Irish news

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/podcast/podcast_tubridy.xml

from the Irish tv and radio station.

I really have to wonrk on the comprehension of Irish accent, even though it doesn't sound that difficult.. maybe because it is from the Irish tv..

business news, bbc

Business News from BBC.co.uk

Which newspaper did report on Zimbabwe?

What is Zimbabwe trying to take control on?

51% has been mentioned. What does this percentage refer to?

When was this process started?

Zimbabwe has the highest inflation rate in the world. How much is it exactly?

In which context were China and Malaysia mentioned?

Which bank is still active in Zimbabwe?

Which holiday determines the beginning of summer?

Is the price of fuel increasing with the same pattern of oil price?

83% is referred to …..

Why is the price of fuel on the West Coast traditionally higher than on the East Coast?

What has been introduced recently, which makes fuel cleaner but costlier?

What about the London stock exchange today?

What is Australia suffering of?

What can smaller companies do more easily?

The Australian twin-engine is made up by …..

How much is the unemployment rate?

How is the Australian stock exchange going?

What countries have been mentioned, talking about immigration?

How much was the government surplus last year?

And the inflation rate?

land wars in venezuela

after listening and watching the video about Venezuela from the "NYTimes.com":

LAND WARS IN VENEZUELA

What did Hugo Chavez introduce?

When did it come into effect?

Who is Alonso Sapada?

Why does the interviewed farmer say “he seems to have a thorn in his chest”?

By which crops were sugar cane plantation replaced?

Why did Mr Hines end up in Venezuela?

He wasn’t denied to carry a fire arm. What does he carry instead?

How many land owners were killed during the take-overs?

Who is Carlos Gimenez?

Which expression does he use instead of “take-over”?

Why hasn’t the interviewed woman left the country yet?

What is Fundo Bellavista?

Who inaugurated it?

From which countries does Venezuela mainly import food?

Corruption. According to some rumours, who is slightly accused of corruption?

How does the situation in Caracas look as far as sugar is concerned?

How do reach people feel? And poors?

Did Mr Hines succed in selling his property?


VOCABULARY

squatter: someone who occupies unused land, either to farm it or to build a house on it, without having a legal right to do so.

inaugurate, to: - if you inaugurate a system or service, you start it.
- when a new building or institution is inaugurated, it is declared open in a formal cerimony.

agrarian: relating to the ownership and use of land, especially farmland, or relating to the part of a society or economy that is concerned with agriculture.

to be a thorn in one's (chest) side: to be a continuous problem to sone, to annoy.

something general about wwoof

I'm an official member of WWOOF-Independents!

WWOOF stands for World-Wide opportunities on organic farms.

it's an organisation which helps you getting in touch with organic farms and consequently supporting you making your decision by sending you a booklet with all the host-farms joining wwoof-Independents.

Ireland hasn't got its own national organisation. that's why you have to join the "Independents".

the history of wwoof starts in the 1970s, founded by an English woman who later on spread her idea all over the world.
there's a membership fee you have to pay. it's about 25€ and your membership will last 1 year.

there are many different kinds of farming or organic experiences. the wwoof-hosts aren't always organic farms. some of them have organic restaurants, they restore buildings, some are nature / healing centres, some others produce organic food, and so on...

they usually recommend you to take a sleeping bag, a rain jacket, boots and gloves with you. essentially everything you may be using on a farm.

as wwoof is a volonteering organisation, you're supposed to work 4 to 6 hours a day in exchange of accomodation and meals. anyway, most of the host farms give you some pocket money.

so much so far!

I'll surely get to know more about wwoof as time goes by..

if you don't like soccer, you're not Italian!!!

we made it!!!!

after 2 years we got our revenge!
after that night in istanbul, when we all cried (me either..), after so much strengh and work, we made it again!

we won in regular time (90 min). we didn't play well, it wasn't any spectacular game like the one against Manchester, but still we won!

you may say:

it's not wether you win or lose, it's how you play the game


well, bullxxxx!!

I don't think Liverpool is happy just for having taken part to the final!
we didn't play well, but damn it, they are crying!

kaka was a sort of ghost on the field, seedorf either. gattuso tried to control himself after the yellow card. maldini, the captain, is 39 and played the whole match long. pirlo made an enormous amount of mistakes but his free kick passed through the wall reaching inzaghi, whose best quality is to be always ready, like a rapacious bird, to take advantage of every mistake the defenders make.

the cup and the happiness of maldini & co.













but there is also another side of football.. the one of stupid people who can't just enjoy the victory! the destroy everything they come across! they burn, they devastate everything!










piazza del duomo (the main square in milan) looked like this a couple of hours before the referee blew his whistle for the first time yesterday.









anyway, my sister called me yesterday. she dressed up our dog "red and black"!


if you have never felt like that, if you don't feel nervous while watching football, sorry but you're not italian!!!
and if you study italian, you have to know that football is such a big part of our life that you can't learn our culture if you neglect football!

and for those who have never heard it before...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI7h1FRr4VM&NR=1


Milan milan solo con te
Milan milan sempre per te


Oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Una grande squadra
Sempre in festa olã¨
Oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh
E insieme cantiamo

Milan milan solo con te
Milan milan sempre per te

Con il milan nel cuore
Nel profondo dell'anima
Un vero amico sei
E insieme cantiamo

Milan milan solo con te
Milan milan sempre con te

Oh oh oh oh oh ...

we can control global warming

The “Panel” is made up of _representatives_ from __120 countries___

What can we protect by using technology and right strategies? the ozon layer

What should we introduce? more fuel efficient vehicles

What happens if we change the way we use energy? we can save the planet

How much would it cost to change our life-style? it would cost less than 3% of the world economic output

What is happening due to rising temperatures? rising sea levels, estinction of few species, more destroying storms

Who is Alan Watson? the head of the US team


some key words: global warming; clean technology, fuel-efficient, rising temperatures, greenhouse gases, ozon layer, International Panel on Climate Change, to change the way we use energy, bio-fuels.

disappointed..

eventually I finished to read "jaywalking with the Irish". I'm so proud of me!
usually I don't read books I don't like even if they are compulsury!!
I made it till the end, hoping it would have got better!!! but it didn't and the end was pretty disappointing!
he wrote 239 pages about settling to Ireland and at the end of the book you get to know that he didn't even stay!!!

dear Mr Monagan, I understand that you appreciated that Irish eventually showed they had accepted your family, and that you only recognised at 50 that Ireland is your predestined home country, then why didn't you stay, or to be more precise, why did you so firmely want to torture us with your book????

and if you really wanted to write your book, why didn't you write it in a more readable way, so that foregneirs can understand what you really mean?

red bull 2

sorry, as usual I forgot to add the link of the event...

http://www.redbullgravitychallenge.at/#page=ArticlePage.1169581674495-1311539676.1

red bull gravity challenge...

Sir Isaac Newton was doubtlessly a clever guy!

but still there are people who try to prove that gravity doen´t exist....

today was the Red Bull gravity challenge and I can tell you that some guys really made it!
Newton´s Law of Gravity has been a couple of times contradicted...

during the challenge more than 35 teams threw an egg supported by an umbrella, for example, from a 15 m high platform. the point was that the egg had to land unbrokenly on a platform where a fried egg was drawn on. the teams got marks for both their creativity and succeding.

pretty fun! especially the try of a team which threw its egg supperted by balloons!
the balloons were inflated with helium (great idea, you may even say!) while a small bag filled with some fluid had to act as a counterweight, so that the whole thing could land slowly..
unfortunately the bag bursted, the fluid spilled and the balloons flew away!
I´m sure that they got the highest mark!!!

I couldn´t watch the whole challenge as I had a lot of things left to do, but maybe tonight at the red bull gravity party I´ll get to know who eventually won!

I´ll keep learning now!

see you!

cooking tonight!!

today I have a lot of time...

I'm going to cook some fish tonight!
I haven't already decided which kind of fish I'll be cooking! maybe a trout or sward fish or bass (perch????).
if I cook it with noodles, I'd really like to make a souce made with curry, sward fish, rucola and fresh tomatoes.
otherwise a trout filled with garlic, parsley and other aromatic herbs. mint leaves would just suit perfect!! but I'm sure I won't find either at billa or spar.

something with aubergines would taste also very good!

I read today that at restaurants when noodles look yellow it's because they put saffron in boiling water! that's why they taste completely different from mine!

well, I'm going to spar or billa now. As soon as I'm back I'll write the recipe I'm going to use for the dinner tonight! and of course how it tasted too....

see you!

"on a shoestring to Coorg"

just a curiosity..

Coorg is just the anglicised name of the region which is actually called Kodagu.

"on a shoestring to Coorg"

here's some vocab work on the book "on a shoestring to Coorg".

Dewy: wet with dew.
The feeling of dewy grass under your feet.

Lithe: a lithe person is able to mover and bend her body easily and gracefully; flexible
Arching her body, a lithe gymnast achieves postures of astonishing grace and skill.

Quaint: something attractive because it’s unusual and rather old-fashioned
the Constitution itself is quaint and outdated.

Abscond, to: if someone absconds from somewhere such as a prison, they escape from it or leave it without permission
Two paedophiles absconded from the State prison yesterday.

Bullock cart: bullock is a young bull that has been castrated. A bullock-cart is a cart drawn by bullocks.
Instead of taking a taxi you can opt for a bullock-cart ride.

Latrine: a structure, usually consisting of a hole in the ground, that is used as a toilet for example in a military camp.
Most latrines in East-Africa are more that 10 m deep.

Sartorial: relating to clothes and to the way they are made or worn.
recognising a sartorial sin is the first step to get to know fashion.

Endeavour: attempt to do something, especially something new or originally.
Shuttle Endeavour to stay in space until Wednesday

Brusquely: quickly and shortly, almost rude
I brusquely told him to piss off.

Favouritism: if you accuse someone of favouritism, you disapprove of them because they unfairly help or favour one person or group much more than another.
Hypocrisy and favouritism are on the top of most people’s ethical concerns’ list.

Conspicuous: can be seen or noticed very easily;
the Thai Majal is a conspicuous construction.

Callous: very cruel and shows no concern for other people or their feelings.
Many tv-stations had such callous reactions to the bombings that took dozens of lives.

Stark: stark choises or statements are harsh and unpleasant./ very plain in appearence.
Oil industry faces a stark choice caused by the failure to find easily exploitable oil resources.

Intermarriage: marriage between people from different social, racial, or religious groups.
Most Jews do not accept intermarriages between Jews and non-Jews.

Provoke inter-caste friction:
intermarriage can provoke inter-caste friction

Susceptibility: if you have a susceptibility to something unpleasant, you are likely to be affected by it./ a person’s susceptibilities are feelings which can be easily hurt.
Genetic susceptibility to breast and ovarian cancer was proved by many scientists.

fruit and vegetable

as I give kids private lessons in Italian, sometimes I have to write vocab lists for them and last time I edited them in English, German and Italian about fruit and vegetable... I didn't know there are so many fruits and so many kinds of hybrids obtainable mixing plums and apricots or peaches and apricots, and so on...

here's a list, I hope I can upload the file, otherwise it won't look readable..

no I can't upload it!!!! damn it!

English German Italian

Fruit Obst Frutta
apple Apfel Mela, la
medlar Mispel, die Nespola, la
pear Birne, die Pera, la
apricot Marille, die Albicocca, la
cherry Kirsche, die Ciliegia, la
plum Pflaume, die prugna, la
Zwetsch(g)e, die
Prunes (dried plums) Backpflaume Prugne secche
quince Quitte, die Mela cotogna
rosehip Hagebutte, die Frutto della rosa canina
peach Pfirsich, der Pesca, la
nectarine Nektarine, die Pesca noce
Pluot
Aprium
Peacotum
Plumcot Hybrid of plum and apricot
blackberry Brombeere, die Mora, la
raspberry Himbeere, die Lampone, il
Bilberry (BE) Blaubeere, die
Blueberry (AE) Heidelbeere, die Mirtillo, il
Huckelberry (AE)

cranberry Moosbeere, die
Kranbeere, die Mirtillo rosso
strawberry Erdbeere, die Fragola, la
Wild strawberry Fragolina di bosco, la
currant Johannisbeere, die Ribes, il
Black currant Schwarze Johannisbeere Ribes nero, il
Red currant Ribisel, die Ribes (rosso), il
elderberry Holunderbeere, die Sambuco, il
gooseberry Stachelbeere, die Uva spina, l’
Kiwi fruit Kiwi, die Kiwi, il
persimmon Kaki, die Caco, il
grape Traube, die Uva, l’
papaya Papaya, die Papaya, la
Prickly pear Kaktusfeige, die Fico d’India, il
pumpkin Kürbis, der Zucca, la
melon Melone, die Melone, il
watermelon Wassermelone, die Anguria, la
Raisin Rosine, die Uva sultanina, l’
Sultana Uvetta, l’
currant

Date palm Dattelpalme Palma da dattero, la
fig Feige, die Fico, il
Dried figs Fichi secchi
jujube Jujube, die Giuggiola, la
pomegranate Granatapfel, der Melograno, il
Grapefruit Pampelmuse, die
Pomelo (AE) Grapefuit, die Pompelmo, il

lemon Zitrone, die Limone, il
mandarin Mandarin, die Mandarino, il
Clementine Clementina, la
tangerine Tangerine, die
Mandarine, die Mandarino, il
orange Orange, die Arancia, la
avocado Avocado, die Avocado, l’ (maschile)
lychee Litschi, die Lychee, il
Passion fruit Passionsfrucht, die
Maracuja, die Frutto della passione
pineapple Ananas, die Ananas, la
coconut Kokosnuss, die Cocco, il
Noce di cocco, la
mango Mango, die Mango, il
peanut Erdnuss, die Arachide, la
Rose-apple Mela rosa
tamarind Tamarinde, die Tamarindo, il


Broccoli Broccoli, der Broccoli, i
Brussel sprouts Kohlsprossen, die Cavolini di Bruxelles, i
cabbage Kraut, das Cavolo, il
cauliflower Karfiol, der Cavolfiore, il
Curly kale Krauskohl, der Verza, la
Eggplant Melanzani, die Malanzana, la
aubergine
cucumber Gurke, die Cetriolo, il
sweetcorn Mais, der Mais dolce
pumpkin Kürbis, der Zucca, la
artichoke Artischocke, die Carciofo, il
Sweet pepper Paprika, der; die Peperone, il
Bell pepper (AE)
Zucchini Zucchini, die Zucchina, la
courgette
fennel Fenchel, der Finocchio, il
celery Sellerie, der Sedano, il
garlic Knoblauch, der Aglio, l’
rhubarb Rhabarber, der Rabarbaro, il
beet Rübe, die Barbabietola, la
leek Lauch, der Porro, il
cumin Kümmel, der Cumino, il
carrot Karotte, die Carota, la
cassava Maniok, der Manioca, la
Chinese cabbage Cavolo cinese, il
truffle Trüffel, der Tartufo, il
chestnut Kastanie, die Castagna, la
peanut Erdnuss, die Arachide, la
ginger Ingwer, der Zenzero, lo
parsley Petersilie, die Prezzemolo, il
turnip Weißrübe, die Rapa, la
lentil Linse, die Lenticchia, la
Bean Bohne, die Fagiolo, il
pea Erbse, die Pisello, il
Broad bean Puffbohne
Saubohne Fava, la
French bean (BE)
Green bean (AE) Fisole, die Fagiolino, il
Asparagus (uncountable) Spargel, der Asparago, il
Spinach (“”) Spinat, der Spinaci, gli (mehrzahl)
mushroom Pilz, der Fungo, il
champignon Champignon, der Champignon, gli
lettuce Salat, der Insalata, la
radicchio Radicchio, il
Shallot (BE) Schalotte, die Scalogno, lo
radish Radischen, das Rapanello, il
Brazil nut Paranuss, die Anacardo, il
almond Mandel, die Mandorla, la
walnut Walnuss, die Noce, la
hazelnut Haselnuss, die Nocciola, la
pistachio Pistazie, die Pistacchio, il
Pine nut Pinienkern, der Pinolo, il
coriander Koriander, der Coriandolo, il
Fennel seed Semi di finocchio, i
Cardamom Kardamom, der Cardamomo, il
anise Anis, der Anice, l’ (maschile)
clove Nelke, die Chiodo di garofano, il
horseradish Kren rafano, il



it looks sqeezed together but it doesn't in the "compose window"!

I repeat it once more: I do hate technology which doesn't do what I want it to do!!!!!!!!!

sorry for the squeezed view!

working on a farm in Ireland

I got the job!!!!

I'm going to Ireland in summer! I'll be working on a bio-farm! it's located in County Kildare.. somewhere very rural I presume....

I have to go to work now but I'll write more later, I promise!!

Prague

I’m back!!

After my short trip to Prague I’m ready to tell you everything about it..

Our journey lasted 8 hours by a very full (and consequently uncomfortable) train.
When we finally got there we had no crowns, so we looked for a cash machine which of course gave us just “big” notes and we desperately needed coins as there are just ticket machines…
So I bought our first Czech beer and I got some change!

At about 11 pm we reached the “hotel” (it was a student dormitory) where we had a reservation for 4 nights in a double room. Everything was going fine! We got to our room left the backpack there and headed to the pub of our dormitory.. you have to know that the dormitory is actually made up of 12 buildings (3 or 4 floors each) and the guys there told us that almost 6000 students live there. Crazy!!!
Every block has its own pub and sort of club.

So back to our second beer!! As beer costs less than 1 euro (at least not in the most tourist places) you can imagine that Prague is simply awesome for everyone in love with beer..
We went downstairs, drank 2 beers (we hadn’t eaten anything for hours..) when 2 guys we had already met at the reception came in. They introduced themselves. They were both from Poland but one of them was half Polish and half Scottish while the other one was half Polish and half Italian with an incredible strong accent from Rome!
Anyway, they were really nice and we started talking and drank some more beer.. I was really shocked how fast the half-Scottish guy could drink his beer! It was like water to him!!!! He just shouted “down the hatch” and drank his 0,5 l beer at once!! I can do it with “schnapps” because it’s not much, but I think I would throw up if I would do it with beer!!!! And I actually saw a couple of friends of mine getting “sick”…
We ran out of money… when they paid a round, than another one, another one… we struggled, drank it and just said goodnight to the crazy Polish guys.. here’s a picture of us..









On the following day waking up wasn’t that hard.. Czech beer doesn’t damage you too much…
As we were staying on a hill, it was really amazing watching downtown from above! Down to a small alley and to our great disappointment there were so many tourists that we couldn’t even go! We tried to go to the fortress-castle where the “golden alley” is situated but there, if possible, it was even worse! We decided to leave it and we didn’t dare to go back! We just went down to the river and went for a long stroll there.
The following day started with a huge fight. The good atmosphere was spoiled till we left the centre looking for a cheap place to eat at midday. We walked for 15 minutes and we found a nice restaurant, typical Czech, where building workers would eat. Anyway we got a goulash, a fish (carp is a typical Prague’s dish), 2 beers and side dishes for 9 euros!!! I was pretty impressed!

On Tuesday we visited the miniature museum, some other spots downtown and at night we crowned our drinking and eating weekend by eating a pork knee! I had never eaten so much meat at once!! And we ordered potatoes too!! I was full to bursting point! We drank a slibowitz, smoked a cigarette and it got better… better till some guys next to us started paying becherovka-rounds!! It was again a Pole (he was there with his 8-year old son who could speak perfect English as he attends an American school somewhere in Poland), a Czech guy and both of us (Italian, Austrian). The match between Chelsea and Liverpool was about to end when we started drinking. By the time we drank the 4th Becherovka, they had played 2 overtimes and penalties.. we stood up and headed to the door, when the Czech guy just fell down “SPLAT” on the floor. His nose was bleeding and I felt it was my duty top tell the young kid that he shouldn’t take that guy as an example as alcohol can be very dangerous and can even kill you. In such situations I always feel like I have to behave like a mother!!
Anyway, we got to our dormitory around 12 pm, pretty drunk and knowing that about 5 hours later we would have had to get up! At 5 am we got up, went to the bus station, took the subway and got to the station where our train would have left Prague at 6.07 am. We sat down and I didn’t even notice that the train left the station…I was already sneering!!!!

It was a nice and fun trip! Anytime again!! (maybe next time to Budapest or Warsaw!!)