Diarios de Motocicleta: Cultural Notes
Tango
A kind of slow and graceful dance that is characterized by the deep flexion of the knees and abrupt changes of direction that are made in the metatarsal. Tango was born in Buenos Aires at the end of the nineteenth century. It is derived in part from the dances of the blacks. Tango became very popular in Latin America and by the 1920s became very popular in dance halls in Europe.
Apellidos
In one of the houses where Ernesto and Alberto stop, the gentleman with whom they speak surname Von Puttkamer. Many of the immigrants from Argentina are of European descent. It is quite common to see Italian, German, Irish, English, Jewish, etc. names.
Mambo
Is a dance of Latin American origin with roots in Africa. It was one of the most popular dances brought from Cuba after the Second World War. Related to Rumba. In general the couples do not touch, and it is possible that they move without much relation between them.
Machu Picchu
Is an ancient city of the Incas that is in the Andes. It is 43 miles northwest of Cuzco. Hiram Bingham, a Yale professor, found it in 1911.
Lepra
Is an infectious and chronic disease that affects the skin and superficial nerves. If left unchecked, it can cause disfigurement. For centuries the disease was controlled making the infected were isolated with the other lepers not to have contact with other humans. Today there are about 5 million cases and are concentrated in hot climates. It can be treated.
Che
Is widely used in film. When an Argentine wants to get someone's attention it can be said "che".
Anaconda Mining Company
It is one of the biggest mining companies in the world.
Cusco
It was the old Inca capital. It means the "belly botton of the world". The Incan constructions were very strong and they have sustain even very bad earthquakes.
Patagonia
is a region of about 300,000 square miles mostly in southern Argentina, south of the Colorado River and east of the Andes.
Lorca
Federico García Lorca was born in Fuente Vaqueros, Granada, Spain on June 5, 1989. He died on August 19, 1936. He is one of the best-known poets of his time. His poetry has been translated into dozens of languages.
José Carlos Mariátegui
He was born in 1894 in Moquegua, Peru. He is known as one of the great Marxist essayists and activists.
Che Guevara
His real name is Ernesto Rafael Guevara de la Serna.
Neruda
Pablo Neruda, whose real name was Neftalí Ricardo-Reyes Basoalto, was born on July 12, 1904 in Parral, Chile. Between 1927 and 1935 he worked for the Chilean government that forced him to travel to Burma, Ceylon, Java, Singapore, Buenos Aires, Barcelona and Madrid. The civil war in Spain and the death of García Lorca, whom Neruda knew, affected him a lot and moved him so much that he became a member of the republican movement in Spain. In 1937 he returned to Chile and his poetry during the following years had a social and political characteristic. In 1945 he was elected as a senator and also became a member of the Communist Party. In 1947 he began to live clandestinely for two years. He fled the country in 1949. He did not return to Chile until 1952.
César Vallejo
Peruvian poet who was born in Santiago de Chucho, in the northern Andean zone of Peru. His family had Spanish and indigenous roots. While studying at the University of Trujillo, he met with journalists, writers and rebel politicians. He traveled to the Soviet Union and became a member of the Communist Party of Spain. He wrote articles for newspapers and magazines, plays, stories and essays of propaganda intent, such as Russia in 1931 and Reflections at the foot of the Kremlin (1931). He died in Paris in 1938.
Doctor Hugo Pesce
Professor Pesce was born in Tarma, Peru, on June 17, 1900. He went to study medicine in Genoa, Italy, but returned to Peru to practice his profession. He founded the anti-leprosy campaign in Peru. He was a great intellectual and sel considered as one of the great defenders of peace and social renewal. He was a friend of José Carlos Mariátegui.
Mestizo
Refers to a person who has European and indigenous descent. This term is used in Mexico, Central and South America. Mestizos make up a large part of the population of several Hispanic countries.
Inca
The Incas called their territory Tawantinsuyu, which means "The four places". These places included: the desert in the coast, plains, high mountains, and deep fertile plains of the Andes. The term inca refers to the leader and also to the people of Cuzco, which is the capital of the empire. El Quechua was the official language of the Incas.
Español argentino
The use of 'vos' instead of 'tú'. A different conjunction for the second person singular (querés instead of queries)
Té de mate
This is a beverage very popular among sudamerican gauchos. This tea is made with the leaves of the yerba mate and boiling water. It is usually drunk from a container and zipped through a metal straw.
Desierto Atacama, Chile
This is a desert in the north of Chile. It is one of the most arid places in the world. This region is the biggest source of natural sodium nitrate in the world. There are also deposits of copper and other minerals there.
Sacsayhuaman
This is a marvelous place about 2 km away from Cuzco. This is an Inca fortress that is very famous for its strong and big stones that have been placed very close together. Not even a needle fits in between them. This place it was built to protect the Inca settlement.
Quechua
This is the language of the Incas. It is still used in Ecuador and Peru by 7 million people. The incas did not had a written language, but they used a system to keep inventory using colored cords they called quipu.
Gaucho
While Alberto and Ernesto travel a man is seen on a horse. He is a gaucho, type of cowboy of the pampas of Argentina and Uruguay.
Don Quijote
a famous character from the famous works of Cervantes, Don Quixote of the Mancha, who was traveling with his assistant Sancho Panza.
Rugby
a sport similar to American football, but the players don't wear protective gear. The players have to tackle other players (on the opposite team) for possession of the ball.