The Pew Hispanic Center has an interesting study: A Portrait of Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States.
http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=107
I once asked Aixa about the living room in her mother's house in Venezuela. It was fully furnished but never used. Everyone always sat and talked in the kitchen. Aixa told me that, in Latin American countries, the living room is for people you don't know very well. It's away from the kitchen, which is the heart of the home.
Cumbia a style of music heard iin the streets across Latin America. The most most popular artists are from Colombia and Mexico. Selena's brother is part of the popular Cumbia Kings. Cumbia is popular to dance to and to drink to! If you happened to see the popular novel, Cuerpo del Deseo, the bar owner sings El Baile del Burrito in her bar. And Ecuador...? Cumbia is one of the popular types of music produced in this country.
Here's a You Tube video of Tierra Canela later so you can get an idea of this music and just where people go to listen to it. Personally, I like the music. You may too, but just so you know exactly what it is.
An Ecuadorian friend gave us this. He bought it from an artisan on the street. It's a replica of a work by the famous Ecuadorian artist, Oswaldo Guaysamin. You can see a lot of his works of art here, at the official site: http://www.guayasamin.com or read about him here on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oswaldo_Guayasamín
Mafalda, a comic strip with social and political overtones, is part of the Argentine psyche!
An Ecuadorian friend gave us this. He bought it from an artisan on the street. It's a replica of a work by the famous Ecuadorian artist, Oswaldo Guaysamin. You can see a lot of his works of art here, at the official site: http://www.guayasamin.com or read about him here on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oswaldo_Guayasamín