“Love in the Time of Cholera” is based on the love story that spanned over five decades between Florentino and Fermina. Florentino sees Fermina one day as he is delivering a telegram to her home and immediately falls in love with her. Over the next few years they write letters back and forth and eventually Florentino asks Fermina to marry him. She accepts, but then her father finds out and takes her away to the country to keep her from Florentino. Her father wants her to marry a prestigious man and Florentino simply works for a telegraph company. After many years and celibacy on both sides, Fermina returns to the city she left and runs into Florentino at the market. She tells him that their relationship was only in their imagination and that she could no longer marry him.

Fermina gets ill and a doctor named Juvenal Urbino comes to her because it is presumed that she has cholera. He determines that she only has an intestinal problem, but there brief encounter sparks an interest in her. Juvenal begins to call on Fermina and this time her father is very encouraging. Fermina and Juvenal wed and embark on a two year honeymoon to Europe. At this point Florentino’s mother informs him that Fermina has wed and that he needs to move on. Florentino finally breaks his vow of losing his virginity to only Fermina when he is kind of attacked while on a boat. Then a woman who loses her home in the war comes and stays with him and they have sex. From there Florentino begins to keep track of all his sexual encounters with women and using sex to fill the void that Fermina has left behind.

Throughout the years Florentino and Fermina run into each other or hear about the changes in each others lives. Fermina has many children and Florentino remains a bachelor, but receives a prestigious job thanks to his uncle in the ferryboat business. Florentino pledges to go to Fermina once her husband dies, but he begins to get worried that she may die before her husband.

Finally Juvenal passes away in an unfortunate fall from a ladder and Florentino takes the opportunity to tell Fermina that he has remained in love with her for over fifty years. She initially objects to him telling her that and is very angry with him, but by his persistence and patience, Fermina is slowly worn down. The two take a boat trip and finally kiss, then finally make love. It was the first time Florentino had made love and Fermina also wondered if it was the first for her as well. The two were still, were finally in love and happy together.

Classmates

1. Alexandra said that the Bracero Program was a series of laws and diplomatic agreements for the importation of temporary contract laborers from Mexico to the United States.

2. Alysia found out that Nicaraguan sign language was spontaneously created by deaf children in schools in Western Nicaragua in the 1970's and 1980's.

3. Bryanna learned that signing in Mayan villages is not taught formally, but through many generations of deaf people there is a way in which tribes will teach their deaf as a community.

4. Francisco learned that Cesar Chavez that he was a field worker who became a union organizer.

5. Jamie found out that in Mayan villages all of the deaf males were married and that the deaf women usually were still single.

6. Jessica found out that Dulce Maria's poem about King Tut is described as erotic, where she has the ability to imagine a physical love relationship between her and King Tut.

7. Kristen found out that the most well known writers associated with Boom era are Julio Cortazar, Carlso Fuentes, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

8. Mandi has taken 4 semesters of American Sign Language at SRJC.


9. Martin learned that Cesar Chavez died in his sleep on April 23, 1993 near Yuma, Arizona and his body was taken to La Paz, Mexico and laid to rest in front of his office.

10. Silvia found out that Cesar Chavez urged Latinos to vote and traveled as an activist to support the rights of workers.

Week 8

The Latin American Boom was a literary movement of the 1960s and 1970s when the work of Latin American novelists was widely circulated. The movement was influenced by the European and North American Modernism, but also by the Latin American Vanguardia movement. The work of the writers was political and experimental and the movement became famous because of the advocacy of political and social action in their work. Through translation, travel, and exile, the literature reached markets and audiences beyond Latin America.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_American_Boom

MAYAN SIGN LANGUAGE

I chose the topic of Mayan Sign Language because I have found myself fascinated with Mayan culture and I wanted to learn more about it.

1. Mayan sign language is similar to sign language used near Guatemala, but not related to Mexican sign language. It is used in areas of Mexico and Guatemala by Mayan communities with unusually high numbers of deaf people.

2. Both deaf and hearing Mayans use Mayan sign language so the deaf individuals are well incorporated into the community. People who use Mayan sign language and a verbal language are considered bilingual.

3. The main Mayan sign language is called Yucatec Mayan sign language because it is used in the Yucatan region. There is one other Mayan sign language known as Highland Maya sign language which is used in the highlands of Guatemala. This language is more complex and is used by impoverished servants who are forbidden to speak aloud in the presence of their Masters. This language is locally known as Meemul Ch'aab'al and Meemul Tziij in the K'iche' language.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayan_sign_languages

Classmates:
1. Alysia learned about Simon Bolivar because he was one of the most influential in gaining independence for Venezuela.

2. Andrew learned that Native Americans had a previously established type of slavery prior to the slavery they experienced from the Spanish.

3. Bryanna found out that Father Hidalgo was a Creole priest who was born in Penjamo, Guanajuato in 1753.

4. Cory researched Simon Bolivar who was an incredible leader, politician, and general as he drove the Spanish out of northern South America.

5. Debbie learned that the Lady of Guadalupe is of significant importance to Mexican Catholics and her shrine for the Lady of Guadalupe was one of the most visited shrines in the world.

6. Francisco learned that September 16, 1810 marks the end of a Spanish dominance in Mexico.

7. Jordan learned that San Martin was born to an aristocratic family in Argentina, but was sent to Spain to complete his education.

8. Kristen learned that on December 12, 1531, the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared in front of Juan Diego connecting the gap between the Aztecs and the Spanish conquerors.

9. Mandi found out that the Trans-Atlantic slave trade took place between 1650-1860 and approximately 15 million African slaves were shipped to the West Indies, parts of Central America and South America.

10. Sara learned that Simon Bolívar described himself in his many letters as a "liberal" who believed in a "free market".