• Scientist Ricardo Falla made discoveries in cardiology, physics, astrophysics, anthropology, and computer science.

• Scientist Ricardo Bressani’s largest contributions in science was in the field of nutrition and food, finding practical solutions to combat the issue of malnutrition in Central America, especially in young children.

• Cardiovascular specialist Aldo Castañeda is recognized for being the first cardiologist to perform open heart surgery in 1950.

• Federico Lehnhoff was a neurosurgeon doctor, born in the Guatemalan capital is known for participating in the invention of soluble coffee and also developed the drug used to treat syphilis (especially in children) called Sulfarsenol.

• Dr. Rafael Espada was the first doctor elected as Guatemala’s Vice President and is a renown cardiovascular surgeon who has contributed in the development of techniques for bypass and open heart surgery.

Common Ingredients

1. Pork

2. Rice

3. Beef

4. Cheese

5. Chilies

6. Corn

7. Tortillas

8. Beans

History

The Native language of Guatemala is Spanish, which was brought to the Iberian Peninsula by the Romans during the Second Punic War and evolved after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. A Spanish written system was developed in Toledo and Madrid and then expanded south to the Mediterranean over the past 1,000 years.

Spanish Dialects

The standard Spanish language is also called Castilian in its original variant, and in order to distinguish it from other languages native to parts of Spain, such as Galician, Catalan, Basque, etc. Spanish of the 16th and 17th centuries is sometimes called "classical" Spanish, referring to the literary accomplishments of that period. Throughout its history, Spanish has been influenced by pre-Roman languages (including Basque, Iberian, Celtiberian and Gallaecian), and later from Greek, from Germanic languages, from Arabic, from neighboring Romance languages, from Native American languages, and from English.

• Castillian: "original Spanish language", In the 13th century, King Alfonso X promoted Castilian. He made Castilian Spanish the official language of government. Alfonso had the scholar translators who covert many historical and scientific documents into Castilian. In the 14th century, Castilian was named as the official dialect of Spain. It is the most widely known and spoken of all dialects in the world.

• Latin American: In the U.S. the most common Spanish dialect is Latin American. It is generally vocalized in the mountains areas of Latin America. So sometimes called ‘Highland Spanish’. Early colonists like Columbus, brought the language with them to America. Today, the Americas take that claim as being home to the most Spanish language speakers in the world. Spanish is using virtually all of Central and South America except Brazil.

• Mexican: Most clear pronunciations of the word

• Caribbean (Cuba, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Panama, Caribbean Colombia, and Caribbean Mexico and Gulf Coast Mexico): Caribbean Spanish speakers cut huge chunks off of a word. Like they completely drop the ‘d’ at the end of the word. They also tend to drop the ‘s’ sound at both the middle and ends of words.

• Andean-Pacific (Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, West Bolivian, and Andean Venezuela).

• Rioplatense (Argentina, Uruguay, East Bolivian, and Paraguay): Italian influences Rioplatense Spanish heavily and has very similar intonation patterns as that of the Neapolitan dialect. It is famous for its distinctive pronunciation features.

• Chilean (Chile, Cuyo)

• Northern Peninsular (Asturias, Castilla y León, Cantabria, Basque country, Navarre, Aragón, Rioja, Provinces of Guadalajara and Cuenca)

• Central-Southern Peninsular (Madrid, Toledo, La Mancha)

• Southern Peninsular (Andalusia, Extremadura, and Murcia)

• Canarian (Canary Islands)