Articles written by Maria Teresa Hernandez


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  • Care for a sweet treat during Mexico's Day of the Dead? Have a bite of 'pan de muerto'

    MARIA TERESA HERNANDEZ|Oct 30, 2024

    MEXICO CITY (AP) — The first bite is an assault to the senses. A sugary, citric, fluffy delight. "Pan de muerto" or "bread of the dead" is baked in Mexico every year, from early October to mid-November, amid Day of the Dead celebrations. Shaped like a bun, decorated with bone-like bread pieces and sugar on top, pan de muerto can be seen at coffee shops, dinner tables or home-made altars, which Mexicans build to remember their deceased loved ones and welcome them back for a night on Nov. 2. Its date of origin can't be specified, but pan de m...

  • Abducted as babies in the 1970s, these Argentines found a way toward their true identity

    MARIA TERESA HERNANDEZ|Mar 22, 2024

    BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Claudia Poblete can't help it. On certain days, as she passes in front of a church, she automatically crosses herself while her children gaze at her with confusion. She didn't raise them as Catholics — as she was — because her spirituality has shifted. In 2000, Poblete didn't go by her current name. She was called Mercedes Landa, and before a judge showed her a DNA test result that confirmed her true identity, she was unaware that she was among hundreds of babies who were abducted during the Argentine dicta...

  • Inspired by llamas, the desert and Mother Earth, these craftswomen weave sacred textiles

    MARIA TERESA HERNANDEZ|Sep 29, 2023

    COLCHANE, Chile (AP) — In northern Chile, Teófila Challapa learned to weave surrounded by the hills and sandy roads of the Atacama Desert. "Spin the threads, girl," her grandmother told her a half a century ago. Aymara women like Challapa, now 59, become acquainted with wool threads under blue skies and air so thin that outsiders struggle to breathe. While herding llamas and alpacas through scarce grasslands 11,500 feet above sea level, they create their first textiles. "We had no clothes or money, so we needed to learn how to dress with ou...

  • Mexican rescue dog Frida became symbol of earthquake hope

    MARIA TERESA HERNANDEZ|Sep 29, 2017

    MEXICO CITY (AP) — Even without rescuing anyone from the rubble after Mexico's big earthquake, a photogenic yellow Labrador retriever named Frida has gained an international social media following. At least 344 people died in the Sept. 19 earthquake, including 205 in Mexico City. For days, rescuers who tunneled into huge mounds of debris and selfless volunteers who threw themselves into work around the city were lauded for their efforts. But no individual captured the hearts of Mexicans and those watching the efforts from afar like Frida. Clad...