Epal Project

1. Nathan S Taylor T Epal Project

2. Portugal Portugal is a country in southwestern Europe. We have been emailing two students from Camilo Castelo Branco, Famalicão for the past few months. They are Rafael, a humorous and outgoing sixteen year old boy, and Carolina, a funny but sometimes shy fifteen year old girl. We have gathered much information from them and learned how different and similar our two countries are. We got a look into their everyday life and learned things specifically about them and things about most Portuguese people. We also learned about their geography, government, schooling, family, customs/traditions, and current events happening there.

3. Schooling • Classes start and end at different times during the week • Portuguese students seem to have more classes than most American students • Most 10th graders take Philosophy • 10th grade there is part of the secondary school • Public classrooms are smaller than for private schools • Classes start and end at the same time every day • We go to school for a longer time each day • 9th -12th grade is high school • In the United States, the typical public primary school classroom has 23.6 students, but Portugal has about 19 students per classroom Portugal United States

4. Schooling Cont. Both • Many subjects are the same (Math, English, Chemistry, P.E., and a foreign language) • Classes are taught in a similar way • Both have teachers and students • Both have classes that require taking an exam

5. Family • Family life is much like it is here, they have an average of four to five people in their family and the families usually have some pets • The family is the foundation of the social structure and forms the basis of stability. • Extended family is quite close. • The individual derives a social network and assistance from the family. • Loyalty to the family comes before other social relationships, even business.

6. Family cont. • Favoritism is considered a good thing, since it implies that employing people one knows and trusts is of primary importance. • They are a people who retain a sense of formality when dealing with each other, which is displayed in the form of extreme politeness • The children respect their elders • The parents take very good care of the children and expect them to be polite

7. Customs/Traditions • “Carnival in Portugal is celebrated throughout the country, most famously in Ovar, Madeira, Loulé, Nazaré, and Torres Vedras. The carnivals in Podence and Lazarim incorporate pagan traditions such as the careto, while the Torres Vedras celebration is probably the most typical Portuguese carnival. Other Central Portugal towns, such as Fatima and Leiria, offer colorful, family-friendly takes on Carnival. In these towns everyone dresses up as if it were Halloween. Children and adults wear masks and enjoy the towns’ enthusiastic parades.Besides the themed floats and cars, the Carnival festivities include “samba” groups, bands, dances and plenty of music and liveliness. In the city of Loulé, the Carnival parade annually attracts thousands of national and foreign tourists to the region.” -Rafael S. Carnival

8. Carnival Cont.

9. Customs/Traditions cont. • “Porto wine is an tradition too, produced for centuries in the Douro region, is typically Portuguese. Portuguese stew and grilled sardines are the most traditional Portuguese dishes” -Carolina • “My Christmas holidays was very nice, I passed them with my cousins, uncles and grandparents at my home. On Christmas Eve I ate fish with potatoes and eggs.”-Rafael • Carolina also spent her holidays with family, especially with her cousins. She also ate fish and potatoes. • “The most important events are Christmas, Easter Sunday, S. Martin’s day that it's celebrated with chestnuts and wine.” -Carolina Other Traditions “Fado here is an tradition, is a typically Portuguese musical style” -Carolina Traditional Foods Holidays

10. Geography • “Portugal has awesome landscapes some rural others urban. The best zone of Portugal is the Algarve and Viana do Castelo. In 2010 the European city of culture is Guimarães. This city has one of the principal castles of Portugal.”-Rafael • “This country has many castles. I’m in Famalicão, it’s small, but is a beautiful town.” -Carolina • Portugal is in southwestern Europe, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Spain • It has mountains north of the Tagus River, rolling plains in south

11. Geography cont. • Portugal is bounded on the west and south by the Atlantic Ocean and on the north and east by Spain. • The physical environment varies enormously, creating several distinct geographic regions that, in turn, have shaped the culture of the people and their economy and society. • The extreme south of Portugal is known as the Algarve. It is a dry region of smallholdings, grazing, fishing, and coastal towns. • Portugal has ten major rivers: Rio Minho, Rio Douro, Rio Tejo, Rio Guadiana, Rio Tâmega, Rio Mondego, Rio Sado, Rio Chança, Rio Sabor, and Rio Vouga. • The soil systems of Portugal are usually sandy, arid, and acid, reflecting the soils of the Iberian Peninsula generally. Soil in the north can be rocky. Northern Portugal is better suited for agriculture than the south because of abundant rainfall, but with proper irrigation the south could support more intensive agriculture.

12. Government • “The government is Ps, is an socialist party.” -Carolina • The capital of Portugal is Lisbon. • The government has political, legislative and administrative functions • The government comprises the Prime Minister, other ministers and the state secretaries (junior ministers). Each minister heads a ministry and has assigned to him or her one or more state secretaries.

13. Government cont. • Portugal is divided into 18 districts and two autonomous regions (the Azores and Madeira Islands). • The president of Portugal is Aníbal Cavaco Silva • The currency of Portugal is the Euro

14. Economy • 10% of the workforce is employed in agriculture, producing less than 7% of the gross national product. Wheat, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, olives, grapes, and sugar beets are the main crops; sheep, cattle, goats, pigs, and poultry are raised. The country's fishing fleets bring in vital cargoes of sardines and tuna; fishing ports extend all the way from Cape St. Vincent in the south to the mouth of the Minho River on the North Spanish border.

15. Entertainment Entertainment there is very similar to the things we do for fun here. Sports Movies Books Hangout spots Music • “I practice artistic gymnastic when I was 11 but when I come for Portugal I left. Now I play volleyball in my free time.” • Carolina • “Portugal has two of most famous celebreties related to the football world, José Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo. José Mourinho is the best football coach in the world and recently he won the gold ball. I play hockey but isn’t on ice.” • -Rafael “My favorites movies is from Disney too, especially the lion king and spirit, and the movies of Nicholas sparks” -Carolina “Rock is my favorite. I know Play some music’s, I started play in this year, so I don’t know play many songs. In the weekend I have lesson of guitar. Fado here is an tradition, is a typically Portuguese musical style, I don't like, but people here love. ” -Carolina “In the summer the hangout spot is the beach too, but in the winter most of the time we usually go to a café or bar.” -Carolina “I read the book of dear john, the notebook and last song” -Carolina

16. Current Events • Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates resigned on Wednesday and warned of grave consequences for the country after parliament rejected his government's latest austerity measures aimed at avoiding a bailout. The events in Portugal prompted the euro to extend losses against the dollar after trading lower all Wednesday on wariness before the Portuguese vote and on news of a delay in increasing a euro zone bailout fund. Portuguese stocks fell and bond yields shot up.

17. Current Events cont. • Portuguese bank stocks rallied on Thursday after the caretaker government requested European financial aid and analysts saying a deal could be negotiated quickly despite a political vacuum during an election campaign. The Socialist caretaker government has said it has limited powers and parliament, which EU officials say would normally have to ratify any agreement before disbursal, is dissolved until the election.

18. Current Events cont. • Portugal, one of the eurozone's poorest nations, is immersed in debt, barely has a functioning government and is widely expected to receive a Greek-style bailout by June. But travelers willing to jump aboard this economic roller coaster could find bargains in a country small enough to tour in a week's time.

19. Other Facts • Portugal has approximately 11,994,156 people as of April 15, 2011, but the U.S. has about 305,689,000. • Initial greetings are reserved, yet polite and gracious. The handshake accompanied by direct eye contact and the appropriate greeting for the time of day. Once a personal relationship has developed, greetings become more personal: men may greet each other with a hug and a handshake and women kiss each other twice on the cheek starting with the right.

20. Conclusion Our epals have taught us much about their country and themselves. Although they live on the other side of the world, they are very similar to us here. They like to play sports, read books, listen to music, hang out with friends, and watch movies just like we do. Their schooling, family, and some customs/traditions and parts of their geography are similar to ours in many ways, but also differ some. Their government is quite different from ours, and they are dealing with things there lately that we do not need to face. It was very interesting learning about another country and their lifestyles through kids our age; and we learned that the world isn’t as different as it seems.

21. Works Cited • http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/portugal.html • http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/23/jose-socrates-resignation-_n_839814.html • http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/07/portugal-european-bailout-aid_n_845969.html • http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0860492.html • http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/11/class-size-around-the-world/ • http://countrystudies.us/portugal/46.htm