PocketCultures

Pot Roast: a winter warmer from the UK

In the UK during December the days are short (where I’m from it starts going dark at around 3:30pm) and the weather is cold. Not surprising that our traditional recipes are warm and filling. Pot roast is one of these – throw it all into a pot, cook slowly in the oven and enjoy.

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liz December 14, 2011 1 comment

Argentina / Clothing / Topics of the World

Picture Postcards: Street fashion in Argentina

Our contributing editor, Ana, has sent us these photos of the clothes she wears when she is out and about in Argentina in the winter. Thanks, Ana. Looking good!

marie December 13, 2011 2 comments

Argentina / Topics of the World

Holiday season in Argentina

December 8th is a special day in Argentina. While Catholics celebrate the Immaculate Conception of Mary with masses and processions, some simply enjoy the day off as it is a bank holiday. But the real excitement, especially for children, is that Christmas trees go up today.

Street decorations near Plaza San Martin in Buenos Aires

I remember that when my siblings and I were little we would pester our mother to go find the tree and let us decorate it. We held our breath when the star (or angel) was out at the top. It was a fun day, a prelude of even more exciting things to come. Every night, my mother would light up the tree and I can still see the reflection of the multicoloured lights on the white wall.

We use artificial Christmas trees in Argentina, probably because the wooded areas are relatively small and very far from big cities. It is much easier to buy a tree that you can fold up and put away and not have to worry about pine needles falling on the carpet! And since it is summer in the Southern Hemisphere, we are not familiar with the smell of pine trees and snow.

The next big day is Christmas Eve, when families get together for a big dinner that includes some European traditions introduced by immigrants. We eat, drink and make merry until midnight, when we have a toast and open the presents. Christmas Day lunch is a much quieter affair as most people are still recovering from the revelries of the previous night.

We have a week to get ready for yet another big event: New Year’s Eve. More food, more drink, more fireworks at midnight. More liver salts the next day! Just as Christmas Day lunch, New Year’s Day lunch is a subdued affair too.

The festive season draws to a close on January 6th. Children get more presents, this time left by the Magi. It’s time to put the tree away until the next December.

Art and history at Recoleta Cemetery

A cemetery is probably not the first thing that comes to mind when one is planning a visit to a new city, especially if that person is interested in local art and history. Oddly enough, Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires attracts many visitors a day for exactly those reasons.

Recoleta is well-known for its funerary art, especially the angels.

The cemetery was opened in November, 1822 – making it the oldest in the city – on land that belonged to the Augustine monks. The monks, known as recoletos, had been expelled after some changes were made to their Order. Although the monks left, their name stayed: the whole area of Recoleta is named after them. Only Christians could be interred there until 1863, when President Mitre decreed the cemetery open to people of all religions.

Recoleta Cemetery covers an area of 5.5 hectares (13.6 acres) right in the middle of one of the most upscale neighbourhoods. Real estate, both inside and around the cemetery, is very pricey.

The cemetery is like an open-air museum or a Who is Who of Argentinean society. Its residents include members of the richest families, former presidents, military heroes, politicians, artists, sportsmen and even Antarctic explorer!

The mausoleums are works of art that reflect the fashion and beliefs of the period in which they were built, like Art Deco, Art Nouveau or Neo Gothic. Some of those mausoleums have been declared Patrimonio Histórico Nacional (Historic Heritage)

Mausoleum of Rufina Cambaceres, a fine example of Art Nouveau

Ironically, people who were sworn enemies in life ended up sharing their eternal resting place. For example, Evita Perón, whose mausoleum is one of the most sought-after, is not far from her husband’s nemesis, General Eduardo Lonardi (who led the revolution that ousted Perón in 1955)

Understated mausoleum of Evita Peron. People still bring her flowers.

There are free guided tours every day in Spanish and English. The guides will surely mention some of the most famous urban legends that arose from the cemetery. Take Salvador Maria del Carril and his wife Tiburcia. Rumour has it she was a strong-willed woman who liked to spend her husband’s money. One day he decided not to honour her debts, they had a colossal row and never talked to each other again. Mrs del Carril decided that they would not talk to the rest of eternity either and designed their mausoleum in such a way that their statues would turn their back on one another. Only they know what really happened.

Picture Postcards: Clothing in Minorca

Happy December!

This month we are looking at clothing around the world on Picture Postcards. Our contributor, Marta from Spain, has sent in this photo by Joana Muñoz of a shoe from Minorca. She says; “It’s a typical shoe from Minorca (Balearic Islands) called abarca in Spanish, avarca in Catalan, made from recycled tyres and leather. Seen throughout Spain during the hot and long summer holidays.”

See more:
Horchata de Chufa from Spain
Funny Photo from Spain
Graffiti in Granada, Spain

marie December 4, 2011 1 comment

PocketCultures / Topics of the World

New Look PocketCultures

On Thursday 1st December PocketCultures will be offline, for a good reason – we’re getting a new design. We’ve been working on this for a long time and planning it for even longer, so it’s a big day for us.

The current site was designed in 2007 – at the time we were three friends who didn’t know a lot about blogging. We’re now a group of more than 30 contributors from all over the world. We publish almost every day and over the years we’ve built up loads of great content. The new design will show off our new content better and help navigate through the older content better (for example by showing all the posts from a particular country).

Well, that’s all for now. Check back on Friday, then leave a comment to tell us what you think!

liz November 30, 2011 0 comments