6 de Maio de 2019.
Fake Christmas trees and a lack of snow. Christmas 2018 will always be a curious memory for me. Since Christmas is always associated with snow and beautifully decorated Christmas trees, this year Christmas on Madeira was quite different from what I’m used to. In Austria, the main celebration of Christmas takes place at the 24th, whereas here the people care more about the 25th. Usually, we buy a Christmas tree around the 22nd and decorate it on the 24th. Afterward, we go to church, eat some Fondue and receive presents. To be honest, nothing too special. My favorite Christmas habit is called “Christbaum loben” it if a funny thing to do and works as follows. After you served your time […]
4 de Maio de 2019.
Dados da Direcção-Geral de Estatísticas da Educação indicam que há menos cinco mil alunos nas escolas públicas do continente. Queda na natalidade e subida da emigração justificam diminuição neste ano lectivo. É a maior quebra dos últimos três anos no número de inscritos do 1.º ciclo de escolaridade (crianças entre os seis e nove anos) e basta fazer contas para se constatar que este é mais um dos efeitos dos anos da troika. Os dados agora divulgados pela Direcção-Geral de Estatísticas da Educação e Ciência ainda são provisórios, mas no essencial pouco mudarão. E o que eles dão a ver é que por comparação a 2017/2018 houve uma diminuição de cerca de cinco mil alunos nas escolas públicas do 1.º ciclo do continente. O total de inscritos neste […]
3 de Maio de 2019.
Finnish traditions are very different from many other countries! Christmas traditions in Finland Finland is the home of Santa Claus and Christmas Land. That is one reason why Christmas in Finland can be truly memorable especially for visitors. Finnish traditions are also very different from many other countries and regions in the world. They have some similarities with neighboring Scandinavian countries and some traditions are shared among other Christian households around the world. The first Sunday in December is called the First Advent and it is the start for the Finnish Christmas season. Many children – and why not adults also – use advent calendars for counting down the days until Christmas Eve. Those calendars come in many forms from […]
2 de Maio de 2019.
Análise a uma mandíbula com 160 mil anos sugere que os denisovanos (espécie humana extinta) foram os primeiros humanos a viver no tecto do mundo, como é conhecido o planalto do Tibete. É a primeira vez que se descobre o fóssil de um denisovano fora da Sibéria. Uma mandíbula com 160 mil anos encontrada numa gruta no planalto do Tibete pertencia a um denisovano, uma espécie humana já extinta. É a principal conclusão de um estudo publicado esta quinta-feira na revista científica Nature. Como é o fóssil mais antigo de um humano descoberto nesta região, isto significa que os primeiros humanos a viver no tecto do mundo foram os denisovanos. Sugere-se ainda que esta espécie humana se adaptou a grandes […]
1 de Maio de 2019.
Church services start at around six in the morning. Christmas and Advent is a very special and important time at my home. Winter is coming, the skiing season starts and it might snow a little. On the first of December, the Advent starts and every child is allowed to open the first door of their Advent calendar. Another tradition is the Advent wreath, it is a circle made of fir branches and with four candles on top. The last four Sundays before Christmas one candle is lit, and so on until Christmas day, when finally all four candles burn. Another typical thing is Rorate. These are church services which start at around six in the morning and end with breakfast […]
30 de Abril de 2019.
Para celebrar o 500.º aniversário da morte de Leonardo da Vinci, Faculdade de Belas Artes da Universidade do Porto vai promover uma “exposição única” do desenho “Rapariga lavando os pés a uma criança”, na quinta-feira. Contactado pela agência Lusa, o diretor do Museu da Faculdade de Belas Artes da Universidade do Porto (FBAUP), Luís Pinto Nunes, adiantou que a exposição de um só dia, na quinta-feira no Pavilhão de Exposições da faculdade, vai ser “única”, tendo em conta a “antiguidade” e “características” daquela que é a única obra do mestre italiano em Portugal. “Dentro de toda a obra que integra, este desenho é muito despreocupado dos que tipicamente conhecemos de Leonardo da Vinci porque revela a relação de uma mãe […]
29 de Abril de 2019.
We celebrate it a bit differently than in the rest of the country. Christmas in Poland is a very special time. But in Silesia, the region where I was born and raised and where all my family lives, we celebrate it a bit differently than in the rest of the country. The most important day is Christmas Eve on the 24th of December. At my home, the preparations start early in the morning when all of the women (me, my mother and my grandmother) start cooking dishes for the dinner, bake cakes and make makówki – my favorite Christmas sweet dish made of poppyseed, nuts, and bread. When the kids spot the first star in the sky, the whole family […]
29 de Abril de 2019.
Banca exibia pedras “para atirar a um ‘zuca’”. Reitor da Universidade de Lisboa promete processo disciplinar, mas a Faculdade de Direito afirma que qualquer acção será alvo de uma “ponderação mais cuidada”. “Grátis se for para atirar a um ‘zuca’ (que passou à frente no mestrado)”, lia-se num cartaz colado a uma caixa de madeira com pedras lá dentro. A instalação apareceu esta segunda-feira, junto a uma banca nos corredores da Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de Lisboa (FDUL). O acto foi imediatamente repudiado por alunos brasileiros da faculdade como uma demonstração de “xenofobia” e de “incitação à violência”. “É inaceitável que uma universidade centenária como a UL aceite tais tipos de acto, que propagam a discriminação entre os povos […]
26 de Abril de 2019.
The comparison with the Nordic Santa Claus was inevitable. Christmas Traditions: Olentzero Olentzero is a character from the Basque Christmas tradition. He is a mythological collier that brings Christmas gifts to homes in the Basque Country, on both sides of the Pyrenees. Olentzero is represented as a thick man, unkempt, stained with coal. His main characteristic is that he lives isolated from the society dedicated to making charcoal in the forest, enjoying eating and drinking well and every winter he goes down from the mountains to the villages. The most widespread hypothesis is that the origin of Olentzero predates the Christianization of Navarre and that the character of Olentzero must be located within the celebrations of the winter solstice. There […]
25 de Abril de 2019.
A agência espacial norte-americana divulgou o som de um marsquake, registado pela Insight, a sonda cuja principal missão era obter dados sobre o interior do planeta. A NASA divulgou esta quarta-feira o que acredita ser a primeira gravação de um sismo em Marte. A sonda da agência espacial norte-americana InSight mediu e registou um evento sísmico ao qual os cientistas chamaram de “marsquake”, um trocadinho entre as palavras Marte e earthquake (terramoto, em português). O sinal sísmico detectado pelo instrumento SEIS (Sísmico de Experimentação para Estruturas Interiores) foi registado a 6 de Abril, o 128º dia da sonda no planeta. Segundo a NASA, este é o primeiro sismo captado que parece ter vindo do interior do planeta, em oposição aos eventos sísmicos […]
26 de Abril de 2019.
The comparison with the Nordic Santa Claus was inevitable. Christmas Traditions: Olentzero Olentzero is a character from the Basque Christmas tradition. He is a mythological collier that brings Christmas gifts to homes in the Basque Country, on both sides of the Pyrenees. Olentzero is represented as a thick man, unkempt, stained with coal. His main characteristic is that he lives isolated from the society dedicated to making charcoal in the forest, enjoying eating and drinking well and every winter he goes down from the mountains to the villages. The most widespread hypothesis is that the origin of Olentzero predates the Christianization of Navarre and that the character of Olentzero must be located within the celebrations of the winter solstice. There […]
24 de Abril de 2019.
The Traditions of Christmas, Carnival, and Easter in Germany. In my home country, Christmas time starts with the 1st of December, children receive “Adventskalender”, a calendar made mostly out of chocolates, which are used as a count down until Christmas Eve. This period is called the time of advent, from Latin adventus meaning arrival. Each Sunday during these four weeks is especially important, as, on these Sundays of Advent, we are lighting up one candle after another on our Advent wreath, until at the end, there are 4 candles lit: the sign that Christmas has come. On the 6th of December, we celebrate Saint Nicolaus day, in the night from the 5th to the 6th, children put out their boots […]
22 de Abril de 2019.
Everybody goes out on the streets and wears orange. The traditions of Christmas Santa is not a prominent figure in the traditional Holland Christmas celebration. Instead, children look forward to the arrival of St. Nicholas in November. St. Nicholas wears red bishop’s robes and is accompanied by a helper who is known as Zwarte Piet or Black Peter. Children are told that St. Nicholas and Black Peter spend the year writing down good and bad behaviors in a large book and preparing a list of presents that they will give the Dutch children who have been well behaved. If children have been bad, however, they are told that Black Peter will chase them with a stick! In Holland, presents are […]
19 de Abril de 2019.
Poland is a country in which traditions and religious holidays are still very strongly cultivated. Two of the most important during the year are, of course, Christmas and Easter. Christmas days are family time. The celebration begins with supper on December 24, when the first star hits the sky. It is a symbolic reference to the Star of Bethlehem announcing the birth of Jesus. Before sitting down to the dinner, family share pieces of a wafer and everyone is wishing each other all the best for Christmas and New Year. This custom is a reference to the Last Supper and the sharing of bread. On the table should appear the traditional 12 dishes, under the table there is hay, and […]
17 de Abril de 2019.
7 months in Madeira Island, with all the costs related to travel, accommodation, and meals covered! What are you waiting for? SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT A walk through the History of Madeira is a project that intends to present the culture, history, and heritage of Madeira through guided tours and other cultural activities such as exhibitions or fado concerts. Throughout the last few years, the University of Madeira Students’ Union (AAUMa) has been developing several initiatives with a heavy focus on Tourism and Culture, under the Madeiran Heritage program. These initiatives are also directly connected with its social support programmes, which help the local community of Madeira. Last year, through the contribution of everyone involved (EVS volunteers, Portuguese volunteers, and […]
17 de Abril de 2019.
7 months in Madeira Island, with all the costs related to travel, accommodation, and meals covered! What are you waiting for? SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT A walk through the History of Madeira is a project that intends to present the culture, history, and heritage of Madeira through guided tours and other cultural activities such as exhibitions or fado concerts. Throughout the last few years, the University of Madeira Students’ Union (AAUMa) has been developing several initiatives with a heavy focus on Tourism and Culture, under the Madeiran Heritage program. These initiatives are also directly connected with its social support programmes, which help the local community of Madeira. Last year, through the contribution of everyone involved (EVS volunteers, Portuguese volunteers, and […]