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israeland asked on 09/08/04 - best departments of spanish in usa hi there i would like to know the ranking for the best departments of spanish for studying a master or phd in usa. is there any web site where i can see this? what are the most recognized universities with department of spanish ? thanks, israel AliMcJ answered on 09/08/04: UCLA

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WhiteElephant asked on 05/21/03 - Too Many Questions Merry Meet Curious! I am glad that I found you profile. You are a expert in o may catagories that I do not know where to begin. I wouldl ike to start with two questions. Fist I would love to know Hera did to the other wives and mistresses that Zeus had. I love mythology but I did not fnd all the information that I would have liked. Second is whether or not you know of a kind of hispanic spiritualist/witch that seems to be nearly nonexistant. In my family there is a long line of psychics. Some are Esperitistas and others are brejos. My mother recently became a crowned Voo Doo Pristess in Cuba. Now My family is from Puerto Rico and when I speak with my grandmother whom I live with, she telle me of all the stories that happened in her home town of Rio Pedras which by now has had mre names than wehave fingers. What I want to know is if you know what a Palletto is. Forgive my spelling. Writing in spansh is not a skill of mine. From what I learne through my family is that a Palletto works with sticks and chains as well as Saints to perfom their brand of magic. But I want to know more. I cannot find any informtion on the internet and very few hispanics even know of espititistas and the like. What do you know of them. You help is greatly appreciated. Blessed Be. White Elephant. AliMcJ answered on 07/17/03: A Paletto I would assume refers to the use of wands (palos = sticks, rods, and even broomsticks). This is in Cuba, where a kind of Catholic mysticism/spiritualism is practicised; several or numerous smaller groups that practice this Catholic mysticism are in Brazil also. I've seen a lot of independent films and great documentary film made in Cuba and Brazil in the last five years (at the AFI film festival and the Brazilian Film Festival and the Latino Film Festival all at the Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre. I'm also familiar with the concept of brujas and Santerismos(?) in Mexico and central America. Many rich traditions came together in the new world, all enriching each other. Anyway, that's the basis for my guess, the sources on which this generalized description is based is that the wands are the wands of many cultures, the rods, the staffs -- look how the rods and the staffs made it into the Bible, or look at how the rods and the staffs became wands in the lore of the British Isles. The chains must be based on a saint who is commonly depicted with chains -- there are some good sites for looking up saints by emblem or symbol. They may be based in the memory of freed slaves. Even Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol has the ghost of Scrooge's dead partner dragging chains, and locks.... The Canterbury Ghost has the ghost making a half-hearted attempt to rattle chains. In other words, the chains may be for the noise and weight quotient, but I think the wand is the most important part of this particular medium. WhiteElephant rated this answer

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vandan111 asked on 10/24/02 - Dialogue Check Hi, Can you please check my dialogue which i wrote in spanish. The Spanish version is at the end, this is the english version. Use the english version to refer back if you dont what the sentence means in spanish. A. Hi. B. Hi. A. Whats on T.V today? B. I want to watch football. Why? You watched yesterday. It is only from 9:30 to 10:30 In my opinion, football is violent. I think that soap operas are better. No, soap operas are worse than sports shows because soap operas are not realistic. If so than cartoons are also as worse as talk shows. Lets watch something that we both like. Do you like documentaries? Yes, I like documentaries. I think they are interesting and fascinating and not borring. There is a documentary about the 8th street on channel GALA VISION at 9:30 pm. OK. How long is it? I think it is atleast one hour long. OK. Lets watch it. We still have one hour before the show starts. Lets watch something else till then. Do you want to watch the movie - "EL Viejo"? What type of movie is it? I think it is an adventure movie. Lets watch it. I like adventure films. ------------ A. ¡Hola! B. ¡Hola! A. ¿Qué dan en la tele hoy? B. Quiero mirar el fútbol. A. ¿Por qué? Miraste ayer. B. Dura solo de nueve y media en punto de la noche a diez y media en punto de la noche. A. En mi opinión, fútbol es muy violento. Pienso que las telenovelas son mejores. B. No, las telenovelas son peores que los programas deportivos porque las telenovelas no son realistas. A. Si tan que los dibujos animados son también tan peor como los programas de entrevistas. B. Veamos algo ese nosotros ambos como. A. ¿Te gustan los documentales? B. Si, me gustan los documentales. Creo que son interesantes y fascinantes y no aburrido. A. Hay un documental siempre La Calle Ocho en el canal GALA VISION a las nueve y media de la noche. B. Bien. ¿Cómo hasta es? A. Pienso que dura una hora. B. Bien. Miremos. A. Tenemos todavía una hora hasta los comienzos del programa. B. Miremos algo mas hasta entonces. A. ¿Quiere usted mirar la película de El viejo? B. ¿Qué clase de película es? A. Creo que es una película de aventuras. B. Miremos. Me gustan las películas de aventuras. --------------------- AliMcJ answered on 10/28/02: Hi Vandan -- Im glad to see this question over here now, as I have it on my AskMe board and am transferring over. I havent gone over the whole thing (and it was easier to read on AskMe), but what I noticed immediately was the missing pronoun in both English and Spanish for Why? You watched [it] yesterday ¿Por qué? [Lo] miraste ayer.