My Review on the Portugese Culture

Portugal is a small western country in Europe. The country of Portugal original settlers were the Celtics, but got invaded by the Moors. From this the Celtics fought back to gain their land back trying to hold unto their land. This outbreak lasted hundreds of years. It wasn’t until 1139 that the Kingdom of Portugal was formed. After Portugal became a nation, it started to build itself into an empire and establish colonies. Fast forward to January 1st 1986 when Portugal joined the Economic Community also known as the EU. From this Portugal was able to better their country with the funds given to them, I was intrigued by Portuguese culture because there artitecture is beautiful. All the random colors of all the building is so pretty and come together to make a great view.

I was also drawn in by all their interesting cuisine. I don't really know much about Portugal, but they have a lot of history and culture all around the country. They also have tons of music festivals They have a lot of old castle around Portugal to also keep the history alive there. Changes that have impacted Portugal in the past 50 years was their goal to use more eco friendly sources. There electricity will come from renewable sources. Using eco friendly sources such as land-based wind power has decrease energy consumption. Marriages in Portugal have also taken a plunge. Portuguese marriage rates are steadily declining. Women are more independent and living single

Obstacles still stand in the way for women becoming fully equal to men within the labor market. Portuguese people predominant race is white European. The most predominant religion in Portugal is Catholicism. The language spoken in Portugal is Portuguese. There are no strict dating and marriage customs in Portugal. Gender roles in Portugal is for the most part pretty equal. The men have respect for women, although in the professional field, women, are expected to work harder to get respected as a leader. The largest festivities in the country take place during the entire month of June.

One of the well know festival is, São João Festival in Porto which is in sum entire center of Porto comes together with music concerts, food stands, and drinks. FIESA Sand Festival in Algarve, is sand sculptures festival brings skilled artists to build sand sculptures and people to come view them afterwards. . There is also dance and acting performances and live music surrounding the artist while they work. Popular music choice in Portugal is classical and folk music. Portuguese people also love folk dance. Folk dances are developed by people that reflect the life of the people of a certain group or region. Some other popular dances in Portugal is Fandango and Two Step Waltz. Portuguese cuisine has many Mediterranean influences. Portuguese cuisine is famous for seafood. To add on all Portuguese foods are packed with flavor and spices. Some famous Portuguese cuisines is Cozido A Portuguesa. This is a famous Portuguese stew. This stew includes a wide variety of meat cuts, vegetable and beans.

Another traditional dish is Caldo Verde. Caldo Verde is a simple soup with just kale, onions, olive oil and garlic, but pacts a lot of flavor which make it a top for traditional dish. Something that was a culture shock for me from Portuguese culture was how much time they spend for lunches. Portuguese lunches last over two hours. It is served between 12:00 and ends at 3:00. People from this culture like to savor the food and time with family, so they have this big time block to eat lunch. Another feature of this culture that came as a shock to me was this culture has a lot of festivals. They have them anytime of day, but majority are at night The festival are for all ages and very family oriented.