On Monday, U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski honored retired Staff Sgt. Leonardo Martinez. The 96-year-old is Maryland's last living member of the U.S. Army's 65th Infantry Regiment, also known as the "Borinqueneers" because of its high number of Puerto Rican soldiers.
Each Latino subgroup holds unique characteristics, a fact that is usually veiled by a desire to homogenize and create uniformity based on a common spoken language. A new poll, conducted by the fine folks at NPR, unveiled some of the factors unique to each group, which varies further depending on the number of U.S. native and immigrants to belong to each group.
In Puerto Rico, the holiday season is a big party right from November until after January 6th, as we keep alive the celebration of "Three Kings Day" or "Los Tres Reyes Magos". Puerto Rico enjoys a Caribbean sunny weather all year around; therefore most celebrations take place on "marquesinas" or front outside porches. The lit up and decorated homes are a huge part of the holidays in Puerto Rico. Driving through the islands streets you will start to hear traditional Puerto Rican Christmas carols like "Dame la Mano Paloma" and "Burrito Sabanero". All of this and it isn't even Christmas yet!
