According
to an exercise that we have done in the previous weekend I found out, in
conversation with Jitka, how she, being a Czech citizen, thinks about Portuguese
people. I agree with some of the things that she said like: we (Portuguese) are
sociable people, warm and gentle that likes to dinner with our family and
friends. We have no time pressure (most of us like to go to sleep after the 2
am because we like to party and in the morning the desire to go to school is
not so much). We like to eat either fish or meat, and our salads are typically
seasoned with olive oil. Pastry shop is
our deal, loving our conventional cakes and pies like pastel de belém, morgado,
and toucinho do céu. Another thing is that we are very patriotic, and that’s true
but I think that every country has to defend its culture and identity. We count
the days from Monday and we use a little purse for coins.
Leaving now
the positive things, there are some negative aspects and explanations that I would
like to say. According to our colleague we feel insulted when compared with the
Spanish people. That happens because some foreign don´t know that Portugal and
Spain are two different countries. However they cultivate relationships between
them when we talk either about economic or cultural reasons. Another aspect is
that we are not very responsible. We like complaining with everyone just because.
We don´t like waiting, (because we are very nervous folk) But in contrast we
like to live a slowly life, (How funny is that). And of course our crisis is
the front page of our disgrace. Big financial troubles and the closure of
schools, attempted to decrease number of teachers are in the order of the day.
To conclude
I think that Jitka has done a really good job finding out the good and the bad
things about this country who sings the nostalgia of the past. And you? What do
you think about Portugal?
ah, now I can see your post :) with counting the days of the week - I meant that you, Portuguese, count days from Sunday like in the U.S. Or do you have some other explanation why Monday is called "segunda-feira" in Portuguese? it means second right? If we had the same logic in Czech, it would be definitelly called first day - "primeira-feira" :) your naming of days of the week is very confusing for me :D
ReplyDeleteAlso I hope I didn't insult you with anything I wrote! :-O
You didn´t offended me :) You´re right Monday is our second day and Sunday is the first but as we usually start to work on Monday we considered "the first day of work", and Friday "the last". But in general we count like in the U.S starting in Sunday as the first day. Sorry. Hope that you understand now :)
ReplyDeleteI understand the fact that portuguese people are offended when people say they "are the same as the spanish", even though it is not true. In Belgium we feel the same when people say we are the same as "the hollanders". I think that everyone has their own identity and they like to keep it and not be compared to other identities. That is probably the reason they get upset.
ReplyDeleteI´m so happy that I came to Portugal, because I was one of those who thaught that there is no difference between Portugal and Spain, but there is.
ReplyDeleteIn general I agree with Naomi, I would like it neither if someone would say that Latvia is the same as Lithuania or Estonia. Even if we are sometimes called together as Baltic states or "brothers" and we have similar history, we have our own identity.
Agree
ReplyDelete