy and uniqueness. El Desfile de Llamadas , or Parade of the Calls, showcase el candombe , a unique rhythm created by three drums that originated with enslaved Africans in Montevideo. El Desfile de Llamadas celebrates the rhythms and history of Afro-Uruguayans in a colorful and energetic procession. This story i...
Jun 20, 2021•13 min•Ep 13•Transcript available on Metacast This fourth season of Simple Stories in Spanish is focusing on celebrations. Many countries celebrate Carnaval and they all have their own twist. In a previous episode, I told the story of Carnaval en la República Dominicana. Today I will tell the story of Carnaval en Guaranda, Ecuador. Like the Carnaval Dominicano, El Carnaval de Guaranda combines indigenous culture with European influence to create a truly unique celebration. This story is told in the the present and past tenses. Repeated word...
Jun 13, 2021•12 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast This fourth season of Simple Stories in Spanish is focusing on celebrations. “Las Fiestas de San Fermín” are more commonly known as “The Running of the Bulls”. These eight and a half days involve so much more than the 3 minute sprint from the Ayuntamiento, or City Hall, to the Plaza de Toros. There are parades, music, giant paper maché heads, brilliant fireworks, and bullfights This story is told in the the present and past tenses. Repeated words and phrases include “toro” (bull), “corrida” (bul...
Jun 06, 2021•14 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast This fourth season of Simple Stories in Spanish is focusing on celebrations. To visit Costa Rica is to experience la pura vida, or pure life. While it is known mostly for nature and coffee, the celebrations of Costa Rica make you feel alive. They are full of that “pura vida”. The biggest celebration in Costa Rica is Fiestas de Palmares - two weeks of parades, bullfights, concerts and soccer, or football, matches. This story is told in the the present tense. Repeated words and phrases include “ca...
May 30, 2021•13 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast This fourth season of Simple Stories in Spanish is focusing on celebrations. Oaxaca, México is best known for its celebration of Día de Muertos, or Day of the Dead. However, there is another festival in Oaxaca that bears mentioning: La Noche de Rábanos, or Night of the Radishes. This colorful evening of radish and vegetable sculptures is a feast for the eyes as professionals and amateurs alike compete to make the best radish sculpture. This story is told in the both the present and past tenses. ...
May 23, 2021•12 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast This fourth season of Simple Stories in Spanish is focusing on celebrations. Northern Chile embraces more than Chilean culture. In this region you can find Bolivian, Peruvian, and indigenous influence. This combination of cultures is presented each year in the Fiesta de la Tirana. While “Tirana” means “tyrant” the festival actually celebrates the Virgen del Carmen, one of the Virgin Mary’s many incarnations. It takes place in the very small town of La Tirana, named for a rebellious Incan princes...
May 16, 2021•13 min•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast This fourth season of Simple Stories in Spanish is focusing on celebrations. La Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia is the second most popular fiesta en Argentina. Vendimia means “grape harvest” and the province of Mendoza has a lot of grapes. This 10-day festival includes parades and presentations that represent the rich culture and heritage of wine making in Mendoza. This story is told in the both the present and past tenses. Repeated words and phrases include “vino” (wine),“viña” (vineyard), “uvas...
May 09, 2021•11 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast This fourth season of Simple Stories in Spanish is focusing on celebrations. Inti Raymi was the most important celebration of the Incas. People came from every corner of the Incan empire to pledge their allegiance to the Sapa Inca and to honor Inti, the god of the sun. The Spanish occupation put an end to Inti Raymi, but 400 years later it was reborn. Inti Raymi today is a celebration of Incan history, language and culture. This story is told in the both the present and past tenses. Repeated wor...
May 01, 2021•13 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast This fourth season of Simple Stories in Spanish is focusing on celebrations. Carnaval is a popular celebration throughout Latin America. Each country has its own special way to showcase their local culture during this multi-day party of food, music, and dancing. Carnaval originated as a three day party before Lent, but has since evolved into vibrant celebrations of culture. In the Dominican Republic, Carnaval lasts an entire month with each town giving it its own twist. This legend is told in th...
Apr 25, 2021•13 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast This fourth season of Simple Stories in Spanish is focusing on celebrations. Medellín, Colombia is already a vibrant city, but somehow it becomes even more vibrant and lively during “La Feria de las Flores”. The entire city is decorated by carnations, lilies, orchids, roses and more as the Department of Antioquia, of which Medellín is the capital, celebrates one of its largest exports with flower displays, flower decorations, and a giant flower parade. This legend is told in the both the present...
Apr 18, 2021•13 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast This fourth season of Simple Stories in Spanish is focusing on celebrations. Latacunga, Ecuador is the home of a celebration in honor of la Virgen de las Mercedes (The Virgen Mary has many names and many faces in Hispanic cultures, in this instance, she is the Virgen of Merced , or “Mercy”). They celebrate with a large parade. At the center of this celebration is Mama Negra, a representative of African cultures in Ecuador. This legend is told in the both the present and past tenses. Repeated wor...
Apr 11, 2021•15 min•Ep 3•Transcript available on Metacast This fourth season of Simple Stories in Spanish is focusing on celebrations. One of my favorite fiestas occurs in March in the city of Valencia, España. San José (St. Joseph) is the patron saint of Valencia and in his honor, they build impressive life-like sculptures. They also decorate a tall statue of the Virgen María with sweet-smelling carnations and light up the sky with “fuegos artificiales”, or fireworks. This legend is told in the both the present and past tenses. Repeated words and phra...
Apr 04, 2021•14 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast This fourth season of Simple Stories in Spanish is focusing on celebration. It is said that every day there is a celebration somewhere. This is especially true in the Spanish-speaking world. With patron saint festivities in every city, celebrations of independence and various sacred native ceremonies, there are many opportunities to witness festivals of culture. This story includes mostly the present tense with a few past verbs. Repeated words and phrases include “raíces” (roots), “ropa” (clothi...
Mar 28, 2021•14 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast 
