sábado, 26 de octubre de 2013

TRICK OR TREAT!

Halloween

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Halloween
Hallowe'en
HalloweenHallowe'en
Halloween
Also called All Hallows Eve
All Saints' Eve
Samhain
Hallowed End
Observed by Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Japan, Bahamas, United States, sometimes Australia, Sweden, and many Latin American countries where it is known as Noche de las Brujas (Night of the Witches)[1]
Type Religious, cultural (celebrated mostly irrespective of religion)
Significance There are many sources of Halloween's significance
Date October 31
Celebrations Trick-or-treating, ghost tours, apple bobbing, costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, bonfires, and fireworks (in Ireland)
Halloween is a holiday in many English speaking countries that is celebrated on the night of October 31st. Children wear costumes and they go to peoples' homes saying "Trick or treat!" to ask for candy, sweets in the United Kingdom, or lollies in Australia, and then people give it to them. This practice originally involved a threat. A threat is when someone says that they will do something bad if they do not get what they want. In this case the threat could be explained as: "Give me a treat or I will play a trick on you." Children today usually do not play tricks if they do not get treats. However, some children still get up to mischief (pranks or things to make fun of people; like putting toilet paper in trees; writing on windows with soap or throwing eggs at peoples' houses). People sometimes dress up as ghosts, witches, goblins and other scary things for Halloween.

domingo, 6 de octubre de 2013

Columbus Day

TIME TO CELEBRATE:
Columbus Day 
Celebrate Columbus Day with us on October 14th and let’s commemorate Christopher Columbus’ arrival to the Americas! On October 12th, 1492 Columbus established, amongst other things, a lasting connection between Europeans and the ‘New World’. 

Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in Genoa, Italy. As a talented explorer and navigator, he voyaged into the Atlantic Ocean and built a reputation as a brilliant mariner. 
However, his plans to explore the rest of the world were rejected by his hometown.  Even
the Portuguese king rejected his proposal of a three-ship voyage.
He didn’t give up and convinced the Spanish monarchs to support him. 
In August of 1492, Columbus left Spain in his renowned ship, Santa Maria, along with two others, the Pinta and the Niña. Columbus’ resilience was tested again during a grueling 36 days of sailing, before he actually found land. He and other crewmen set foot on a then unknown island, The Bahamas. That was the first of another three ground breaking journeys, opening up the Americas for European colonization.