The History of Two Estates
Th 15 Dec at 19.00 in room 15 Mr James Wallace will give a talk about the history of two estates and their manor houses on Mallorca.
Thanksgiving 2011
On Th 24 Nov at 18.30 in room 15 Liliana Gibert will give a presentation about Thanksgiving. Everybody is welcome.
Count Dracula Cleans His Teeth
On Tu 15 Nov at 18.30 in room 5 Count Dracula Cleans his Teeth. A presentation to practise the present simple.
Philip Fields
On Tu 25 Oct at 17.00 in room 11 Mr Philip Fields from the USA will tell our students about life in America. Everybody is welcome!
Halloween 2011
On Monday 31 October at 19.00 in room 6 Cristóbal Ros will give a presentation on Halloween. Everybody is welcome.
Guided tour
On Mo 17 Oct at 17.00 A two hour walk around old Palma led by Jim Wallace. Meet at the Slinger statue outside the swan lake by the Cathedral steps.
A review by Esther Cifre:
A review by Esther Cifre:
GUIDED-TOUR IN PALMA WITH AN IRISH LOOK AND SENSE OF HUMOR
Yesterday we had the opportunity to walk through Palma city center, with Jim Wallace, an Irish former lecturer, who settled down in the island some time ago. Apparently, he has never stopped doing research, as musicians or farmers do. Despite retiring, they continue playing music or looking after their trees until they are able to. And so does Jim.
He seemed to enjoy telling stories and legends about the history of popular places in our city, and, most of all, with a genuine Irish sense of humor. In his own words “if I have to choose between the legend and the fact, I choose the legend”. But I guess he is a knowledgeable man about both.
I thought it would be a good idea to record all that he said, but, as I forgot to borrow the tape recorder, I will have to rely on my memory, so I am going to list below what I would highlight from this cultural walk:
First of all, he explained to us the history of the Dominican convent, which was located very close to Almudaina Palace and the Cathedral. It was a crucial centre of power for the Church and it is even said to have been the Inquisition camp base for many years. It was not until the Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizabal, in 1835, that this property reversed into private hands, in other words, the State expropiates it and sells it to the highest bidder. It is said that Juan March, “the ganster” (one of the best definitions I have ever heard, of this popular man in the Majorca of the late eighteens) managed to buy one part around 1930 and built there a palace, for him, of course. It was only many years later, that the March’s family decided to open there the actual museum.
The building that now hosts the Parliament was before a private club (or elitist cultural center, as you prefer) owned by the Círculo Mallorquin, a group of opulent and probably lavish and fancy people in Palma who had made a fortune and enjoyed boasting of it. Parties of all sorts were thrown there, and the ghosts of the dominican monks buried there couldn’t help to prevent them. In 1983 the newborn regional democratic government bought it. Therefore we have politicians now, another type of ghosts, I would add. I can’t imagine what it can be next, a mental hospital, I will bet!
Once in front of the Cathedral, a must in any tour around Palma, Jim continued to ironically describe another kind of parties. This time they were held in the bell tower, a place where the police could not arrest offenders. As a result, there were some of them who used to take advantage of the situation and convinced some friends to bring them some food and wine there (I refuse to believe that they got brandy...the legend should not overdo this much). To put and end to a situation that was overtaking them, the bishop decided to ban the access to women, supposing that, in this way, the parties would be cooled down by themselves (this is a test of the faith that the Church has on the human nature...).
The last stop, which I would stand out over the rest, would be the story about Can Formiguera, probably the richest house in Palma, which was a property of the Zaforteza family. One of his sons was el Comte Mal, who is said to have been the most evil master ever known in the island, being cruel to his servants and employees and raping women on a regular basis.
Once one has heard some of the information Jim shared with us about the city center (and I have not talked about the fate of the Jewish, which was the topic chosen for the end of the talk), one is relieved not to be living in this legendary place, where so many outrageous facts have occurred.
Just like an adventure film does, Jim has magically captured our attention for one hour and a half and I think everyone of us is elated by his authority on the matter. We are eager for the second part!
Ester Cifre
Advanced 2
Sylvia Lewis and Felicity Rixon
On Mo 10 Oct at 18.00 in room 6 Sylvia Lewis and Felicity will give a talk about their lives. Everybody is welcome
Liliana Gibert on the C1 Level
On Wednesday 13 April at 18.50 in room 4 Liliana Gibert, a C1 student, talked about her experience in the C1 level. It was a very interesting presentation.
TALK BY DAPHNE MARTIN. ‘Cape Town to Glasgow by Land Rover with a baby’
On Mo 7 March 2011 at 7.30 pm in room 4. We had a TALK BY DAPHNE MARTIN.
‘Cape Town to Glasgow by Land Rover with a baby’. Daphne’s pictures and descriptions of an eventful trip.
We really enjoyed the talk. It was very interesting.
Before the talk Daphne sent us this letter so that we could have some background information and enjoy the talk more:
Hello,
I wonder if, before next March 7th, you could do some reading which will tell you about a great man, Dr Livingstone. You don't need to know very much. You will appreciate bits of my talk better if you know that:
He was a missionary doctor who gradually turned more into an explorer. He started his travels in South Africa and gradually explored northwards through countries which are nowadays called Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Congo. Later he started from Zanzibar, on the east coast of Africa, and explored Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi.
During the 19th century he became extremely famous in Europe and especially in England and Scotland. He mapped his travels and wrote books about the lands through which he travelled and the peoples he met. This opened up Africa.
Before Livingstone's travels no other non-Africans had travelled through Africa except for some Arab slavers, a couple of Portuguese explorers who had ventured from Mozambique into the interior of Africa; and two Portuguese priests who had gone to Ethiopia.
In Livingstone's days there was no radio, no telephone. There were no aeroplanes/vehicles/bicycles. In many parts of Africa tetse flies carried horse sickness so Livingstone travelled on foot. He was often unheard of for a year or more at a time.
He had two very faithful servants called Susi and Juma. For many years these men followed him and helped him to preach to and to medically treat the people whom they met.
One of his daughters married a Dr Moffat who was also a medical missionary. In the late 19th century Dr Moffat started a mission called Livingstonia in Malawi. We MET an old man who had been TAUGHT by Dr Moffat at the Livingstonia Mission!
You don't need to know more than that about Dr Livingstone and Dr Moffat.
It would also be handy, but not essential, if you had heard about Henry Morton Stanley who was a journalist for an American paper.
He was young strong brash extrovert. He did some exploration in the West of Africa - the west of the Congo.
In 1871 Livingstone had been "missing" for some years and was feared dead. Stanley was sent by his newspaper to "find" Dr Livingstone. Although he was given a lot of finances this was a dreadfully difficult task because no-one knew where Livingstone might be ...and also Livingstione was sometimes anti-social. It could be that if Livingstone heard that he was being sought for he would just take off into the bush and disappear again.
It was known that Livingstone had a sort of "base" at Ujiji on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. In November 1871 Livingstone was very old and very ill and had had all his trade goods stolen and his house at Ujiji had been broken into and ruined. After 8 months of walking Stanley DID trace Livingstone. He found him at Ujiji. When he found Dr Livingstone he was so excited that he didn't know what to do. He wanted to run and jump with pleasure and to kiss Livingstone. But he felt he had to preserve the dignity of the white man, so he just went up to Livingstone, took off his cap , and said to the old explorer:
"Dr Livingstone, I presume" All this Stanley wrote very expressively in his journal.
The phrase "Dr Livingstone, I presume" has become EXTREMELY famous and is parodied constantly in British literature and radio etc.
I am sorry to bore you with the above matters but it might help you to enjoy my talk better if you know some of these facts.
It is FAR from necessary for you to be bothered with the following but if you have a map of Africa, it could perhaps also interest you to follow the route we took. That was:
From Blantyre in Malawi, up the west coast of Lake Malawi, then through Tanzania and up the east coast of Lake Tanganyika.
We proceeded through Burundi, Rwanda, Zaire (which is now called the Democratic Republic of Congo), Central African Republic, Cameroon.
We crossed the Sahara Desert via Nigeria, Niger, Algeria.
From Melilla (which is Spanish enclave on the northe coast of Africa) we took a ferry across from to Spain and then another ferry from Valencia to Mallorca, to visit my parents.
We reached Scotland and after staying with my husbnand's family we drove down to Southampton and took a boat to Cape Town in South Africa. Then we drove back north from Cape Town to Blantyre in Malawi. All this took us 4 months. The baby was 6 weeks and 12 hours old when we started and 5 months and 3 days old when we got home.
Don't worry if you can't remember all this. I will explain it when I see you.
I am looking forward to meeting you on March 7th.
Cheers,
Daphne
‘Cape Town to Glasgow by Land Rover with a baby’. Daphne’s pictures and descriptions of an eventful trip.
We really enjoyed the talk. It was very interesting.
Before the talk Daphne sent us this letter so that we could have some background information and enjoy the talk more:
Hello,
I wonder if, before next March 7th, you could do some reading which will tell you about a great man, Dr Livingstone. You don't need to know very much. You will appreciate bits of my talk better if you know that:
He was a missionary doctor who gradually turned more into an explorer. He started his travels in South Africa and gradually explored northwards through countries which are nowadays called Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Congo. Later he started from Zanzibar, on the east coast of Africa, and explored Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi.
During the 19th century he became extremely famous in Europe and especially in England and Scotland. He mapped his travels and wrote books about the lands through which he travelled and the peoples he met. This opened up Africa.
Before Livingstone's travels no other non-Africans had travelled through Africa except for some Arab slavers, a couple of Portuguese explorers who had ventured from Mozambique into the interior of Africa; and two Portuguese priests who had gone to Ethiopia.
In Livingstone's days there was no radio, no telephone. There were no aeroplanes/vehicles/bicycles. In many parts of Africa tetse flies carried horse sickness so Livingstone travelled on foot. He was often unheard of for a year or more at a time.
He had two very faithful servants called Susi and Juma. For many years these men followed him and helped him to preach to and to medically treat the people whom they met.
One of his daughters married a Dr Moffat who was also a medical missionary. In the late 19th century Dr Moffat started a mission called Livingstonia in Malawi. We MET an old man who had been TAUGHT by Dr Moffat at the Livingstonia Mission!
You don't need to know more than that about Dr Livingstone and Dr Moffat.
It would also be handy, but not essential, if you had heard about Henry Morton Stanley who was a journalist for an American paper.
He was young strong brash extrovert. He did some exploration in the West of Africa - the west of the Congo.
In 1871 Livingstone had been "missing" for some years and was feared dead. Stanley was sent by his newspaper to "find" Dr Livingstone. Although he was given a lot of finances this was a dreadfully difficult task because no-one knew where Livingstone might be ...and also Livingstione was sometimes anti-social. It could be that if Livingstone heard that he was being sought for he would just take off into the bush and disappear again.
It was known that Livingstone had a sort of "base" at Ujiji on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. In November 1871 Livingstone was very old and very ill and had had all his trade goods stolen and his house at Ujiji had been broken into and ruined. After 8 months of walking Stanley DID trace Livingstone. He found him at Ujiji. When he found Dr Livingstone he was so excited that he didn't know what to do. He wanted to run and jump with pleasure and to kiss Livingstone. But he felt he had to preserve the dignity of the white man, so he just went up to Livingstone, took off his cap , and said to the old explorer:
"Dr Livingstone, I presume" All this Stanley wrote very expressively in his journal.
The phrase "Dr Livingstone, I presume" has become EXTREMELY famous and is parodied constantly in British literature and radio etc.
I am sorry to bore you with the above matters but it might help you to enjoy my talk better if you know some of these facts.
It is FAR from necessary for you to be bothered with the following but if you have a map of Africa, it could perhaps also interest you to follow the route we took. That was:
From Blantyre in Malawi, up the west coast of Lake Malawi, then through Tanzania and up the east coast of Lake Tanganyika.
We proceeded through Burundi, Rwanda, Zaire (which is now called the Democratic Republic of Congo), Central African Republic, Cameroon.
We crossed the Sahara Desert via Nigeria, Niger, Algeria.
From Melilla (which is Spanish enclave on the northe coast of Africa) we took a ferry across from to Spain and then another ferry from Valencia to Mallorca, to visit my parents.
We reached Scotland and after staying with my husbnand's family we drove down to Southampton and took a boat to Cape Town in South Africa. Then we drove back north from Cape Town to Blantyre in Malawi. All this took us 4 months. The baby was 6 weeks and 12 hours old when we started and 5 months and 3 days old when we got home.
Don't worry if you can't remember all this. I will explain it when I see you.
I am looking forward to meeting you on March 7th.
Cheers,
Daphne
Sandy Bignell on Education
On We 16 Feb at 18.30 in room 4 Sandy Bignell, a former primary school teacher, talked about how primary school education changed in her years of teaching. It was a very interesting talk.
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