Yes, lots and lots of Spanish & native influence around here. California is named after a mythological Spanish warrior queen. One of my favorite places to vacation is called Gualala (pronounced "wah-la-la"); it's named due to its river, the name is derived from a Pomo Indian name that means something like "water coming down place".
I think it's neat. In the US we don't really speak the Queen's English anyway, we have our own flavor of the language and since or society is known as the great melting pot I think it's totally appropriate that our language be a melting pot as well. That's the great thing about the English language, it's so flexible. If we need a word we don't have, we just find it in another language and it eventually becomes part of our language! LOL