El trece de febrero/February 13th

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¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Gabriel Porras (Carlos Gabriel Porras Flores)! (1962-       )

From telemundo.com. Click HERE. 
An actor born in Mexico City, Mexico who began his career on the telenovelas  La Casa del Naranjo (1998), Tres Veces Sofía (1998-1999) and Tío Alberto (2000-2001), Gabriel Porras had his first role as protagonist on Telemundo's El Alma Herida (2003). He has appeared in many telenovelas since, and he is Paco (the good-looking, kind security guard who is in love with Rosario) in the movie Under the Same Moon (2007). In 2016, he won "Favorite Lead Actor" from the Tu Mundo Awards for his role in the telenovela Bajo el mismo cielo, which is an adaptation of the 2011 movie A Better Life, by Chris Weitz. In the telenovela, Porras plays Carlos Martínez, an undocumented immigrant living in Los Angeles. Carlos is a good man, and he works hard to try to provide a better life for his children. See the official Telemundo video for the show, HERE, and hear Porras speak about how he can identify with undocumented immigrants, even though he is not one, HERE. Porras was married to Venezuelan-American actress and fellow telenovela star Sonya Smith from 2008-2013 (shout out to Philly! Smith was born there (Philadelphia, that is) to her German-born, Venezuelan raised mother, the actress Ileana Jacquet, and her American father, Frederick Smith, but she was mostly raised in Venezuela and identifies more with that culture). Porras speaks about his enduring respect and love (from afar) for Smith in this 2014 Valentine's Day interview for People en español: click HERE.

For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Other February 13th birthdays:

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Rafael "Rafa" Márquez (1979-      ): Professional soccer player from Mexico who has served as captain of Mexico's FIFA World Cup Team four times. He played for Barcelona from 2003-2010, and for the New York Red Bulls from 2010-2012 before returning to Mexico, where he is a widely considered a legend. It was thus shocking when he was identified in an investigation by the U.S. Treasury into a drug trafficking case in 2017 (Developing story. Read more in this Sports Illustrated article, HERE).

Aníbal Acevedo Vilá (1962-      ): Puerto Rican politician and lawyer. He was the 9th Governor of Puerto Rico, from 2005-2009, and is currently a professor of law at the University of Puerto Rico. He received his L.L.M (Master of Laws) Degree from Harvard in 1987.

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