La Opinión https://laopinion.com Últimas Noticias de Los Ángeles, EEUU, y El Mundo Thu, 16 Apr 2026 13:06:42 +0000 es hourly 1 https://laopinion.com/wp-content/themes/laopinion/assets/images/social/precomposed-144x144.png La Opinión https://laopinion.com 144 144 Cómo buscar vuelos baratos en internet https://laopinion.com/2020/01/22/como-buscar-vuelos-baratos-en-internet/ Wed, 22 Jan 2020 16:52:03 +0000 https://laopinion.com/?p=2404517 como-se-buscan-vuelos-baratos-internet Cómo buscar vuelos baratos en internet. Foto: Pascal Meier vía Unsplash ¿Cómo es que Conor McGregor gana dinero sin pelear? Conoce su millonario negocio https://laopinion.com/2020/01/18/como-es-que-conor-mcgregor-gana-dinero-sin-pelear-conoce-su-millonario-negocio/ Sat, 18 Jan 2020 21:24:49 +0000 https://laopinion.com/?p=2401683 conor mcgregor negocios millonarios 'The Notorious' ha motivado a sus fans para hacer frente al coronavirus. Actriz riega sus plantas con su copa menstrual y divide opiniones https://laopinion.com/2019/11/17/actriz-riega-sus-plantas-con-su-copa-menstrual-y-divide-opiniones/ Mon, 18 Nov 2019 00:44:45 +0000 https://laopinion.com/?p=2313498 Plantas_Primavera_shutterstock_119458096 Las plantas son un elemento natural característico de la primavera. A Christmas story: The boy who loved lint https://laopinion.com/2014/12/24/a-christmas-story-the-boy-who-loved-lint/ Wed, 24 Dec 2014 19:12:00 +0000 http://migrationaux17.laopinion.com/2014/12/24/a-christmas-story-the-boy-who-loved-lint/ This is a short story written by Tony Castro. There once was a boy named Trey. Actually he was named Antonio, as were his father and grandfather. “Tu eres el tercer Antonio – el numero tres,” his grandmother said to him. “You are the third Antonio. Number three.” So everyone called him Trey, regardless of whether they were speaking English or Spanish to him. He was a quiet, soft-spoken child who loved to read, to listen to stories his grandmother and the women told when they met on Sundays, and to be with his mother who was young and beautiful but very sickly. Trey’s mother suffered from a rare blood condition that made it difficult for her blood to clot whenever she bled. When Trey was three years old, a broken glass in the kitchen shattered shards into his mother’s legs. Blood quickly covered the kitchen floor, and soon all color disappeared from his mother’s face. She fainted, and Trey became frightened. He ran next door for help. “Please call for an ambulance!” he begged Doña Merced, the elderly neighbor. But instead the old woman took his hand and hurried with him back to his mother. SEE ALSO: The five guilty pleasures of Christmas, Part 1 There, kneeling next to Trey’s mother, Doña Merced reached into an apron pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a thick wad of dirty old lint. Trey’s eyes widened as the old woman gently separated the lint into strips of gauze that she used to cover each of the dozen or so wounds that the shattered glass had gashed on his mother’s legs. To his amazement the dirty old lint immediately stopped the blood flow. The old woman then lifted Trey’s mother’s head into her arms and began rubbing her temples. She reached into her apron pocket again and brought out a small bottle that she opened and placed for just a moment under his mother’s nose. She was quickly conscious, and the old woman told her to rest, assuring her she would be all right and that her son was nearby. “It’s not just any kind of lint,” Doña Merced said as she cleaned blood off his mother’s legs. “It is telas de araña – spider webs,” the old woman said, handing him a small wad from her apron. They can save your mother’s life.” From that day on, little Trey was rarely without a wad of telas de araña. Whenever he found a spider web, he saw it as a source of the special lint that could possibly save his mother’s life. Soon there was no room in their home where Trey didn’t have wads of telas de araña stashed secretly. But he often had to replace the wads because they would disappear whenever his mother cleaned the house and found them.   No one understood why Trey was obsessed with those wads, which everyone mistook for lint because it looked like lint. “He loves lint,” his mother would explain to friends who would ask why Trey was almost always rolling what appeared to be tiny balls of lint around in the fingertips of his small hands. But then came the day when little Trey started pre-school. It was known as the best pre-school in the entire city, some would say in the entire nation. The children of presidents of the United States had attended this pre-school, and people joked that it was the first step on the road to the Ivy League. Trey was the first Hispanic child to ever attend this school. He wasn’t aware of that. He had been simply told by his mother and father to be on his best behavior, to share with the other children, to participate in activities, and to do everything his teachers asked. It did not take long, however, for his parents to get a call from the school. He was the model child, they were told, but he seemed to refuse to stop doing one important thing that bothered the teachers, especially the head teacher. SEE ALSO: The five guilty pleasures of Christmas, Part II Trey collected lint, the teachers complained, and they feared that it was a sign of uncleanliness and poor hygiene. They showed Trey’s parents a box with pieces of the lint they had found on him. “We tried to make a deal with him,” one of the teachers said. “A deal?” Trey’s father asked. “Yes, but it hasn’t worked out. We asked Trey to park the lint in a box at the door when he comes back inside from playing and that it will be returned to him when he goes back outside. He does park some of his lint in the box at the door, but he we’ve found that he also stashes some of it in has it in his personal box.” The head teacher said Trey’s behavior was unacceptable in the school. “We’ve even found his lint in the kitchen near the food,” she said. Trey’s parents began to wonder if maybe this pre-school might not be the right one for their son. The other children seemed to love Trey. Everyone who met him had always taken to him. But the teachers appeared to see him differently – and to have made a big deal out of what seemed like such a small thing. As the Christmas season approached, Trey’s mother and father talked to their son about taking a vacation from pre-school. They also told him about other pre-schools that they might explore together after the holidays. Trey’s parents also talked to his teachers, and they all determined that his last day at that pre-school would be the Friday before the Christmas holidays On what was to have been his last day of pre-school, Trey made sure he collected all his wads of telas de araña from the hiding places where even his teachers hadn’t bothered to look. It was also a day when the teachers hadn’t bothered to check his pockets, and he hadn’t had to park his lint at the door after playing outside. He was sad that he was having to leave the school, but he was excited that it was Christmas time and that he would soon be spending Christmas Eve with his grandmother, watching her and her friends making tamales, listening to their stories and waiting for Santa. Then, as the children were preparing for their afternoon naps, they heard a woman’s screams and other noises loud coming from the kitchen. The children all ran into the kitchen where they saw a sight that frightened all of them. All, that is, except Trey. The head teacher stood frozen like a statue in the middle of the kitchen floor, her face writhing in pain and fear as she looked down at her legs. Bright red blood was squirting out of one of her legs as if from an open faucet. Two other teachers stood by, frightened and petrified. “Please someone help me,” the head teacher cried as she shivered, unable to move. “I accidently clipped a corner of a cabinet and gashed a vein on my leg.” SEE ALSO: The five guilty pleasures of Christmas, Part III The floor was almost all covered blood, and the other teachers looked on horrified, not knowing what to do and cautious because of the blood. “Someone call 911!” one of the teachers ordered, and several nervous teachers fumbled for their cell phones. Trey, though, reached into his pocket. He pulled out a piece of his lint, though it was hardly lint. It was among the telas de araña that he had been collecting from any cobweb he found. He walked over to the head teacher, knelt down in front of her and, without saying a word, covered the vein that was shooting out blood with the lint, just as the teacher fainted and fell on the floor. “Oh, my God,” she’s going to die!” one of the children screamed. A few minutes later, paramedics arrived. By then, the head teacher had regained consciousness and was resting with her back against a wall. Other teachers had cleaned up the kitchen and taken the children out to the playground. Trey’s parents arrived at the same time. They were picking him up early, since it was his last day at the school but found the head teacher in a changed mood. “Your son saved my life,” she told Trey’s parents. “When no one knew how to help me, he alone did. “I am so sorry. I was so wrong about him. Your special son has been God’s Christmas gift to me. Please, I pray that you will allow him to stay. Grace me with the opportunity to return his gift with my own every day of the year.” Trey stayed at the pre-school, as did his lint, and in the years to come returned to visit, especially at Christmas time to exchange gifts with the teacher who always told everyone her special student had saved her life.

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]]> The origins of Christmas traditions https://laopinion.com/2014/12/16/the-origins-of-christmas-traditions/ Tue, 16 Dec 2014 20:12:00 +0000 http://migrationaux17.laopinion.com/2014/12/16/the-origins-of-christmas-traditions/ Wonder where some traditions like the Piñatas or the Posadas come from? Here is a very basic and simple list of those Christmas traditions, including some holiday drinks. SEE ALSO: Who does it better for Christmas, Americans or Latinos? The Poinsettia: The favorite plant for the holidays This is a case of “stolen identity” because this plant (read: the red petals you see are actually leaves–the poinsettia flower is the yellow part you see in the middle of those red leaves) was brought from Mexico to United States and renamed by Joel R. Poinsett, the first US envoy to Mexico. Poinsett (1779-1851), a physician and diplomat, held several offices in the country and besides the plant, several places in the East Coast carry his name: A lake, a highway, a county, a bridge. He was a Minister to Mexico between 1825 and 1830. According to some reports, he “discovered” the shrub called Christmas Eve, or Cuetlaxochitl by the Aztecs, in Taxco. He later brought some samples to the USA, renamed it and made it popular. This red and green leaves blooms in winter and it’s also popular in Central America. The Aztecs used it as red dye and pain reliever. Its association with Christmas came in the 16th century as part of the Catholic Church’s efforts to control all aspects of indigenous cultural life. The story, created by Catholic priests, talks about a young girl willing to make Jesus a present for Christmas, but she was very poor. Inspired by an angel, the girl collected seeds and planted them in front of Christ’s image. Later, beautiful red and green flowers bloomed, and that’s how the legend of the “Flor de Nochebuena” was born. The Posadas The Posada (or lodging) is a reenactment of the Virgin Mary and Joseph asking for a place where she could give birth to her son Jesus. According to the Christian tradition, Mary and Joseph traveled from Nazareth to Belen, where Jesus was born. They asked several people for lodging, but they refused until somebody accepted them. Of course, the representation varies according to time and place. However two elements are almost untouched: The main song and the length —this is played for nine days. Each reenactment is short, and most of the time participants have candles while going from one house to the other. SEE ALSO: Rosario Dawson’s ‘Top Five’ Christmas traditions  The song is basically a dialogue between the travelers and the people inside the houses that they visit. Once Mary and Joseph are accepted, the song becomes more festive and there is a celebration. At the end, in most cases there is a piñata for children and people drink either “champurrado,” hot chocolate or ponche. This tradition was brought from Spain to Mexico where it’s very popular to this day. It’s also celebrated in Guatemala and parts of the Southwestern U.S. due to the Mexican cultural influence. The Piñata: Another Christmas tradition with a Hispanic accent. Basically, a piñata is a container —made of colorful pottery, cloth, or papier-maché— filled with candies and/or small toys. It’s not just for Christmas, but also other celebrations, especially birthday parties. Hung from above on a string, the piñata is hit by participants at the party until it breaks, the candies and toys falling on the floor while people run to get the treats. In certain Mexican areas, piñatas are filled with peanuts and small mandarins. This was a tradition used by Catholic priests in the early times of the Conquista to co-op local traditions, a perfect blend of European and indigenous customs. Catholic priests brought this tradition from Spain, however the word comes from the italian “pignatta.” And to make it more intriguing, some historians tracked down similar traditions in China and other countries. However, the Aztecs already had a similar tradition to celebrate “Huitzilopochtli,” —the War God— in December. The piñatas are a commercial success and people can buy them almost in any Hispanic supermarket around the US, particularly in the Southwest. Nevertheless, some families prefer to make their own piñatas, having children be part of the process; others prefer to purchase more elaborate and artistic piñatas that are commercially made. Santa Claus, Papa Noel or Viejito Pascuero? This is not a Hispanic tradition, but without a doubt it’s the most popular character of the Holidays. There are several interpretations about the origin of Santa Claus —and many songs too. In this regard, we can mention “Santa Claus is coming to town,” written by John Coots and Haven Gillespie in 1934, as the most popular of all. Over the years, the image of Santa Claus changed, but since the first part of the 20th century, tradition established that he lives in the North Pole, he has a large white beard and white hair; he is chubby and is always jolly. On Christmas night, Santa delivers presents to all children. Well, not all of them since the main condition to be on his list is to be a well behaved child. Santa travels around the world on his magic sledge and carries a big bag with presents. Apparently, the figure of Santa comes from the Greek priest Saint Nicholas, of Myra. He lived in the third century and was known as a generous person. Based on this model, with the addition of local traditions and folkloric narrative, the image of Santa Claus became well establish in Europe around the 19th century, passing later to USA and Canada, and expanding later to the rest of the continent. As the image of Santa Claus traveled South, his name also changed, becoming Papa Noel in most Latin-American countries and Viejito Pascuero in Chile. Today most people don’t think much about the origins of this tradition, and Santa Claus impersonators can be seen in most shopping centers in the Americas. Traditional Christmas drinks Champurrado Its a thick indigenous drink made of corn dough and chocolate. There are many versions of this drink. But regardless what recipe you use, champurrado will keep you warm and will give you energy —naturally. One basic recipe call for simmer milk, piloncillo (a dark-brown unrefined cane sugar, used to replace sugar) and chocolate. You can also add cinnamon. Mix the corn dough with water (or milk) and add it to the simmering milk. After 10 or more minutes its ready. Since this is a very thick drink, it keeps its temperature, which is one of the reason to be considered a “winter drink.” The ingredients to make champurrado can be organic, making this drink a natural favorite. Hot chocolate To drink chocolate is another indigenous tradition. It’s said the Mayan loved this “potion.” Is very simple to make hot chocolate these days by using powder chocolate, mixed with hot milk or water. However, the real thing calls for melting a chocolate bar and mixing it with sugar or piloncillo. Most Mexican or Hispanic grocery stores carry this type of chocolate. Ponche It’s a warm fruit punch and it also has several variations. Nobody knows where this concept started. Apparently Spaniards brought to Mexico, a raw idea about the ponche. The idea is to mix fruits in a pan with boiling water, plus piloncillo and cinnamon. You can use the fruits of your choice but basically oranges, apples, tejocotes guavas and a piece of sugar cane. A real ponche includes other ingredients, like tamarindo, prunes, raising, etc. The ponche is ready when the fruits are tender.  Children love it and adults sometimes incorporate a little bit of rum or brandy and tequila. This recipe is easy to make and in some grocery stores there are some “ponche kits” available. SEE ALSO: Top 5 Colombian traditions during the Christmas

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]]> ‘La Griteria’: Nicaraguans celebrate tradition in Miami https://laopinion.com/2014/12/08/la-griteria-nicaraguans-celebrate-tradition-in-miami/ Mon, 08 Dec 2014 14:12:00 +0000 http://migrationaux16.laopinion.com/2014/12/08/la-griteria-nicaraguans-celebrate-tradition-in-miami/ As she extended her hand to receive a handful of “leche burra” (traditional candy from Nicaragua), Stephanie Tablada, a Miami resident of Nicaraguan descent, headed over from one altar to the other to sing to the Virgin Mary. Tablada is not the only person to chant and pray to the Virgin Mary, as she and countless of other people in Miami celebrated “La Griteria,” a holy tradition from Nicaragua that takes place every December 7th. SEE ALSO: Feast of the Immaculate Conception kicks off Christmas holiday “Since I wasn’t born in Nicaragua, I like to think of this as a way to keep my country’s tradition alive,” said Tablada, 27. “I hope to one day bring my children to these.” “La Griteria” is a Nicaraguan holiday that honors the Immaculate Conception of Mary every seventh of December. On the eve of the Catholic feast, devotees walk the streets and visit different altars in temples and homes to sing and pray to the Virgin Mary. When in front of an altar, people say “quien causa tanta alegria?” (who causes so much joy?) and the person inside the home or temple responds “la Concepcion de Maria!” (the conception of Mary). “La gorra” (goodie bags) is then handed to the devotees chanting outside. “La gorra” can be anything from candy, food and more. “My favorite thing about celebrating purisimas in Miami is ‘la gorra,'” Tablada said. “It’s so awesome to try the food, drinks and desserts that I get from all the altars.” Originated in 1857 in Leon, Nicaragua and also known as “La Purisima,” the religious festival is celebrated in every town of the Central American country. It’s also practiced in the U.S., where many Nicaraguans reside, primarily Miami, Fla. “One of my favorite things is that it unites family and friends with the same Catholic belief,” Gabriela Altamirano, 38, said. “It’s a fun ambience with religious chants for the Virgen Mary.” Born in Nicaragua, Alramirano has been living in Miami since she was 10 years old. Now she’s passing on the tradition to her 7-year-old daughter who was born in the U.S. SEE ALSO: Fritanga: An exclusive taste of Nicaraguan food “‘La Griteria’ is very important for me because my family continues to grow with Catholic values, and it helps us to know God and his mother,” she said. Like Tablada and Altamirano, the tradition of “La Griteria” or “La Purisima” holds a special spot in the hearts of many Nicaraguans living in the exterior.  

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]]> 9 DIY Latino-inspired costumes to rock Halloween https://laopinion.com/2014/10/24/9-diy-latino-inspired-costumes-to-rock-halloween/ Fri, 24 Oct 2014 15:10:00 +0000 http://migrationaux12.laopinion.com/2014/10/24/9-diy-latino-inspired-costumes-to-rock-halloween/ Kennedy Center Honors overlooks Latinos once again, group says https://laopinion.com/2014/09/05/kennedy-center-honors-overlooks-latinos-once-again-group-says/ Fri, 05 Sep 2014 16:09:00 +0000 http://migrationaux7.laopinion.com/2014/09/05/kennedy-center-honors-overlooks-latinos-once-again-group-says/ Celebrating Father’s Day around the world https://laopinion.com/2014/06/12/celebrating-father%c2%92s-day-around-the-world/ Thu, 12 Jun 2014 10:06:00 +0000 http://migrationaux9.laopinion.com/2014/06/12/celebrating-father%c2%92s-day-around-the-world/ 15 Wholesome gift ideas for mom https://laopinion.com/2014/05/09/15-wholesome-gift-ideas-for-mom/ Fri, 09 May 2014 16:05:00 +0000 http://migrationaux15.laopinion.com/2014/05/09/15-wholesome-gift-ideas-for-mom/ The laptop ban: more coffee shops going screen-free https://laopinion.com/2014/04/10/the-laptop-ban-more-coffee-shops-going-screen-free/ Thu, 10 Apr 2014 13:04:00 +0000 http://migrationaux13.laopinion.com/2014/04/10/the-laptop-ban-more-coffee-shops-going-screen-free/ El poder de la meditación: ¿concepto real o meras patrañas? https://laopinion.com/2012/08/29/el-poder-de-la-meditacion-concepto-real-o-meras-patranas/ Wed, 29 Aug 2012 18:08:50 +0000 http://migration.eldiariony.com/el-poder-de-la-meditacion-concepto-real-o-meras-patranas/ IM_20120822_SKYWORD05_308229883