Gossip Column :P

Do you know that Prince Guillermo is getting married with Kate Middleton?
There are 22 days left

The wedding will take place in the Spring or Summer of 2011, in London. Further details about the wedding day will be announced in due course.

Following the marriage, the couple will live in north Wales, where Prince William will continue to serve with the Royal Air Force.

Easter! *-*

Origins of Easter

Easter is perhaps nowadays seen as a mostly Christian festival but in fact its origins lie in three religious faiths- Pagan, Hebrew and Christian.
Pagan tradition suggests that the name Easter is derived from Ostara o Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon Goddess of Spring tp whom the month of April was dedicated.
Even today Pagan symbols live on in the celebration of Easter with the hare, a symbol of fertility, becoming the Easter Bunny and brightly decorated eggs which were originally used to represent the colours of the new spring. Eggs were also an important fertility symbol.




EASTER WORDS:
-Easter bunny: Conejo de Pascua
-Easter egg: huevo de Pascua
-Palm Sunday : Domingo de ramos
-Godd Friday : viernes santo
-Lent: Cuaresma
-Hot cross bun: Pastel típico
Easter eggs
Eggs have been associated with easter for many centuries and are the most identifiable symbol of Easter.
In the very early days eggs were decorated with bright colours to represent the coming of spring and the growth of new plants and animals and used in egg rolling or given away gifts, sometimes between lovers and romantic admirers much in the same way as Valentine gifts.
The Easter Egg Hunt involves lots of eggs being hidden around the house or garden by the Easter Bunny before the children of the house get up for the day

Celebrities !

Here is our new section about famous people; each of us was asked to write and speak about relevant people in the English speaking world, as homework assignment for English Practice.
We will talk about this different people:

• The Beatles
• W.Shakespeare
• J.K. Rowlling
• Nelson Mandela
• Alexander G.Bell
• Charles Chaplin,Charlot
• Elisabeth I
• Mahatma Gandhi
• Andi Warhol
• George Washington

THE BEATLES

The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, who are often recognized as the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed act in popular music. From 1962, the group consisted of John Lennon (rhythm guitar, vocals), Paul McCartney (bass guitar, vocals), George Harrison (lead guitar, vocals) and Ringo Starr (drums, vocals). The music of the beatles was based on rock and roll, the group later worked in many genres ranging from folk rock topsychedelic rock, often incorporating classical and other elements in innovative ways. Their enormous popularity appeared with "Beatlemania".
Initially with a five-piece line-up of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe (bass) and Pete Best (drums), The Beatles built their reputation in Liverpool and Hamburg clubs over a three-year period from 1960. Sutcliffe left the group in 1961, and Best was replaced by Starr the following year. The Beatles achieved mainstream success in the United Kingdom in late 1962 with their first single, "Love Me Do". Gaining international popularity over the course of the next year, they toured extensively until 1966, and then retreated to the recording studio until their break-up in 1970. Each then found success in an independent musical career. Lennon was assassinated outside his home in New York City in 1980, and Harrison died of cancer in 2001. McCartney and Starr remain active.

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet. He is the greatest writer in the English language.
He was baptized on 26th April,1564 and he died on 23rd April,1616 at the age of 52.(His date of birth is unknown)
Curiously Miguel de Cervantes died one day before Shakespeare. William Shakespeare lived in England and had three children. He is an important writer because he wrote lots of tragedies. Romeo and Juliet was one of them. It is a play that was successful in the Renaissance and now it’s very famous. Romeo and Juliet is the story about two young lovers whose families were enemies. They had to fight for love and finally they both ended up suiciding.
Another of William Shakespeare’s important tragedy is Hamlet. This story tells us about how the Denmark’s Prince performed the revenge on his uncle Claudius who killed Hamlet’s father, the king.
Othello tells us the story of a black man (Othello) who was in love with a girl and they couldn’t be together. In this story there is love , jealousy and tragedy.
Other: Julius Caesar, Macbeth, King Lear, Timon and Athens, Titus Andronicus…
Shakespeare had a short youth because at the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway. There are people who say that he had lover and It could be possible that he was interested in men, but it is just a conjecture, nobody knows the truth.

ANDY WARHOL

Andrew Warhola known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker and filmmaker and he is famous because he was a very important figure in the visual movement known as Pop Art.
He was born in Pennsylvania on 1928. When he was a child he had chorea, an illness that causes involuntary movement of the limbs.
He became a hipochondriac and developed a phobia to hospitals.
His first exhibition was in 1962 in New York city. It included the works Marilyn Diptych, 100 Soup Cans, 100 Coke Bottle and 100 Dollar Bills. He began to make paintings of iconic American products such as Campbells Soup Cans and Coca-Cola bottles and also painted celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Troy Dunahue, Muhammad Ali, Jhon Lennon and Elisabeth Taylor.
His works became popular and controversial.
In 1968, Warhol was injured bay a shot but he survived, however he surffered physical effects for the rest of his life.
He died on February 22nd , 1987 of sudden arrhythmia while he slept.

New year resolutions

Hi, everybody. Now that the new year has started, it is time for the TYPICAL NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS, these are those intentions you would like to carry out through the coming year 2011. My resolution will be "Being more punctual".
What is your new Year Resolution?
I would also like to thank my collaborators: Laura, Elene, AnaB., Beatriz, Verónica y Sandra. If you want to take part in the blog we meet every Thursday in the first break in room 24. See you

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYBODY! =D

HAPPY 2011!

CHRISTMAS

Since the Middle Ages the English made the calls mummings, which are representations involving masked people. These works are traditional in schools and churches in small towns. Another custom is to hang mistletoe at the top. According to tradition, couples who stand under the mistletoe must be a kiss. It is also traditional stir the christmas pudding, a traditional dessert. The mixture should be stirred on the first Sunday of Advent for each family member in an east-west to commemorate the visit of the Magi to the Infant Jesus, while you make a wish in secret. December 26th is known as Boxing Day. That day open charity boxes of the parishes so that its contents be distributed to poor families. Approaches in England one of the most anticipated dates for all the English, which is none other than Christmas. For the English Christmas is a time to be with family, enjoying good food and feel the warmth of a good fireplace. It is a moment of peace to enjoy, celebrate and see what happened a year.
In many movies we see that the Christmas tradition in England is very peculiar. Is the time of year when families gather together completely and distant relatives come home for Christmas, as nougat, and celebrate Christmas all the family. It's a very nice time of the English, but there are those who do not like this time, since everything depends on your taste.
It’s very nice be able to see distant relatives, to reunite people who were not long and that every Christmas are back together again. All that is beautiful and many families appreciate the arrival of this time of year, beyond the gifts, meals and celebrations.

A typical tradition is to do a Christmas cracker.

Christmas crackers

Christmas crackers or bon-bons are an integral part of Christmas celebrations in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. They are also popular in Ireland. A cracker consists of a cardboard tube wrapped in a brightly decorated twist of paper, making it resemble an oversized sweet-wrapper. The cracker is pulled by two people, and, much in the manner of a wishbone, the cracker splits unevenly. The split is accompanied by a small bang produced by the effect of friction on a chemically impregnated card strip (similar to that used in a cap gun).

 In one version of the tradition the person with the larger portion of cracker empties the contents from the tube and keeps them. In another each person will have their own cracker and will keep its contents regardless of whose end they were in. Typically these contents are a coloured paper hat or crown; a small toy or other trinket and a motto, a joke or piece of trivia on a small strip of paper. Crackers are often pulled before or after Christmas dinners or at parties.

There is a typical meal in UK:

Meal

In the UK's culinary present the famous Christmas pudding is a pudding made with homemade plum shape generally. Often the production of ginger cookies and various pastries popular with brandy butter, the trifle, the Christmas cake, the yule log, etc..Anglo-Saxon tradition marks the use of roasted turkey is popular as well as widespread in all countries of the Commonwealth.

Santa Claus

Santa Claus, is a figure which was derived from the Dutch figure of Sinterklaas, a historical, legendary figure who in many Western cultures, is said to bring gifts to the homes of the good children during the late evening and overnight hours of Christmas Eve, December 24th or on his Feast Day, December 6 (Saint Nicholas Day). The legend may have part of its basis in hagiographical tales concerning the historical figure of gift giver Saint Nicholas. A nearly identical story is attributed by Greek and Byzantine folklore to Basil of Caesarea. Basil's feast day on January 1 is considered the time of exchanging gifts in Greece.

Santa Claus is the person who brings you lots of presents. Santa Claus goes for the sky with his sleigh and reindeers. He comes down for the chimney and leaves your presents under the christmas tree.

Christmas tree

The Christmas tree is a decorated evergreen coniferous tree, real or artificial, and a tradition associated with the celebration of Christmas. The tradition of decorating an evergreen tree at Christmas started in Livonia and Germany in the 16th century.The Christmas tree is traditionally brought into the home and decorated with Christmas lights (originally candles), ornaments, garlands, tinsel, and candy canes during the days around Christmas. An angel or star is placed at the top of the tree, representing the host of angels or the Star of Bethlehem from the Nativity.

From IES Torrellano we want to wish you:

Thanksgiving Day

The story of Thanksgiving is basically the story of the Pilgrims and their thankful community feast at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

The Pilgrims, who set sail from Plymouth, England on a ship called the Mayflower on September 6, 1620, were bound for the resourceful 'New World'. The Mayflower was a small ship crowded with men, women and children, besides the sailors on board. Aboard were passengers comprising the 'separatists', who called themselves the "Saints", and others, whom the separatists called the "Strangers".

After land was sighted in November following 66 days of a lethal voyage, a meeting was held and an agreement of truce was worked out. It was called the Mayflower Compact. The agreement guaranteed equality among the members of the two groups. They merged together to be recognized as the "Pilgrims." They elected John Carver as their first governor. 

Although Pilgrims had first sighted the land off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, they did not settle until they arrived at a place called Plymouth. It was Captain John Smith who named the place after the English port-city in 1614 and had already settled there for over five years. And it was there that the Pilgrims finally decided to settle. Plymouth offered an excellent harbor and plenty of resources. The local Indians were also non-hostile.

But their happiness was short-lived. Ill-equipped to face the winter on this estranged place they were ravaged thoroughly. 


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Somehow they were saved by a group of local Native Americans who befriended them and helped them with food. Soon the natives taught the settlers the technique to cultivate corns and grow native vegetables, and store them for hard days. By the next winter they had raised enough crops to keep them alive. The winter came and passed by without much harm. The settlers knew they had beaten the odds and it was time to celebrate.

They celebrated it with a grand community feast wherein the friendly native Americans were also invited. It was kind of a harvest feast, the Pilgrims used to have in England. The recipes entail "corn" (wheat, by the Pilgrims usage of the word), Indian corn, barley, pumpkins and peas, "fowl" (specially "waterfowl"), deer, fish. And yes, of course the yummy wild turkey.

However, the third year was real bad when the corns got damaged. Pilgrim Governor William Bradford ordered a day of fasting and prayer, and rain happened to follow soon. To celebrate - November 29th of that year was proclaimed a day of thanksgiving. This date is believed to be the real beginning of the present Thanksgiving Day.

Though the Thanksgiving Day is presently celebrated on the fourth Thursday of every November. This date was set by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 (approved by Congress in 1941). Earlier it was the last Thursday in November as was designated by the former President Abraham Lincoln. But sometimes the last Thursday would turn out to be the fifth Thursday of the month. This falls too close to the Christmas, leaving the businesses even less than a month's time to cope up with the two big festivals. Hence the change.