GLOSSARY
GLOSSARY
GLOSSARY
GLOSSARY
GLOSSARY
- A.J.E.F.
- Acronym for Asociación de Jóvenes Esperanza de la Fraternidad (i.e., Youth Association Hope of the Fraternity). The name of the youth section of Lodge Mayabeque.
- Autonomista, Partido
- A Cuban political party of the late 1800s which encouraged Spain to grant Cuba political autonomy in the style granted to Canada by England.
- Basic Secondary School (Secundaria Básica)
- Seventh through ninth grade. This type of school was established after 1961. It is preceded by Primary School and followed by the Preuniversitario.
- Centén
- A unit of Spanish currency (obsolete). Its name derives from the fact that it was originally (1598) worth 100 (cién) Escudos (anoter unit of Spanish currency). In the early to mid 1900s, the term was used in Cuba to refer to five pesos; each Cuban peso was, then, the equivalent of one US dollar.
- Corral
-
As a unit of measure (now obsolete), it refers to a circular portion of land equivalent to 420 caballerías (i.e., 5,636.4 hectares). Today "corral" refers to a “fenced and open place.”
- Curro
-
Popular moniker for the people of Andalucía, Spain. Today the Andalucía region is made up of eight provinces: Almería, Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Málaga, and Sevilla.
- Danzón
-
A music style that originated in Cuba. See “Los estilos: Danzón.”
- “El pobre Valbuena”
-
“Poor Valbuena,” a musical by Joaquín “Quinito” Valverde Sanjuán (1875-1918) in collaboration with Tomás López Torregrosa.
- Fernando Poo
- An island off the west coast of Africa, renamed Bioko in 1979. It was a Spanish colony from 1778 until 1968, when it was granted full independence as Equatorial Guinea. During the 19th Century, Spain used the Island as a Penal Colony.
- Flat league (Legua plana)
- The Cuban flat league was the equivalent of 133.96 caballerías or 1797.74 hectares).
- “Flor de un Día”
- Literally, “Day Flower.” A play by the Spaniard Francisco Camprodón y Safont (Spain, 1816-Cuba, 1870), published in 1851.
- Habanera
- Literally, “(female) from Havana.” A typical Cuban musical style born in the first half of the XIX Century. Georges Bizet used it in a movement of his famous opera, “Carmen.”
- Institute of Higher Learning (Instituto de Segunda Enseñanza)
- Seventh to eleventh grade. Until 1961, following the sixth grade, students could choose to go on a higher learning tract by taking an entrance exam for the national institutes.
- University studies followed. Most degrees required five years of study (e.g., Law, Pedagogy, Business Administration, Pharmacy, Philosophy and Literature, Veterinary Medicine, Odontology, International Law, Civil Law, Physics & Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, Architecture, Engineering, etc.), and some, like Medicine, required seven years.
- Jinetera
-
Literally, a female horse rider. In the vernacular of today's Cuba, however, this term is used to refer to women who have to prostitute themselves in order to earn US dollars, the only effective currency in Cuba. Many of them have to do this in addition to holding a full-time job.
- “Parada y Fonda”
- Literally, “Hostel and Eatery” or in more modern terms, “Hotel and Restaurant.” The name of a comedy by Vital Aza.
- Piezas de cuadro
- Literally, “dance of squares.” This is a transcription of the English term “country dance” to the Spanish words cuadro and danza. The latter was then replaced by pieza, which, at the time, was a more popular term for dance.
- Preuniversitario
- Tenth through twelfth grade. After 1961, following the Basic Secondary School (i.e., grades seventh to ninth), students attend the Preuniversitario for three more years. After graduation, students move on to University.
- Primary or Elementary School
- Kindergarten through sixth grade. Until 1961, this was followed by either the Upper Primary School or the Institute of Higher Learning. Since 1961, Elementary School is followed by Basic Secondary School.
- Reformista, Partido
- A Cuban political party started in the 1860s organized primarily by Cuban land owners opposed to the abolition of slavery. Later they promoted a gradual abolition, accompanied by compensation from Spain.
- Unión Constitucional, la
- A Cuban political party of the late 1800s whose members were mostly Spaniards. It supported the continued, direct rule of Spain over Cuba, by force if necessary.
- Upper Primary School (Escuela Primaria Superior)
- Seventh to eighth grade. Until 1961, after sixth grade, students had the choice of attending the Upper Primary School, the end of primary education.
- From here, students could attend the Normal School for Teachers, the School of Arts and Crafts, or the Civil-Military School. Following these, students could specialize. For example, painters and sculptors could attend the San Alejandro School in Havana; musicians could specialize at the National Conservatory; etc.
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