Mother's Day - 1st May

Mother's Day is celebrated on various days around the world but common is that it is a day to honour Mothers and Motherhood.
In Portugal, Mother's Day is celebrated on the first Sunday of May which, this year, is right on 1st May, also International Workers' Day.
To celebrate this day, here is my choice of materials: 2 songs (one hilarious and with familiar words and another one in a serious tone) as well as a poem.
Have a look at this clip; it was first shown to me by Judit Feher, my teacher trainer, while attending a course in Canterbury over two years ago. Though it has been available for a while already, I still find it soooooooooo much fun: the singer has condensed in about three minutes what a mother would say in 24-hour period.

Did you like it? My favourite part is "It must be your father's DNA" EhEhEh!!!!!!
Now, in a way of an answer, read this poem:

                                                     KIDS
"Sit up straight,"
Said mum to Mabel.
"Keep your elbows
Off the table.
Do not eat peas
Off a fork.
Your mouth is full -
Don't try and talk.
Keep your mouth shut
When you eat.
Keep still or you'll 
Fall off your seat.
If you want more,
You will say 'please'. 
Don't fiddle with
That piece of cheese!"
If then we kids
Cause such a fuss,
Why do you go on
Having us?
                 Spike Milligan in The Puffin Book of Utterly Brilliant Poetry

In a beautiful moving song, listen now to Alicia Keys with "Superwoman".
For MY mother - now retired - who worked hard and fought all her life to raise me and my three siblings and made me who / what I am today. For me, my mum has always been and will always be a SUPERWOMAN and a SUPERMUM.


Wherever you are, have a wonderful Mother's Day either with your children, with your mum or better: with your mum and your children!

Travel Diary IRELAND - Day 5

Our last day in Ireland! Let's focus then on what we couldn't visit in Dublin previously, and, above all, on what's around us.
Right across the street, on Custom House Quay along river Liffey, the Famine Memorial which consists of several bronze statues of starving people and a dog heading to the docks in order to board a ship that would take them to America. These disturbing life-size statues have a powerful effect on the viewer - at least they had on me: they illustrate the misery and despair of the people during that dark time in Ireland's history.
A little farther, the O'Connell Monument, the memorial to Daniel O'Connell, the 19th century nationalist leader which stands at the entrance to the street named after him, O' Connell Street. The centre of the street is dominated by the imposing presence of the 1818 General Post Office and the 120 m  Spire of Dublin, a needle-like self supporting sculpture of rolled stainless steel erected in 2003 in order to replace a former Nelson's Pillar, which was destroyed in 1966 in a bombing by former IRA members.
Dublin / Ireland is also famous not only for its musical exports such as U2, the Cranberries, Enya or Riverdance but also - and perhaps even more - for its writers: William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Jonathan Swift, Sean O'Casey, Samuel Beckett, Seamus Heaney, Oscar Wilde, James Joyce,... are among the most important names in Literature and that's exactly why, being so close, we wished to pay James Joyce our respects and went to North Earl Street to have a look at his statue.
At the northern end of O'Connell Street, a memorial to "all those who gave their lives in the cause of Irish Freedom", the Garden of Remembrance, as well as Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, whose main attraction was surely Francis Bacon 's chaotic studio.
Now please have a look at some pictures of the most important visits of the day!

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Hope you have enjoyed these postings as much as I have.
Before putting an end to this, some THANK YOU words especially to:
- Teacher Helena Soares and Cláudia Sousa and their group from AZOGLA. Again, we worked real hard to make this trip possible and to produce materials;
- Teacher Natália Costa from my schoolboard;
- Câmara Municipal de Soure;
- Sr Carvalho;
- Isabel Silva (our guide) and Pinto Lopes Viagens;
- other colleagues who, one way or the other, made it possible;
- last but not the least: teachers + senior participants + learners. Without YOU, this school trip to Ireland wouldn't have come true. BLESS YOU for the good atmosphere and support.
Take some time now to see us ALL in Ireland:

Easter

Image Credit: Tesco.com

A blessed and  EGGceptional Easter to you and yours!

(teacher) Alexandra

Travel Diary IRELAND - Day 4

In our fourth day in Ireland we made another tour, this time not north but southbound, namely to Kilkenny, a popular tourist destination due to its historic buildings such as the well-preserved medieval Castle, seat of the Butler family.

In Kilkenny: The Rafter Dempsey's Restaurant

Once inside we were guided through the different rooms by Isabel Silva from Pinto Lopes Viagens, SA. Needing a refreshment and some nourishment, we all headed afterwards to Dempsey Bar / Restaurant where, as usual, we had a comforting meal.

Rapeseed flowers

After lunch, back to the bus and this time not to Wicklow as planned but to Bray, an Irish Sea Coastal resort only 30 minutes South of Dublin.
Either North or South, Ireland has indeed a wonderful and relaxing landscape: huge areas of green fields with cows and sheep only occasionaly swapped by yellow fields of rapeseed flowers used to produce biofuel - bright yellow flowers for green energy, folks :)!
In Bray, we all decided to eat pancakes - that's right, pancakes! What a queue for a pancake to warm us in that windy and cold afternoon!!! After a stroll, a pancake and, again, some pictures, we returned to Dublin, where we arrived earlier than the previous day and willing to enjoy our last evening out together.
Remember: it was Saturday when pubs / bars are usually open till later (in Ireland only till 11pm.!!!) and we wouldn't take the risk of coming back to Portugal without going to Hard Rock Cafe Dublin - at least for some shopping, right? Therefore, as soon as we could, we left Jurys Inn, went to Hard Rock Cafe, did some shopping and inevitably... took more pictures! Though excited, our bodies demanded some rest and our luggage asked to be packed... around midnight, decent folks as we are, we came back to fulfill our duties ;))
Enjoy some pictures now:

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Travel Diary IRELAND - Day 3

We woke up early, had breakfast and at 8 am we were already leaving Jurys Inn for a three-hour bus trip to Northern Ireland. Around 11.30 am we did get there but not before having to queue to go to the only toilet available (our ASAE hasn't been there yet!!!).
We started the day's visits the best way possible with North Antrim's spectacular coastline and the only World Heritage Site in Northern Ireland: Giant's Causeway. It's a breathtaking natural wonder, an incredidly beautiful area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of volcanic eruption. We had a long walk, made our wishes and took dozens of pictures and some are really cute, believe me! To crown such a glorious morning, we had a superb lunch here with gorgeous views from the windows - green fields with sea birds, sheep and more sheep. A perfect morning, folks!

BUSHMILLS Logo
Image Credit: Wikipedia 

After dessert, it was time for a toast! Yes: only 5km from the spot where we were there was Old Bushmills Distillery - why not take the chance and visit it being so close? Besides we had already "missed" our visit to Guinness Storehouse, it would be a fair compensation, don't you think?
Well, off we went to visit the oldest licenced distillery in the world (since 1608!) and  devoted to the production of Single Malt Irish Whiskey. After a tour of about 45 minutes, we all met in a large room to taste some whiskey, yup, what else??? EhEhEh - I can't even stand the smell of whiskey but there I was with my eldest kid ready for a drink: I drank a hot mixture with cinnamon and he, well, he was offered a non-alcoholic drink. Don't worry, they have drinks for all: drinks they consider more appropriate for men, others for women and even drinks for kids.

By then it was already getting late and we still had a long way to go to Belfast but, above all, to Dublin! So, there was not much time for the capital of Northern Ireland... we just went by but still managed to take some pictures of some monuments as well as some famous murals many depicting the hostilities and divisions of the long conflict between Catholics and Protestants, others political issues or the sinking of RMS Titanic (Titanic was built in Belfast).
We only arrived at Jurys Inn at 9 pm and - as far as I'm concerned - exhausted. After a very nice meal, I just didn't have the strength to go out (not even to stretch the legs) and at 11.30 pm I simply went to my room straight to bed - not even my book challenged me for some minutes...
Now, some pictures...

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Travel Diary IRELAND - Day 2

Jonathan Swift's Bust (WIKIPEDIA)

After a great breakfast, our planned visits in Dublin started: first Phoenix Park with its tall obelisk of 63 meters erected by Lord Chesterfield in 1747 to commemorate the victories of Duke of Wellington; then, all agreed to move on to IMMA (Irish Museum of Modern Art) which, besides the permanent collection, is now hosting a temporary exhibition on Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera - at least for myself, it was really a much better choice than visiting Guinness Storehouse, the largest brewer of stout in the world - next time for sure!!!

We had lunch in a traditional Irish pub in the heart of Temple Bar called Gallagher's Boxty House. For most of us, our meal consisted of 3 course menu: Soup of the Day, Pork and Apple Sausages with Mash and Gravy and, for dessert, Bread and Butter Pudding served wit Custard. Hummm! Tasty!!

After that relaxing time and tasty meal, we headed to St Patrick's Cathedral, founded in 1191 and headed by a Dean, an office which has existed since 1219, the most famous holder being Jonathan Swift ; St Patrick's has one of the largest Organs in Ireland with over 4,000 pipes!
Our next stop was at Trinity College Dublin - a must see when in Dublin: visitors enter through the Library Shop and proceed to the Book of Kells "Turning Darkness into Light" exhibition; then to the Treasury where the Book of Kells and other related manuscripts are on view; then proceed upstairs to the magnificent Long Room which houses 200,000 of the Library’s oldest books in its oak bookcases. An inspiring place with so many old books and lined marble busts of philosophers, writers and men connected with Trinity College (again, Jonathan Swift). Ahhh: it includes other treasures such as the oldest Harp and a copy of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic.

Molly Malone Statue

As we still had some time off before dinner, we had a look at some stores and bought our first gifts along Grafton Street, a pedestrian street. Before returning to Jurys Inn another sight worth being mentioned: the statue of Molly Malone pushing her wheelbarrow... it's hard to miss it on the corner of Grafton Street and Nassau Street, this female character known to be a fishmonger by day and a prostitute by night.
Our day was not over yet, though!!! After dinner we went to Hard Rock Cafe Dublin in Fleet Street (Temple Bar area) but... guess what? It was already closing time and we couldn't get in! It was just 10 p.m., can you believe that???? Well, we couldn't miss a bit so we still had a walk around Temple Bar, the Bohemian Dublin, with its lively nightlife and medieval street pattern, with many narrow cobbled streets.
What a day, hem? Long, tiring but ALL was worthwhile :)
Now enjoy some pictures of the  places I've just mentioned!


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Travel Diary IRELAND - DAY 1

I'm back, folks! We are all back - safe and sound - after 5 days in Ireland.
A week ago our group of 22 departed from Lisbon airport having landed in Dublin around 4pm. We were taken straight to the hotel and after a stroll and dinner, the first evening was spent with a typical Irish Music and Dance show at Arlington Hotel , Dublin. Nice!
Have a look now at our first pictures :=)

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School Trip To IRELAND

Image Credit:
WIKIPEDIA

Time goes by quickly, very quickly!
A year ago I posted here about our school trip to London / England. Well, this year's school trip is obviously to an English-speaking country, but this time IRELAND - both to the Republic of Ireland where we will visit Dublin, Kilkenny and Wicklow, and Northern Ireland including The Giant's Causeway and, naturally, Belfast.
All the 22 participants from Soure (we will join another school group led by teachers Helena and Cláudia in Dublin) have high expectations so... we just hope everything will be fine - just like last year - not only during the day but also at night when some extra activities are already planned: an evening of Irish Music and Dance, Temple Bar area and... Hard Rock Cafe Dublin!!!
We can hardly wait for the day to come... wish us all the best in the crisis- stricken country (not different from our own!!!).
Have a look now at this video by the History Channel that so well portrays Ireland we are about to visit:

Maya Angelou

Forty-three years ago, Martin Luther King, the famous civil rights leader, was assassinated but, on this day, though in 1928, another great civil rights activist and poet was born: Maya Angelou.
I'll leave you with this poem - one among many others I like - but do read this one on being born... black!

STILL I RISE

Image Credit
http://mayaangelou.com/bio/

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

MAYA ANGELOU http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/still-i-rise/

So??? What do you think about this poem? Do you like Maya Angelou's writing? Can you suggest other poems?
If you wish to have a look or buy her books, click here.

INTERACTING Theatre Company

Oops!!! Almost a fortnight later, I know, but here it is: a compilation of pictures taken by myself and by a student (Thanks!!!)
Hope you enjoy the slideshow as much as you did the show on 21st March. Patrick Deas praised your participation and behaviour and expects you to join him / them on FACEBOOK at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Interacting-Theatre-Company/137993342926795

Now enjoy!

~