ciroccoj | Geography geeking at its finest

Daniel just finished his quick once-over of South America, and I'd like to see how much he's learned. So I'm making up a little test, and realizing I'm not completely sure of all my geographical factoids re. the continent of my birth, and as I'm seeing whether or not I can locate all the countries correctly, I start humming a song I learned as a child called "Himno de las Américas" (Hymn of the Americas).

Damn. Must've been ten the last time I heard it, or sang it. Wow, that was some time ago. Do I even remember the lyrics? Wonder if it's in one of the songbooks I recovered from my mom's house.

Huh. Wonder if it's on the net...

Type it in and...

Himno de las Américas
(R. Sciamarella)

Un canto de amistad, de buena vecindad, unidos nos tendrá eternamente. Por nuestra libertad, por nuestra lealtad debemos de vivir gloriosamente.	A song of friendship, of good neighborhood, will unite us eternally. For our liberty, for our loyalty, we must live gloriously.

Un símbolo de paz alumbrará el vivir de todo el Continente Americano. Fuerza de Optimismo, fuerza de la hermandad será este canto de buena vecindad.	A symbol of peace will illuminate the life of all the American Continent. A force of Optimism, a force of brotherhood shall be this song of good neighborhood.

Argentina, Brasil y Bolivia, Colombia, Chile y Ecuador, Uruguay, Paraguay, Venezuela, Guatemala y El Salvador, Costa Rica, Haití y Nicaragua, Honduras y Panamá, Norteamérica, México y Perú, Cuba y Canadá:	Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia, Colombia, Chile and Ecuador, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Venezuela, Guatemala and El Salvador, Costa Rica, Haiti and Nicaragua, Honduras and Panama, North America, Mexico and Peru, Cuba and Canada:

¡Son hermanos soberanos de la libertad! ¡Son hermanos soberanos de la libertad!	They are sovereign brothers of freedom! They are sovereign brothers of freedom!

In the version I learned as a kid, the countries were re-arranged. "Canadá" was removed (as the already mentioned "Norteamérica" implies both the United States and Canada), and "Santo Domingo" (i.e. Dominican Republic) was added instead.

Argentina, Brasil y Bolivia,
Colombia, Chile y Ecuador,
Uruguay, Venezuela y Honduras
Guatemala y El Salvador,
Costa Rica, Haití y Nicaragua,
Cuba y Paraguay,
Norteamérica, México y Perú,
Santo Domingo y Panamá

...and yes, the melody achieves a level of ~~cheese~~ queso that actually does the lyrics proud. No, I don't know what terrible faux pas Guyana, French Guyana and Suriname committed, to have been left out of the brotherhood. And no, you're not supposed to snicker as you proudly belt out words describing Cuba, Chile, Argentina... well, really almost every country in that list... as "sovereign brothers of freedom."