Pumpkins

The pumpkin is one of the oldest known vegetables. Although many people use its name to mean any type of winter squash, it only applies to the yellow and orange varieties with a hard grooved rind and orange flesh. They vary in shape from round to oblong and in size from less than 2 kilos to more than 100.

Detail of a 1947 still life by the Portuguese painter Alda Machado Santos (1892-1977)

For Americans the pumpkin is a traditional symbol of Halloween.

To understand this association we must go back to its origins.

Celtic people believed that 31st October was the last day of the year. To celebrate they carried home a torch, symbolizing the New Year, to scare away evil spirits and to light the way for the souls of the dead to return home. Poor people carved lanterns out of turnips and went “souling”- asking for soul cakes in return for saying prayers for the dead.

When Irish immigrants settled in America “souling” became “trick or treat” and pumpkins replaced the old carving of turnips.

The Thanksgiving menu also includes pumpkin in the form of pumpkin pie.

If you are a cheesecake lover here is a recipe just for you:

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Base: 2 cups Bolacha Torrada (1 packet), ½ cup melted butter, 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, 2 tablespoons light brown sugar.

Crush the biscuits and mix all the ingredients together until combined. Press into a greased cake pan. Bake for 10 minutes, then leave to cool slightly.

Filling:  3 packets cream cheese (Philadelphia), 3 eggs, ½ cup sugar, 2 tablespoons all purpose flour, 1 cup pumpkin purée (1/2 kg pumpkin), 2 tablespoons grated orange zest.

Boil 1/2 Kg pumpkin cut into chunks. Purée in a blender. Mix the other ingredients. Pour the mixture into the biscuit base and bake for 45 minutes. Chill for at least 12 hours before serving.

More Queens in the future?

The official photo of CHOGM 2011

On 28^th October, at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, Australia (CHOGM 2011)  attended by the Queen, it was announced that the 16 nations of which Queen Elizabeth II is monarch have agreed unanimously to constitutional changes allowing men and women the same rights of succession to the throne. So, if the firstborn of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge is a girl, she can become Queen even if subsequent children are sons. It will also be permitted for Roman Catholics to marry into the Royal family.

The changes were announced by David Cameron, the Prime Minister. Referring to the old rule he said: “…this way of thinking is at odds with the modern countries that we have become". In light of the modern times it´s appropriate and fair to change policies accordingly.

                     

Queen Mary I (Bloody Mary)-1553-1558

Queen Elizabeth I (The Virgin Queen)- 1558-1603

Queen Anne-1702-1714

Queen Victoria-(1837-1901)

Queen Elizabeth II- (1952-present)

Pão-por-Deus. Tradição portuguesa tem semelhanças com o Halloween

Nos Estados Unidos, as crianças percorrem as casas dos vizinhos na véspera do dia de Todos os Santos a pedir doces, como forma de celebrar o Halloween e ameaçam fazer partidas se os não receberem (trick or treat).

Em Portugal, nas zonas rurais, nas ilhas da Madeira e Açores e em Cabo Verde, (Santiago), as crianças pedem o Pão-por-Deus, recitam versos e recebem como oferta: pão, broas, bolos, romãs, frutos secos, tremoços, nozes e castanhas que colocam dentro dos seus sacos de pano. Essa visita é feita na manhã do feriado, de 1 de novembro, dia de Todos-os-Santos sem ameaças de partidas a quem não tiver nada para dar.

O dia do Pão-por-Deus
É um dia de muita alegria
Vamos fazer um magusto
E festejar esse dia.

É também costume em algumas regiões da Beira Alta e Beira Baixa os padrinhos oferecerem um bolo, o santoro, (espécie de pão bento, comprido, em forma de tíbia) aos seus afilhados. Estes bolos também conhecidos por santório ou santórum comem-se cortados às fatias barradas com manteiga e acompanhados por queijo fresco ou presunto.

No Cercal (Alentejo) este dia também é conhecido por “Dia dos Bolinhos”. As crianças andam pelos montes e herdades a pedir estes bolinhos. Na zona do oeste, perto de Cadaval oferecem-se merendeirinhas ou brindeirinhas. Nos Açores, em S. Miguel fazem-se escaldadas ou bolos de massa sovada.

 São vários os versos associados a esta tradição:

Quando os donos da casa dão alguma coisa:

"Esta casa cheira a broa
Aqui mora gente boa.
Esta casa cheira a vinho
Aqui mora algum santinho."

Quando os donos da casa não dão nada:

"Esta casa cheira a alho
Aqui mora um espantalho
Esta casa cheira a unto
Aqui mora algum defunto."

No dia 1 de novembro de 1755, ocorreu o terramoto de Lisboa. Muitas pessoas viram todos os seus bens serem destruídos na catástrofe e tiveram que pedir "Pão-por-Deus" para poderem sobreviver, pois foram trágicos os anos que se seguiram a esta tragédia. No entanto, a Enciclopédia Portuguesa e Brasileira faz uma referência ao Pão-por-Deus já no século XVII na obra de D. Francisco Manuel de Melo A Feira dos Anexins (20-209), uma coletânea de provérbios e dizeres populares.

O Halloween é uma celebração muito antiga de origem celta, que só adquiriu a dimensão atual depois da sua introdução, no século XIX, nos Estados Unidos pelos emigrantes irlandeses. Está associado à crença que no dia 31 de outubro, véspera do ano novo celta, a vida e a morte ficavam muito próximas, uma vez que os espíritos dos mortos voltavam à terra. Foi adotado no Novo Mundo e através da globalização regressou à europa depois da II Guerra Mundial. Em Portugal é relativamente novo o hábito de celebrar esta tradição, que tem vindo a criar adeptos nos últimos dez anos.

Os fatos para comemorar o Halloween eram baseados em figuras sobrenaturais como bruxas, fantasmas, monstros, esqueletos, mas com o tempo e a procura de originalidade a temática expandiu-se e hoje em dia vê-se um pouco de tudo nas fantasias desta época, incluindo celebridades, personagens de ficção e princesas.







Conheces a história de Jack O´Lantern?

"Mens Sana in Corpore Sano"

A Healthy Mind in a Healthy Body

Physical exercise and sport are the keys for a healthy lifestyle. It’s not for nothing that health experts recommend sport as a way to improve the quality of life. More and more people also practise sports as a way of achieving a psychological well being to face the stress of modern life. It gives them a greater feeling of self-esteem. By playing sports, you also feel full of energy and reduce the risk of becoming overweight.

There are many old connections between sports and school in Britain. Some sports like football, cricket and rugby were played in the 19^th century in various ways in different schools, sometimes like a rivalry between older and younger boys. Their transformation into modern sports resulted from the influence of the new industrial middle classes who sent their sons to the public schools to be educated with the aristocracy; they turned games into a form of collective discipline: playing with courage and helping your team. In those days technique and skill were supposed to be less important than character. Fair play was an unwritten rule requiring not only the respect for the rules of the game but also for all the players involved, especially the rival team.

Some traditions in sports

The Calcutta Cup

England and Scotland compete for the Calcutta Cup. It used to belong to the Calcutta Rugby Club, which stopped playing in 1877. The club took all its money out of the bank and used it to make the cup, which they sent to England. It is a beautiful cup with snakes for handles and an elephant on the top.

Twickenham Stadium is the largest rugby union stadium in the United Kingdom. It is often referred to as the home of English rugby.

When D. Manuel II of Portugal was in exile, in England, he lived in Fulwell Park, Twickenham.

Wembley stadium

Wembley opened in 2007 and was built on the site of the previous 1923 stadium. It is England´s national football stadium and the FA (Football Association) Cup Final is held here.

*Sir Alex Ferguson is one of the most admired managers with the longest service in the history of football. He was appointed manager at Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United, on 6th November 1986.

David Beckham and Wayne Rooney are nowadays the most famous British players. In the 2004 European Championship, hosted by Portugal both played for England against the Portuguese national team and were defeated in a dramatic quarter finals.

Some of the best Portuguese players have strong connections with the English football: Eusébio became known worldwide after playing the 1966 World Cup in England, when he was considered the best player; Cristiano Ronaldo also won international recognition after his transference from Sporting to Manchester United, where presently Nani, another Portuguese player is one of the stars of the same team.

José Mourinho, our “special one” manager was in charge of the London club, Chelsea, from 2004 till 2007.The club coached by him set a new record of 64 consecutive home league matches without defeat. He also won the 2005 and 2006 Premier League Cup and the 2007 FA Cup.

*On 8 May 2013, Alex Ferguson announced his retirement as manager of Manchester United. During his 26 years at the club he won 38 trophies.

Cricket

It is very popular in Britain, played mainly in the summer. With the consolidation of the British Empire in the 19^th century it became a popular sport in countries like India, Pakistan and South Africa.

This game has had an impact on popular culture and some expressions related to it are used in the English language:

“It would have been easy to cheat, but it wouldn´t have been cricket” (fair).

“He is on a sticky wicket” (difficult situation)

Wimbledon

Wimbledon is the oldest tennis tournament in the world. Everything at Wimbledon is very traditional: the courts are grass, the dress code is very strict for competitors who can only wear white, and there is a total absence of sponsor advertising around the courts.

The Derby

 Although it is often mentioned when important football matches take place, it has nothing to do with football. The Derby(dar-bi) is the most prestigious horse race in Britain, which takes place in Epsom.

Gericault. The Epsom Derby

The Royal Ascot

The Ascot Racecourse is also a horse race closely associated with the British Royal Family and every year the Royal Ascot is attended by the Queen. There are strict dress codes: women must wear a hat and men a grey or black morning dress with a top hat.

The Boat Race

The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race is a competition between teams ( of eight rowers and a cox  who steers the boat) from the two oldest universities in England and takes place every year in late March or early April on the river Thames.
Both Oxford and Cambridge use blue as their colour (Oxford – dark blue; Cambridge-light blue). When a student represents one of these universities we say that he “has won a blue”.

  Golf

The Old Course at St Andrews, Scotland,  is the oldest golf course in the world.

This small city became the centre of the news for the media when Prince William married Kate Middleton in 2011 because they both attended the University of St Andrews, the 3^rd oldest in the UK, almost 600 years old.

The topic “Sports” is in the 8^th grade syllabus of English as a foreign language.

The students are going to research on this topic and present their work to the class. I´m looking forward to listening to them.

References:

Wilson, Ken,and Peter Tite. Project GB. Sport. London: Mary Glasgow publications Ltd, 1978

http://images.search yahoo.com

Punctuation saves lives

Punctuation is very useful in preventing enormous mix-ups. Lynne Truss says: “Punctuation marks are the traffic signals of language.They tell us to slow down, notice this, take a detour, and stop”. (85)

Read and compare:

A woman, without her man, is nothing.

A woman: without her, man is nothing

 Charles the First walked and talked half an hour after his head was cut off.

Charles the First walked and talked. Half an hour after, his head was cut off.

The Apostrophe indicates

1.    Possession:  singular nouns and irregular plurals (´s ), plural nouns (` ).

The boy´s hat               the boss´s policy          the babies´ bibs          the children´s playground      Bridget Jones´s Diary      my parents ´car

1a. With older, foreign or classical (ancient Greek and Roman) words, we just add an apostrophe.

Socrates´ ideas         Cervantes´ Don Quixote       Guy Fawkes´ night     Achilles´ heel

2.    Time or quantity

In one week´s time       Two weeks´ notice

3.    Omission of  figures in dates:

The summer of ´78

4.    Omission of letters

I´m            she´s got     he´s     I´d rather        they can´t      you don´t     we won´t        it doesn´t

5.    Plural of letters and numbers

He writes b´s instead of d´s.   It happened in the early 1970´s.

      Be sure to dot your i´s and cross your t´s.

6.    Plural of words which do not normally have plurals:

It seems a good idea, but there are a lot of if´s.

Here are the do´s and don´ts.

7.    Irish names

O´Neill and O´Casey

,

Comma

1.    It is used to separate items in a series or list.

In a series of just two elements:

It was a long, hot summer.

Her blouse was red and black. (no comma)

In a series of three or more elements separate them by commas. When a conjunction (and, or, but) joins the last two elements, put a comma before the conjunction.

In her will, the woman left jewellery, coins, stocks, but no cash.

2.    In non-defining relative clauses:

My daughter, who lives in Lisbon, is a doctor.

;

Semi-Colon

1.    It is used to join two independent sentences with a closely connected meaning.

           Some people work best in the mornings; others do better in the evenings.

2.    It is also used to separate items in a list, particularly if they are long and complex.

The company has offices in Lisbon, Portugal; Boston, Massachusetts; Los Angeles, California; London, England; and Taipei, Taiwan.

:

Colon

1.    It is often used before explanations.

We had to abandon our holiday plans: the dates didn´t work out.

2.    Use the colon to introduce a list.

We need three kinds of support: economic, political, and moral.

3.    Use colons before quotations or before a speech in a dialogue:

In the words of Oscar Wilde: “I can resist anything except temptation”

JULIET: O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?

_

Dash

1.    Dashes are often used, especially in informal writing, to add afterthoughts.

We had a great time in Disneyworld – the kids really enjoyed it.

.     ?

Full stop, Question mark

They both come at the end of a sentence. The full stop marks the end of a statement; the question mark the end of a question.

She enjoyed all kinds of fruit.

Who will win the election?

!

Exclamation mark

1.    An exclamation is followed by an exclamation mark.

What a talented artist Almada Negreiros was!

I can´t stand that noise!

2.    An imperative may be followed by an exclamation mark.

Hold that line!

 

References:

 

http://freethoughtblogs.com/xblog/2011/10/09/punctuation-saves-lives/ 10 Oct.2011

Good, C. Edward. Who´s (oops) Whose Grammar Book Is This Anyway? New York: MJF Books, 2002.

Kinneaavy, James L.,John E. Warriner. Elements of Writing. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1993

Swan, Michael. Practical English Usage .Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986

Truss, Lynne. Eats, Shoots & Leaves. The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. New York: Gotham Books, 2004.