Something to think about

The other day I saw a Portuguese blog criticizing people who are against the use of animals skins to do clothes. In the same post it also talked about abortion, as we are most probably having a referendum on whether we agree or not with the decriminalization of abortion until 10 weeks of pregnancy (although the law that the government wants to approve also legalizes abortion until 16 weeks of pregnancy in case of bad formation of the fetus, the life of the baby or of the mother is in danger or if the women states she has economic difficulties – that is, the government is trying to throw sand at our eyes, because 10 weeks are not 4 months).

Anyway my mind made a connection between the two topics. I know a girl who was asked by a university colleague to sign a petition to legalize abortion in Portugal. When she refused to do so as she is against the measure, the other girl started to offend her saying stuff such as “it is because of conservative/old-fashioned/ignorant people such as you that this country is like this. People who think the place of a women is behind a stove, at home, taking care of children, and so on…”

Never mind freedom of speech (this Monday Portugal celebrated 31 years of freedom from a dictatorship) as everybody is entitled to their own opinion and if a person does not agree with the legalization why should she be forced do sign a petition in favor of it.

The fact that I find amusing is that this girl that was trying to force somebody to sign a petition through social and psychological coercion is the type of person that will defend vehemently against the use of fur in clothes. For me this is a person with highly conflicting opinions (or better saying a person who is manipulated to think certain things because those that surround her think like that and she needs social acceptance) or she regards the life of animals as being infinitely more important than the life of human beings.

I have read that some psychologists have done research to find out at what age a fetus starts having feelings. They have found out that with only 7 weeks the child starts to have feelings in the womb of his/her mother. So I can’t agree with the legalization of a practice that will allow people to kill human beings, because for me a human being is one who has feelings. And I can’t agree with such a practice in a country where the pill is available for free in hospitals (and even if it where not what are 2,5 euros or even 5 euros – without prescription - per month), where the second day pill is available in any pharmacy with or without a medical prescription and where the law already allows abortion in case of rape, bad formation of the fetus or the life of the baby or the mother is in danger (which are for me valid reasons to do an abortion).

I think people should worry more about why so many women abort, they should concentrate in solving the causes of the problem, what is the use of allowing abortion at will? Will that make poor women’s life less miserable? Will that make mothers to be of 12/14 years stop getting pregnant (and most of them have access to information on contraceptives at school and how to avoid an unwished pregnancy)? Will that stop the culture of total irresponsibility of most women who get pregnant (with the exception of the cases the law already contemplates)? Of women/men who have sex unprotected, fully conscious of risking getting pregnant or catching AIDS?

Sometimes it would be useful for some people to hear some conversations between girls, some of them saying without a regret that they forget to take the pill or stop taking the pill and not telling their boyfriends in hope of getting pregnant and nailing the guy.

Well this just to say how can a person defend animals and abortion? I’m totally against the abuse of animals and having them being killed so that “oh! I’m so high society, chic, and so on..,” can use their vision jackets and such… I personally think Canadians who kill every year baby seals who are in extinction (no matter what they say) should be beaten to death just like they do to those poor baby animals. But that doesn’t mean I think animals are more important than people (at least than some people, as Bin Ladens, Kims, Saddams, Mugabes, Darfur’s criminals, and so on deserve to rot in a prison until they die, as death would be too humanitarian for theses monsters), for me harming animals is so revolting, even more when I think that does that do so are just one step of doing the same to a child, just one step… And that is shocking!!!

Killing a child because you were irresponsible isn’t a solution for me, people must be hold responsible for their acts and if they think they have enough age and are responsible/mature enough to have sex than they should just have to handle the consequences.

Just two thoughts to end:

How come women who do illegal abortions defend themselves most of the times with the allegation that they had already lots of children and that they didn’t have sufficient economic conditions to raise another child, but they pay for the abortion about 500 euros (how many pills, second day pills and condoms can you buy with 500 euros?)? This in a country where there are thousands of couples trying to adopt a child and where there are only a few hundreds of children in conditions of being adopted?

Why is it always the right of the women to do what she wants with her body? Doesn’t the father have something to say? Why can’t a man take the responsibility of raising a child by himself, as the woman doesn’t desire such a burden, why can a women just deny fatherhood to one who desires it eagerly, but decide to have the baby on her own as if the baby belonged only to her (as if a human being belongs to someone)?

A human being is not the body of a woman, even if she has to feed it for 9 months, and killing a baby because of irresponsibility and selfishness is totally inhuman!!!

So this is my statement: I don’t agree with the total legalization of abortion and I’m entitled to have my own opinion, just like other people are entitled to theirs and I respect them (as long as it doen's mean violating the liberty of others and doing harm to others). I’m a young adult, with superior education, i.e., educated and cult and I think women should have the same rights and duties as men, which includes the right to choose between having a job or staying at home (if the family can afford it and why not the man staying at home), the right of being respected as a fellow human being and of making her own decisions, but always accepting the consequences of her actions, behaviors and decisions.

FAREWELL RIDE

Ok, you really must hear this song, only then you can understand the irony of the lyrics and I just love the way Mr. Beck sings “all I need is two white horses” ;) This one is one of those got stuck right a way in my head… You also have obviously, E-Pro, and some other such as Sending a Message to Her or Qué Onda Guero or Black Tambourine

As usual listening to a new Beck album means hearing it closely, just enjoying the music and slowly starting to love what seemed so weird the first time you heard a specific song, but that is what geniuses usually do, they creep bit by bit until they become part of you and that’s when making music and listening to it is worth it ;) And Beck always suprises you with yet a new twist, something so not what you expected, but as soon as you start creating an intimacy and a bond with the songs, as soon as you connect with them (and you always do), you just start to love everything about them and you cannot wait until you see him once again on stage or for his new album!

I wonder what would happen if one just grabbed all of Beck’s songs and then just clicked the reshuffle button, I supposed it would be quite an schizophrenic exercise or else the big picture would just be so perfect, so clear, just has when you use for the first time a pair of contact lenses and the world seems so clear, not that you didn’t already see it as it was but it so much clear and this hits you so strongly as if you were seeing everything for the first time…

Didn’t understand? Listen to Mr. Beck’s lyrics, lots of bits that don’t seem to fit, but oh do they fit ;)

So here goes Farewell Ride

Two white horses in a line carrying me to my burying
ground some need diamonds some need love some need
cards some need luck
some need dollar bills lining their clothes
all I need is all I need is two white horses in a line taking
me for my farewell ride some may say this might be
your last farewell ride
I don't see the face of
kindness I don't hear the
mission bells I don't smell
the morning roses all I see
is all I see is
two white horses in a line
carrying me to my burying ground
some may say this might be
your last farewell ride

P.S.- By the way I also want “two white horses in a line taking me for my farewell ride” ;)

Um blog a ver...

Tem fotos fabulosas, não sei aonde é que ela vai as buscar mas algumas são de cortar a respiração!

http://estrelavertiginosa.blogspot.com/

O mundo é tão pequeno, basta ver aonde é que eu encontrei um link para o meu blog favorito ;) 

Job Interviews

Yesterday I went to a job interview at BP. It went more or less, it could have been better, but I always end up getting too nervous and I think I talk too much, too fast and always at the job interviews that I'm most interested in ;) Now I'll have to have a stop in job interviews as this month I've already been to the doctor twice and I can't afford to loose my actual job ;)

So as you can see not much as happened in my life...

Posts eliminados

A pedido de uma pessoa tive que eliminar alguns posts, se mais alguém não quiser as suas fotos neste blog podiam-me avisar para as eliminar. Não quero violar o direito à privacidade de cada um, por isso senão quiserem ver fotos vossas divulgadas neste site avisem-me. De qualquer forma o site não é público (ou seja, se procurarem num motor de busca ou no motor de busca do blogger ele não aparece), é preciso que eu dê o link do site a alguém ou alguém escrever no endereço sem querer lerato.blogspot.com Como é óbvio não quero que toda a gente tenha acesso facilitado à minha vida e nem me dava jeito dado que teci comentários sobre o meu emprego que convém que o meu patão não as leia ;)

Peço novamente desculpa por ter posto as fotos sem consultar-vos, mas como só eu e a Rita é que as recebemos, pensei que assim seria mais fácil toda a gente ter acesso às fotos.

My Copenhagen Photos 2...

...have been updated with the photos Kazik so kindly sent me! Thanks once again! The photos were taken by Martim another polish who will visit our University this winter.

Thanks Kazik for the photos! And this is one only Martim could have taken: taking a photo with a sign saying "No Photos" and just after our guide had told us not to do so ;) This is the famous Pusher Street in Christiania (The Free City), Copenhagen, where you could buy and smoke joints without a problem. Or at least that was how it was supposed to be, as the Danish police was trying to close down their business. That is why we were not supposed to take photos, so there was no proofs of the traffic. 

So isn't he just absolutely divine ;) It's just a pity he's already married ;p

21, 28 or 29th of March??? Who cares I just can't wait...

and next week as soon as I arrive home I'll have the new deluxe edition of Guero by Beck waiting for me ;) After all the reviews I've read it seems it will be another fantastic album, it may not be a huge suprise as all the other albuns, but I certain it must be still an evolution as this is only one of the biggest genious in the music world and one of the 4 most divine, still living guys, in the world ;)

Here is www.allmusic.com review:

"Ever since his thrilling 1994 debut with Mellow Gold, each new Beck album was a genuine pop cultural event, since it was never clear which direction he would follow. Kicking of his career as equal parts noise-prankster, indie folkster, alt-rocker and ironic rapper, he's gone to extremes, veering between garishly ironic party music to brooding heartbroken baroque-pop, and this unpredictability is a large part of his charm, since each album was distinct from the one before. That remains true with Guero, his eight album (sixth, if you don't count 1994's Stereopathetic Soul Manure and One Foot in the Grave, which some don't) but the surprising thing here is that it sounds for all the world like a good, straight-ahead, garden variety Beck album, which is something he's never delivered prior to this 2005 release. In many ways, Guero is deliberately designed as a classicist Beck album, a return to the sound and aesthetic of his 1996 masterwork Odelay. After all, he's reteamed with the producing team of the Dust Brothers, who are widely credited for the dense, sample collage sound of Odelay, and the light, bright Guero stands in stark contrast to the lush melancholy of 2002's Sea Change while simultaneously bearing a knowing kinship to the sound that brought him his greatest critical and commercial success in the mid-'90s. This has all the trappings of being a cold, calculating maneuver, but the album never plays as crass. Instead, it sounds as if Beck, now a husband and father in his mid-'30s, is revisiting his older aesthetic and sensibility from a new perspective. The sound has remained essentially the same — it's still a kaleidoscopic jumble of pop, hip-hop and indie-rock, with some Brazilian and electro touches thrown in — but Beck is a hell of a lot calmer, never indulging in the lyrical or musical flights of fancy or the absurdism that made Mellow Gold and Odelay such giddy listens. He now operates with the skill and precision of a craftsman, never dumping too many ideas into one songs, paring his words down to their essentials, mixing the record for a wider audience than his friends. Consequently, Guero never is as surprising or enthralling as Odelay, but Beck is also not trying to be as wild and funny as he was a decade ago. He's shifted away from exaggerated wackiness — which is good, since it wouldn't wear as well on a 34 year-old as it would on a man a decade younger — and concentrated on the record-making, winding up with a thoroughly enjoyable LP that sounds warm and familiar upon the first play and gets stronger with each spin. No, it's not a knock-out, the way his first few records were, but it's a successful mature variation on Odelay, one that proves that Beck's sensibility will continue to reap rewards for him as he enters his second decade of recording. " By by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

So just enjoy!!!

The desserts!!!

As many people have asked me for the recipes of the desserts here they go (sorry but as my melktert was not right and I was only able to get the recipe in Afrikaans I cannot post it, as I don’t understand a word of it)…

30-days Muffings (which means you can have the dough in the fridge for 30 days before baking it)

Ingredients:
- 2 cups and a half of all-purpose flour / 2 chavénas e meia de farinha
- 1 and a half cups of brown sugar (the original recipe asks for yellow sugar but I think brown sugar tastes better) / 1 chavéna e meia de acuçar mascavado (a receita original pede açucar amarelo mas eu acho que o mascavado sabe melhor)
- 2 and a half teaspoons of bicarbonate / 2 colheres e meia de chá de bicarbonato de sódio
- 2 cups of bran flour / 2 chavénas de farelo

- 2 well-beaten eggs / 2 ovos bem batidos
- 2 cups of milk / 2 chavénas de leite
- 1 cup of oil / 1 chavéna de óleo
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence / 1 colher de chá de essência de baunilha
- Nothing or raisins or, as Paulo suggested, peanuts ;) / Passas, Tamâras ou nada ou outro fruto seco

Mix all the dry ingredients and then join the liquid ingredients. Mix it all very well and leave it in the fridge from one day to the other (or just do it like I do, bake them straight away ;) Bake it for about 15 minutes (or until dry when you stick a piece of spaggetti in the muffing, when they have already grown and become dark brown) in the oven at a medium temperature.

Misturar todos os ingredientes secos e depois junta-se todos os ingredientes liquidos. Mexe-se bem e deixa-se repousar no frigorífico de um dia para o outro. Esta massa pode ficar no frigorífico até 30 dias. Podem fazer como eu que depois de misturar tudo não coloco no frigorífico mas logo no forno médio durante 15 minutos ou até o pau de spaggetti ficar seco quando o espeto num dos muffings, que devem já estar crescidos e castanho escuros.

Cheesecake

For the base:
- 1 packet of Marie Biscuts
- 125 grams of margarine (and only that otherwise the base will become too hard)

Melt the margarine and mix it with the Marie biscuits already crushed into small pieces (I find the 1,2,3 very useful to crush the biscuits into small pieces ;). Use a pie plate (or a pirex) or some kind of recipient that has a flat bottom and is high all around the plate and cover the sides and the bottom with the margarine/biscuits mixture. Afterwards melt a packet of jelly (any flavor you like, but tutti-frutti cuts a little bit of the sweet of the condensed milk) with 250ml of boiling water and stick it into the deepfreeze (if you don’t want to wait for too long), mixing it once a while until it cools down. Beat 200ml of cream into chantilly (don’t worry if you can’t I never can as I double the recipe, but it helps if the cream is very cold), then add a tin of condensed milk, 250ml of cream cheese and the jelly already cooled down. Mix it all and pour it into the pirex and let it get stiff in the fridge.

Para a base:
- 1 pacote de Bolachas Maria
- 125 gramas de margarina (e só mesmo isso senão a base fica demasiado dura)

Derrete-se a margarina e mistura-se a com as bolachas Maria todas esmigalhadas (a picadora/1,2,3 ajuda imenso a esmigalha-las). Cobre-se um pirex no fundo e dos lados com esta mistura. Depois derrete-se um pacote de gelatina (pode-se usar o sabor que se quiser mas a de tutti-frutti é a melhor que corta o doce do leite condensado e não torna o cheesecake enjoativo) com 250ml de água a ferver, deixa-se arrefecer no congelador (se quiserem que arrefeça rapidamente), mexendo de vez em quando até arrefecer. Bater 200ml de natas até ficarem duras (não se preocupem senão ficar, eu faço sempre o dobro da receita e nunca fica, mas ajuda se as natas tiverem bem frias) e depois acrescentar uma lata de leite condensado, 250ml de queijo creme (ou queijo natural paturagés que vem num boião de 500ml, daí que faça sempre o dobro) e a gelatina já arrefecida. Mexe-se tudo bem, deita-se no pirex e deixa-se ficar firme no frigorífico.

It was my Aunty Irene who gave me these recipes so: Thank You and thanks from everybody who always enjoys your wonderful desserts and dishes ;) ENJOY!!!

The long awaited lunch at my house 13-03-2005

One day somebody remembered from our university group of girls that, as most of us didn’t have enough money to go to last-year trip abroad with all those who had entered university at the same time as us, we should do our own last-year trip. Our trip would consist of sleeping over each others house and getting to know different parts of Portugal. So after a wonderful lunch at Ana’s house near Torres Novas (you can see the maps below if you are interested), it was my turn to invite the girls and, of course, their boyfriends to my parent’s house for a lunch with some South-African dishes: Boerewors (Farmers sausage), Mealie Pup (Cornmeal mush), Melktert (dessert), Chessecake and Muffings!

Unfortunately not everybody was able to join us, but if they ever want to drop by they are very welcomed! The same goes for Tasquinhas (type of a gastronomic fair in which all the small villages around Rio Maior compete with each other, during a week, with their traditional dishes and in the end the one with better decoration and food wins the 1st place), as only Ana, Henrique, Fatima, Rui, Nuno and Marina joined me!

I hope everybody enjoyed the night and day as much as I did and lets see if we meet once again very soon!

A picture of part of Portugal where number one is my hometown, just so you can have some perspective...

Rio Maior (my hometown) and Ana's hometown

If you ever want lettuce free of any kind of insects, even the smallest just ask me, but be kind enough to tell me about 1 hour and a half before, that was how long it took me to clean a big lettuce and a half ;p

Mommy will kill me for posting this photo ;p

Rita, Ana and Henrique on my kitchen's couch

Marina and Fatima in my kitchen

The river that gives our town's name or is it the town that gives our river's name? Ya! Very polluted but that day it was more or less at least Caves Dom Teodósio (a factory that produces wine in Rio Maior) didn't give it a red wine colour, as it does sometimes...

Gooses or another kind of duck? And once again river Rio Maior (Rio also means river and by the way Maior means bigger and as you can see our river is huge ;)

One of Rio Maior's alleys

(I'm not religious and I've only seen this celebration once when I was 7 or 8 years old when my Granny from Oporto was here passing some days with us, so I think it's every year) Every year, 2 weeks before Easter Rio Maior has a religious celebration called Prossição do Senhor dos Passos. Senhor dos Passos means Lord of the Steps and this celebration is the most important at our little town, lots of people come and watch the volunteers carry Our Lord and our Lady from this church (which we call the old church, as we have two) which is quite beautiful from the inside, unfortunately is always closed and we didn't reach the church in time as it opens to let the men carry Our Lord and Our Lady from this church to the new church!

Another shot of Senhor dos Passos

Lots of people celebrating the mass and hearing the priest in silence although it's in the middle of our oldest square (we only have two)

Our Lady carried by some volunteers

You can bet! Mass at open air ;)

A close shot of Senhor dos Passos

Serra de Aires e Candeeiros, just one of the most beautifull hills in Portugal and this is one of the amazing views you can enjoy in Rio Maior!

The day was not fantastic, but as you can see Mother Nature always amazes us, even in a cloudy day with a cold wind! As it's winter Marinhas do Sal doesn't have any salt, but in summer you will be able to see little pyramides of salt, as the water is sea water although Rio Maior is 30km from the sea! This pehnomenon only occours in another place in the world, only 2 places in the world!

Me and my Mother

Work

After some weeks of anxiety because I couldn’t find a job, I got an internship at a small company in a small/big city (depends of where you are from, as it seems that in Poland my home town is big), in the centre of Portugal, called Caldas da Rainha.

Unfortunately I’ve found out that the job doesn’t correspond to what they made me believe it would be! It’s plain boring and I’m really eager to change jobs… But as things aren’t easy, I’ll have to stick to it as a paycheck in the end of the month is much better than none at all!

Now my problem is how to go to job interviews with no justification to bank work…

I’m really missing all the stress I had at University, with all the load of paper works and deadlines, at least I found out I can’t live the dream of may people: have a job, but not work ;)

I haven’t heard of some of you concerning your new jobs, but at least Germany and USA are to be congratulated and I really hope it’s their dream job!

Finito!!!

I've just finished uploading all my photos from Copenhagen so enjoy!

Sorry it took more than half a year!

People who were wandering about me…

I decided to do a blog, a much simpler than my previous and in English as I doubt some of the people I know understand a word of Portuguese ;)

On your right side you can see a link to the photos I took in Copenhagen, I still haven’t uploaded them all, but I only was able to get internet at home last Friday (finally!!!), so I hope I will be faster!

The same goes to my replies to emails (sorry USA and now Germany)! All the best and I hope I will be hearing from you! By the way as I can’t take holidays this year, I think I will only be able to drop in Vienna from the 12th/13th to the 15th of August, but nearly 3 days is much better than no day at all!

P.S. - Lerato is an African Female name which means Love and it's a way of people from my work not to find this site that easily ;)