Dia de los Muertos

Dia de los Muertos means the day of the dead. It is a holiday where families visit deceased relatives' graves and honor them. It is about the deceased relatives coming back from the dead. Dia de los Muertos lasts two days, one day is for adults and the second day is for kids. In America we think that thinking of the dead is a sad thing, but Dia de los Muertos is about celebrating the lives that the relatives have lived. It is a lot like our halloween. The children often dress up and eat candy. Food is a big part of the holiday. People make and eat lots of yummy dishes. Food is also placed on graves for the relatives that come back for the day. The holiday is for fun and morning but not the sad kind of morning. People honor their deceased relatives and are glad they even got to know them. Altars are made to honor the relatives and sugar skulls are a fun treat for kids.

About me

Yo soy Clarissa. Soy de Puerto Rico. Estoy bien porque es viernes. Me gusta chocolate y fruta. Me gustan animales y peliculas. En mi familia hay tres personas. Tengo uno perro. El es Boomer. Mi familia es simpatica. Soy activo y inteligente. Tengo doce anos. Mi color favorita es morado. Me gusta ir al cine con mis amigos los fines de semama. Mi deporte favorita es softbol.

En mi familia hay tres personas: mi mama, mi papa, y yo. Mi familia es simpatica y activa. Vivimos en una casa. Tenemos un perrro. Se llama Bommer. A nosotros nos gusta chocolate. Nos gustan perros y frutas. Jugamos a los juegos de mesa y nadamos mucho.

Yo soy simpatica, activa, comica, y inteligente. Vivo en Tucson. Tengo una computadora en mi habitacion. A mi me gusta nadar, bailar, escuchar musica, y navegar por Internet. Yo hago mucha tarea, veo un poco television, juego softbol, y juego con mi perro.

Mi mama es trabajadora, inteligente, y simpatica. Vive conmigo. Tiene pelo negro y ojos verdes. A ella le gustan flores y dulces. Ella hace mucho ejercicio y usa lentes.

Mi papa es simpatico y activo. Vive conmigo y mi mama. Tiene pelo castano y ojos avellanos. A el le gusta correr, jugar beisbol o softbol conmigo, y cocinar. El hace ejercicio y cocina para mi mama y yo mucho.

Mi famila tiene un perro. Se llama Boomer. Boomer es simpatico, activo, y travieso. Vive en la casa de mi familia. Tiene cinco anos y pelo blanco. A el le gusta correr, jugar conmigo, y comer. Boomer es bastante grande y duerme mucho.

Climate and Geography

Size: Puerto Rico is an island in the Caribbean that is roughly the size of Connecticut. It is 3,515 square miles and has about 4 million residents.
Climate: The average temperature for Puerto Rico is in the 80's (F) and humity is very high all year. In August the rainy season starts and ends around October. The island's tropical climate allows showers to fall at any point of the year. From August to November the country is vulnerable to hurricanes.
Geography: The island is almost rectangular in shape and about 60% is covered by mountains. Rain forests, deserts, beaches, caves, and rivers can also be found on the island. The forests and mountains are great places to explore and hike (see 'El paisaje y lugares importantes' for more). The island is surrounded by deep oceans but there is pleanty of clear, shallow water to swim, play, and snorkel in. Puerto Rico is known for its beaches. The magical blue waters make Puerto Rico a vacationer's paradise (see 'Un poco de todo' for more).

Mas Informacion

Puerto Rico

National bird: Reinita
National flower: Maga
National tree: Ceiba
National sport: Baseball
National symbol: Coqui (a small frog)
Population: 3,944,259 (2007)
Languages: Spanish and English (25% fluent English speakers, most know some)

Puerto Rico - Un poco de todo

Puerto Rico is known for its beaches. People come from all over the world to snorkel, scuba dive, swim, play, and relax. What make Puerto Rican beaches so amazing? Their white sand, blue water, great views, and relaxing atmosphere. The picture below of the seaturtle was taken snorkeling in Culebra, Puerto Rico.

These are some sea coves.
I think they are really neat
because it's like having a little
house inside a cliff and right in
the ocean. They look cool too.

Puerto Rico - El paisaje y lugares importantes

The countryside and important places.
Puerto Rico's capital city is San Juan (left). San Juan is known as "La Ciudad Amurallada", the walled city. It was founded in 1521 by Juan Ponce de León. San Juan has 47.5 square miles of land and 29.11 square miles of water. San Juan is the center of Caribbean shipping and, after New York City, is the largest sea port in the area.







Below is a picture of mountains near Cayey, Puerto Rico. Many people enjoy visiting these mountains to hike and explore. The island of Puerto Rico is very green and lush.

Jungles and forests can be found on the island of Puerto Rico. If you decide to take a hike though these tree covered lands you might find some amazing things to see. Below is a picture of a waterfall in El Yunque Forest. I think it is really quite bueatiful.

Puerto Rico - Comida

Puerto Rico has many differnet types of food. One is a dish called fricase (left). It is a made with stewed chiken or goat. Fricase is a fancy and yummy dish. Another thing eaten in Puerto Rico is mangos (above). They are very common on the island and are a great snack. They also serve as side dishes or
ingredients in cooking.

A dessert in Puerto Rico is bread pudding (left). It is made with white bread, butter, sugar, milk, eggs, and a few other ingretients. This is a common desert for Puerto Ricans and a yummy one, too. Bread pudding can be mad with rasins, carmel, coconut shavings, or a topping called polvo de amor. Polvo de amor (love powder) is prepared with grated coconut meat after the milk has been drained. It is mixed with a lot of sugar, cooked, and then served golden-brown. Also the national drink of Puerto Rico is rum (below). In fact 80% of the U.S.A.'s consumed rum comes from the island. Another common drink is coffee.

Polvorones
Ingredients
2 1/4 to 2 1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. butter

1/2 c. Crisco shortening

1/2 c. sugar

1 tsp. almond extract

non-pareil sprinkles

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 350 F. In a deep bowl, cream together the butter and Crisco. Add the sugar slowly to the mix and mix well. Now add the almond extract and mix well. Now add the flour little by little until the mix is hard to stir. Take the dough, form small balls until all is used. Place the small balls on an ungreased cookie sheet and press the center to make a very small well. Place some (grageas)non-pareil sprinkles in the center of the cookie well. Place the cookies in the oven and cook for 15-20 minutes or until golden. DO NOT over cook. Let them cool before eating them.
Enjoy!!!

This was easy to make but takes some time to roll into balls.

Source: http://www.ricanrecipes.com/recipes/detail.php?category_id=10&id=137

Puerto Rico - Gobierno

The government of Puerto Rico is in association with the United States of America. The president of the U.S.A. is the chief of state in Puerto Rico. They do not have a president of their own, but the head of government is an elected governer. The house of Representatives has 51 seats and the Senate has 27 seats. Below is a picture of the governor of Puerto Rico, Luis Fortuño.

Since 1948, the governor of Puerto Rico has been elected by the people. Before that, he was elected by the King of Spain or the President of the United States. In 1579, Juan Ponce de León II became the first Puerto Rican governor. Luis Fortuño is the current governor. He is the ninth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. This means that he is the ninth elected governor. The governor is the head of government. Luis Fortuño was born on October 31, 1960. He is the president of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico and a member of the United States Republican Party. He is the oldest of four children and graduated Colegio Marista of Guaynabo in 1978. He also received a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service degree from Georgetown University. Then he received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1985. He is married to Luce Vela and they has triplets. Luis Fortuño became the governor of Puerto Rico on January 2, 2009.