Culture Project due on Wednesday, February 12th..........

To All,

The culture project the students have been working on in class for the past 2 weeks is due on Wednesday, February 12th.

Following is an example of the essay:

The countries your ancestors came from can determine the color of your skin, what language you speak, and what religion you follow.  You can’t change where you’re from; it’s where your family was started.  I am an American with ancestors from Europe including England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Switzerland, and Portugal.  I am one quarter Portuguese, but I’m very interested about it.  I’m curious to know what it is like to live in Portugal.

            Most of Europe is Christian or Jewish.  I’m a Protestant, Christian.  It seems like religion means a lot in Portugal.  The main religion in Portugal is Roman Catholic.  Most of their holidays are religious holidays, when most of our holidays in the U.S. are non-religious.  In the U.S., for Easter, we only celebrate for one day on Sunday, (Easter Sunday).  But in Portugal, they celebrate Easter for a week and call it Holy Week.  Another religious celebration Portugal has is on August 19^th and 22^nd, which is the celebration of Vianado Castelo.    

            Portugal seems like it’s alive with action.  The recreation there is chock full of excitement with parties, sports, and dancing. Here in America, the only big festival we have is Mardi gras. Also, some local celebrations like, the Oyster Festival and the Greek festival.  We also have parades, such as the Thanksgiving parade, the Veterans Day parade, the St. Patrick’s Day parade, and Memorial Day parade.  They also play many sports.  For example, golf, soccer, tennis, and any water sports, like water skiing, sailing, and swimming.  They also have bullfights and riding contests.  I think it is sad how they kill the bull at the end of the fight, but I love the el matador clothing.  The racing contests they have there are motorcycle races.  It seems like they take the motorcycle races seriously too, they have Grand prix for.  Portugal seems like so much fun, with so many great things to do, I think it would be impossible to live there and be bored! 

            In Connecticut, an average girl’s outfit is a sweatshirt, jeans, and a pair of Uggs.  Over in Portugal, the average outfit is a long dress and black shawl.  A normal boy’s outfit in Connecticut would be jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers.  In Portugal, it would be a stocking cap or a beret, trousers, and a baggy shirt.  In Connecticut, the kids clothing type is laid back with our clothing choices, but in Portugal they have a strict way of dressing.  In Portugal, they seem very conservative and modest with their clothing.  For daily clothes, they usually wear dark colors or black.  But for special events, they wear brightly hued colors.  As Americans, we like many different colors, and we care about if we look nice or not.  It seems like we care more about how fashionable we look, and I’m big on fashion(so I’m one of those people).  I’m lucky to have fashionable options to wear.

            There are many languages in the world.  There are three main languages spoken in Portugal.  The three main languages are Spanish, French, and of course Portuguese. What’s peculiar, is that between Spanish and French, in Portugal, they’d rather you speak French.  The language Portuguese is a cross between French and Spanish, so Portuguese people can understand both.  Portugal is filled with dance.  Dance can be a form of communication and art.  There’s dance all over Portugal.  Some types of dancer there’s a dance there is the Branyo dance for the older generation and the Farapeira—for the youngsters there.  They also have movies and music such as, folk songs. In America, we are exposed to more types of art from other countries, because so many people from around the world come here and express new kinds of art, sometimes from their old country, or kinds they made up themselves.   

            My favorite part of Portugal is the food.  Portugal has such a large variety or food, such as potatoes, peppers, spices, rice, fruits, wine, coffee, tea, olives, cashews, and most well know for fish and seafood.  Fish and seafood are huge in Portugal.  There are many fishermen, because fish is so popular. Some kinds of fish and seafood are crab, lobster, horse mackerel, sardines, and shrimp—and that’s just the beginning of them.  My favorite Portuguese food is chourico, and linguica, which are spicy Portuguese sausages.  They are so succulent and savory, not to mention the perfect amount of spiciness.   

            After my research on Portugal, I realize it is very different from the United States.  I think I’d truly enjoy being there.  It would be wonderful if I got the chance to visit there.  They certainly have a very wide range of food that I know and would like to try.  I  think I’d love the recreation, I am always saying how I’m bored, but I don’t think I would be able to say that there.  Watching movies in Portuguese would be confusing, but it would be awesome to see one.  I’m so amazed at what I found out about Portugal, it is a tremendous country!