“Lenços dos Namorados” (Sweetheart Handkerchiefs or Fiancée Handkerchiefs) are handkerchiefs made of linen or cotton and embroidered with several related love patterns. This piece of handcraft is part of the typical clothing from Minho province (in Northern Portugal) and used by women of marrying age.
This is the first post of a new series called Urban Style Challenge. Every week, we will compare the fashion trends of two cities in a playful manner. Join me, Ana, on this fascinating journey around the world of street fashion and style that will put a smile on your face and get you ready to face the week ahead.
Our contributors Nargiza and Kelly kicked it off by writing about Bishkek City (Kyrgyzstan) and Vancouver (Canada), respectively.
Recently on PocketCultures, we have featured collaborative posts to reflect the varying experiences of our contributors in different countries. These include Superstitions around the world and one of our most popular posts, Kiss, hug or shake hands?
This month, we asked our contributors from around the world to tell us about a typical school day in their country.
Photo credit: shaindlin
Lucy Chatburn wrote:
Children in the UK usually start going to school just before their fifth birthday. They attend primary school until the age of eleven, and then secondary school until the age of sixteen or eighteen. At primary school the typical day is from 9am to 3.15pm, with slightly longer days in secondary school.
They say Maramures people are “Romania’s Celts”.
Lately, they have almost “invaded” Bucharest; there is no week without a fair where they are invited.
And they impress us with their beautifully handmade traditional costumes. And their particular type of dance, resembling a little with the Irish one. So full of colour and energy.
When I lived in the more rural area of Eastern Province in Zambia there was a nearby hospital that regularly had volunteers from abroad. We would often see them walking down the road, enjoying the sunshine in their shorts or mini-skirts.
One day a Zambian colleague came and asked why so many white women he saw would cover the top parts of their body but would show their legs and thighs in short skirts. This was not an unreasonable query for someone who comes from a culture where breastfeeding openly is not an issue but where if you are female you must keep everything covered from your midriff down to below your thighs. In Zambia this area of the body is seen as the erotic area and shouldn’t be shown, not even in trousers.
Ladies of the village sporting their chitenges
Deserters from the troops deployed at the outposts of the Spanish Empire? Spanish émigrés? Moorish refugees fleeing from the Inquisition? Nobody knows for certain. The origins of the Gaucho remain shrouded in mystery.
Picture Postcards: A chalkboard in Kazakhstan
An introduction to Chinese calligraphy
Picture Postcards: The oldest public library in Paris
From our contributors: week of May 20, 2013
100 websites to learn about the UK
From our contributors: week of April 7, 2013
An Italian in Europe
Author Tash Aw on moving to China and the South Asian novel
Meet Sabrina, Italian guest house owner
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