Dia de Amigos, i.e. Friends’ Day in the Azores
Dia de Amigos, Dia de Amigas, Dia de Compadres, Dia de Comadres… The last four Thursdays of the Carnival are extremely intensely celebrated in the Azores. Boyfriends’ (Male Friends’) Day, Girlfriends’ (Female Friends’) Day, Cofathers’ Day and Comothers’ Day are exceptional holidays, typical of the Azores archipelago. And still important, especially the first two. And how did it start? The history of celebrating these holidays is probably about 100 years old. The neighbors were gathering to prepare corn, wheat and other grains for the upcoming Festas do Espírito Santo, a celebration in honor of the Holy Spirit. In order not to get bored, they amused themselves with poetry and chants. Bonds between neighbours strengthened, and poems and musical pieces more and more eagerly praised friendship. After some time, traditional preparations for the Festas do Espírito Santo stopped having such meaning. Meetings in small groups were replaced by an organization at the commune level. Friends and acquaintances, however, were still eager to meet. Spending time together and celebrating friendship has become a value. Nowadays, Boyfriends’ (Male Friends’) Day and Girlfriends (Female Friends’) Day are one of the most celebrated holidays in Terceira. The fourth Thursday before the Carnival is Boyfriends’ Day. All the ladies stay at home, and groups of gentlemen come out on the streets of the island. These groups can include both three people and thirty – according to the principle „my friend’s friend is my friend”. Such meetings are an opportunity to break free from the routine of everyday life, to rest mentally and see those who have not seen each other for a long time. And for local dining outlets – to build up their budget. The third Thursday before the end of the Carnival belongs to ladies. Often fancifully, carnival-dressed groups of women celebrate Girlfriends’ Day just like men, in restaurants, bars and other places where you can eat and drink something good, and sometimes dance or… cheer on the stripper in his show. Yes, yes, striptease on Catholic, conservative islands is not surprising and it often accompanies Dia de Amigos and Dia de Amigas. I haven’t solved the puzzle yet, but… the machine on the street with condoms, lubricants and pregnancy tests is definitely part of the same puzzle. The Cofather’s Day and Comothers’ Day Day are more peaceful. They are usually commemorated by a text message with greetings or small sweets. But… who is a cofather? And who is a comother? Well, they are people of the same sex that have a big impact on raising a new society member. Cofathers are most often the father and the godfather of a child, and comothers – the mother and the godmother. On the islands, life still goes on in groups. Of course, Western European individualism is becoming more and more popular, but most of social life is still based on interpersonal contacts, especially those within the family. Family is holiness, and by the way – great help in everyday life. Sister will drop eggs and milk from a cow, brother – oranges, mother – freshly baked cake, cousins will take care of the child on Saturday afternoon – and you can function. And next Saturday, take over the queue to look after the cousins’ children. And give everyone interested beans from the garden behind the house. I don’t have beans behind the house, but I do function in a group of friends. And I celebrated Dia de Amigas three times on the island. There is something to celebrate! Friendship is one of the most beautiful inventions of humanity! Dia de Amigas means places filled with women full of good energy, it means streets full of chatty strollers, it means cars with smiley women faces… It’s good to see so much joy in the same time. And it’s even better to let yourself be carried away by this joy and to recharge your batteries with it for the next days. And if it ran out, you know – a phone call to a friend. Or a girlfriend!
20 ways to be a perfect tourist
Many of you, going for a trip, wonder how to be a perfect tourist. How to be a responsible tourist? Welcome? The one that the local community will greet with a genuine smile, not with a headache? How to implement the rules of sustainable tourism, how to take care of good experiences during the trip and at the same time preserve the natural, cultural and social values of the places that we visit? Take care of the nature 1. Try not to leave any marks of your presence. The nature gives us life – it gives us oxygen and food, it gives us entertainment and unique aesthetic experience. Try not to hurt it in a direct contact. Don’t damage plants, don’t flush animals out, don’t leave any trash behind. A plastic bottle may stay in the ground even thousands of years, a cigarette butt poisons up to 1m3 of soil and up to 100m3 of water. Take your garbage with you and throw them into adequate containers. My geography teacher, on a way to the geography competition, played me and my colleagues an eco-song: “Separately paper, separately glass, separately plastic, remember that.” I did remember that. The planet will be grateful for waste segregation, and our grandchildren will have a chance to see what we can see, not just deserts of concrete. 2. Walk only on marked trails. It happens that local companies, trying to provide tourists original experience, take them to protected areas, where endemic vegetation is in danger of extinction. The protected areas are protected due to some reason. Human’s presence is not neutral to the nature, growing number of people in a place causes its deterioration. If you want beautiful and unique places to stay beautiful and unique, respect the nature and follow the marked trails. 3. Pay for the entrance to the natural heritage places. Very often there are entry tickets for the entrance to parks, nature monuments etc. Remember that this money is used for maintenance of those natural goods. Paying for the entrance, you acknowledge the nature for the fact that it exists and wish it many more years in unchanged conditions. 4. Choose environment-friendly means of transport. If it’s possible, walk or use a bike instead of a car, alternatively hitchhike (check before your trip if it’s accepted and welcome). Choose rather a train than a plane and rather a bus than a cab. If other ways to get to a certain place are limited (e.g. Terceira), check if the airline gives a chance to pay for the carbon dioxide emission. Usually this is symbolic money, but its influence on the environment protection is not only symbolic. 5. Pack your luggage rationally. Packing your luggage for a trip, try to think it over to make sure that you won’t leave garbage in the place where you’re travelling to. Single-use shampoos, tiny face cream packs may be convenient, but small reusable containers are much better for our planet. If you pour a bit of your shampoo into a 100-ml bottle, you won’t have a heavy luggage, and you will take the little bottle back with you and use it during your next trip, instead of increasing the amount of garbage in your dream destination. 6. Avoid disposable products. I already mentioned it above, but additionally: drink directly from a glass instead of drinking through a straw, go shopping with your own bag, and if you buy one apple, don’t use a plastic bag. It’s also applicable to everyday life, not only to travels, but during a travel it’s also very important. For example, imagine Terceira – a small island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. And now imagine piles of trash produced by us each year. And fish swimming among the garbage. Maybe there are better prospects. Get to know the local culture 7. Before the trip get to know as much as you can about the place that you’re going to. Read about its history, culture, customs. Check what the place looks like, who lives there, what are local festivities. Thanks to that, when you get there, you will experience it better, you will get to know this place even better. Using your knowledge, you will be able to ask better questions and look for the answers live. 8. Participate in local events. One gets to know a place by its people. Because a place it’s not just a place, it’s a way of living. Local events are one of the opportunities to see how the local community really lives, plays, what celebrates. Participate in a local festivity, go to a local cinema, see what makes people happy and what makes them sad. Don’t be afraid to ask a person standing next to you what you’re participating in, don’t be scared to ask a person in a tourist office or in a museum for a tip where to go, what to experience. Don’t be afraid to talk to the locals. If you’re a good tourist, they will willingly share with you their knowledge and boast about the local customs. 9. Eat locally. Food is a part of the culture, it’s an element of life. Try to choose local restaurants, so that you get to known real local cuisine and support local economy. In some cultures, food is more important, in others – less, but everybody has to eat. In each place it’s worth asking about local specialties and local products, and eat them during the stay. 10. Take care of the local heritage. Respect not only the nature, but also the work of human hands. Whether a place is on UNESCO list or not – it’s a heritage of the travel destiny, which you chose. It’s like with the nature – try not to leave any marks of your presence. 11. Respect local law. Before your trip, check the law in your travel destiny and obey it. In Singapore you mustn’t chew a gum, in Denmark you mustn’t cover your face