SIXTH ASSIGNMENT

MARDI GRAS 

http://news.travel.aol.com/best-of/what-is-mardi-gras/

 Translated from the French, Mardi Gras means "Fat Tuesday." In short, it's the last day before the traditional Catholic Lenten fasting season leading up to Easter Sunday. For those cities that celebrate it – most famously New Orleans, Louisiana – Mardi Gras means feasts, multiple parades, elaborate costumes and parties. Though the celebration is defined by religious parameters, its roots stretch back to before Christianity.

What is Mardi Gras? Origin
Some scholars trace Mardi Gras' roots to the ancient Roman Lupercalia festival, which was held in mid-February. Like many other pagan holidays, early Church leaders incorporated elements of the celebration into the new faith rather than risk alienating converted followers. As Catholicism spread across Europe, so did the Mardi Gras celebration.

What is Mardi Gras? Coming to America
By the Middle Ages, Mardi Gras, or "Carnival," had become a major holiday in France, and early French explorers brought the tradition to the New World when establishing settlements in their explorations of the Mississippi River. With its strong French roots, New Orleans naturally evolved into one of the premier Mardi Gras destinations in the world.

What is Mardi Gras? Religious roots
In many cities and countries around the world, the Mardi Gras season starts well before Fat Tuesday. Traditionally, it kicks off on the Epiphany, twelve days after Christmas on January 6, also known as Twelfth Night or Three Kings Day, celebrating the arrival of the three wise men and their gifts to the baby Jesus. The season ends promptly at midnight on Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, a season of fasting and abstinence leading to Easter Sunday. Some Christian sects measure the Lenten season differently, but most mark it for 40 days.

What is Mardi Gras? Eating a calf
The name "Fat Tuesday" comes from the tradition of eating a slaughtered calf on the final day of Carnival. These days, though, that definition has expanded to include feasting on pretty much any rich fatty food.

What is Mardi Gras? Around the world
Mardi Gras or Carnival is celebrated in many cities around the world besides New Orleans, including Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Nice, France; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. But many small towns and municipalities celebrate Mardi Gras as well, including the tiny community of Rubonia, Florida. The Universal Studios Florida theme park also throws a Mardi Gras celebration on weeknights from February to April, featuring parades and concerts by national acts.

FASCHING

What is Fasching?

I'm sure you've heard of the Mardi Gras in New Orleans. It's been celebrated for centuries and is known world wide. However, many people still do not understand what Fasching is in Germany.

Fasching is Germany's carnival season. It starts on the 11th day of November at exactly 11minutes after 11am and ends at the stroke of midnight on Shroud Tuesday - often referred to as Fat Tuesday (the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday). Fasching is more or less a Roman Catholic and Christian Orthodox celebration and most Protestant and non-Christian areas do not celebrate it.

Fasching (also known as Karneval) is a time of festivity and merry making - a time to break the rules, poke fun at those who make them and then to make your own new rules.

In Germany, particularly in the Rhineland area, the tradition can be traced to medieval times where many countries existed under harsh rules. Kings, princes and even smaller potentates maintained their own courts. In doing so, they flaunted before each other their own pomp and splendor at the expense of their population.

During karneval time, the common people took a chance at 'living it up" and "talking back to their rulers". They would make a mock government of eleven people, as well as other officials. A price and princess were selected to rule the country during the Fasching season. Political authorities, high placed persons and sovereigns were the target of ridicule, and featured in humorous and satirical speeches. To avoid persecution and punishment, these antics were played out from behind masks and costumes. Parades, dancing in the streets, masquerade balls and comical skits filled the days and nights.

Karneval festivities have become annual events around the world. Also known as Fasching, Carnival and Mardi Gras, the most famous are located in the following places:

• Köln, Germany
• Nice, France
• Trinidad
• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• New Orleans, Louisianna

Although Carnival in Rio is probably the craziest of all, Germany is undoubtedly the most enthusiastic Karneval center in Europe.

Nearly every town has its own festivities and it is celebrated in homes across the country with the same enthusiasm in which we celebrate Halloween. The Karnevals vary from area to area, but nomatter where the celebrations are held, there is fun, happiness, laughter and a certain nostalgia. 

OBON    http://gojapan.about.com/cs/japanesefestivals/a/obonfestival.htm

Obon is one of the most important Japanese traditions. People believe that their ancestors' spirits come back to their homes to be reunited with their family during Obon and pray for the spirits. For the reason, Obon is an important family gathering time, and many people return to their hometowns.

Obon was originally celebrated around the 15th day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar. Obon periods are nowadays different in various regions of Japan. In most regions, Obon is celebrated around August 15th, and it typically begins 13th and ends 16th of August. In some areas in Tokyo, Obon is celebrated around July 15th, and it is still celebrated on the 15th day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar in many areas in Okinawa.

Japanese people clean their houses and place a variety of food offerings such as vegetables and fruits to the spirits of ancestors in front of a butsudan (Buddhist altar). Chochin lanterns and arrangements of flower are usually placed by the butsudan.

On the first day of Obon, chochin lanterns are lit inside houses, and people go to their family's grave to call their ancestors' spirits back home. It's called mukae-bon. In some regions, fires called mukae-bi are lit at the entrances of houses to guide the spirits. On the last day, people bring the ancestor's spirits back to the grave, hanging chochin painted with the family crest to guide the spirits. It's called okuri-bon. In some regions, fires called okuri-bi are lit at entrances of houses to send the ancestors' spirits. During Obon, the smell of senko (Japanese incense sticks) fills Japanese houses and cemeteries.

Toro Nagashi (floating lanterns) is a tradition often observed during Obon. People send off their ancestors' spirits with the lanterns, lit by a candle inside and floated down a river to the ocean. Also, Bon Odori (folk dance) is widely practiced on Obon nights. Styles of dance vary from area to area, but usually Japanese taiko drums keep the rhythms. People go to their neighborhood Bon Odori held at parks, gardens, shrines, or temples, wearing yukata (summer kimono) and dance around a yagura stage. Anyone can participate in Bon Odori, so join the circle and imitate what others are doing.
Top Obon Events in Japan

Obon is not a Japanese national holiday, but many people take vacations during this time so that they can visit their hometowns. Especially, mid August is the peak travel season like Golden Week in Japan. Airports, train stations, and highways are jammed with travelers.

INTI RAYMI

Before the colonial Spaniards banned the ceremonial events occurring each Winter Solstice in Cuzco, the native residents gathered to honor the Sun God, sacrifice an animal to ensure good crops and to pay homage to the Inca, as the first born Son of the Sun.
The ceremonies took place at the winter solstice, when the sun is farthest from the earth. Fearing the lack of sun and ensuing famine, the ancient Incas gathered in Cuzco to honor the Sun God and plead for his return. The celebrants fasted for days before the event, refrained from physical pleasures and presented gifts to the Inca, who in return put on a lavish banquet of meat, corn bread, chicha and coca tea as they prepared to sacrifice llamas to ensure good crops and fertile fields.
In 1572, Viceroy Toledo banned Inti Raymi celebrations as pagan and contrary to the Catholic faith. Following the edict, the ceremonies went underground.
Today, it's the second largest festival in South America. Hundreds of thousands of people converge on Cuzco from other parts of the nation, South America and the world for a week long celebration marking the beginning of a new year, the Inti Raymi, the Festival of the Sun.
Every day has its events, from daytime expositions, street fairs, and people milling and dancing in the streets. In the evenings, live music from the best of Peruvian musical groups draws the crowds to the Plaza de Armas for free concerts. During the preceding year, in preparation for Inti Raymi, hundreds of actors are chosen to represent historical figures. Being selected to portray the Sapa Inca or his wife, Mama Occla, is a great honor.
The centerpiece of the festival is the all-day celebrations on June 24, the actual day of Inti Raymi. On this day, the ceremonial events begin with an invocation by the Sapa Inca in the Qorikancha, also spelled Koricancha (pictured) square in front of the Santo Domingo church, built over the ancient Temple of the Sun. Here, the Sapa Inca calls on the blessings from the sun. Following the oration, Sapa Inca is carried on a golden throne, a replica of the original which weighed about 60 kilos, in a procession to the ancient fortress of Sacsayhuamán, in the hills above Cuzco. With the Sapa Inca come the high priests, garbed in ceremonial robes, then officials of the court, nobles and others, all elaborately costumed according to their rank, with silver and gold ornaments.
They walk along flower-bedecked streets, to music and prayers and dancing. Women sweep the streets to clear them of evil spirits. At Sacsayhuamán , where huge crowds await the arrival of the procession, Sapa Inca climbs to the sacred altar where all can see him.
Once all the celebrants are in place in the grand square of the fortress, there are speeches by Sapa Inca, the priests and representatives of the Suyos: the Snake for the world below, the Puma for life on earth, and the Condor for the upper world of the gods.
A white llama is sacrificed (now in a very realistic stage act) and the high priest holds aloft the bloody heart in honor of Pachamama. This is done to ensure the fertility of the earth which in combination with light and warmth from the sun provides a bountiful crop. The priests read the blood stains to see the future for the Inca.
As the sun begins to set, stacks of straw are set on fire and the celebrants dance around them to honor Tawantinsuty or the Empire of the Four Wind Directions. In ancient times, no fire was allowed that day until the evening fires.
The ceremony of Inti Raymi ends with a procession back to Cuzco. Sapa Inca and Mama Occla are carried on their thrones, the high priests and representatives of the Supas pronounce blessings on the people. Once again, a new year has begun.
June 24 is also celebrated throughout Peru as Indians Day or Peasants Day.

Things to know:

Inti Raymi is an all-day event, with at least five hours spent at Sacsayhuamán. Entry to the fortress is free, and rental chairs are available from booths around the main square. There are also food and drink vendors. There are no guard rails on the ruins and every year people are injured in falls. If you want a reserved seat, they are available with tickets bought in advance.

Lodgings are booked far in advance for the festival week. Hotels and restaurants do a booming business. While you are there, it may be difficult to get an unobstructed view of the Inca method of building using stones and no mortar, but buy a visitor ticket which is valid for ten days and gets you into fourteen important sites in Cuzco.
Tell us about your experiences! What not to miss, what to avoid and how to manage the crowds. 

SONGKRAN

Of all the feasts and festivals in Thailand, which are many, the Songkran Festival is the most striking, for it is widely observed not only in this country but also in Burma, Cambodia and the Lao State.
Songkran is a Sanskrit word in Thai form which means the entry of the sun into any sign of the Zodiac. But the Songkran in this particular instance is when the sun enters the sign of Aries or the Ram. Its full name is Maha Songkran or Major Songkran to distinguish it from the other ones. But the people call it simply the Songkran for it is the only one they know and in which they take interest. It is their traditional New Year when they can enjoy their holidays to the full with no economic hindrance. Songkran is a fixable feast on the solar calender. It begins on the 13th April and ends on the 15th April, but occasionally in certain years on the 16th April. The Songkran is in fact the celebration of the vernal equinox similar to those of the Indian Holi Festival, the Chinese Ching Ming, and the Christian Festival of Easter. The beginning of spring when the sun crosses the equator is now on the 21st of March which is due to the precession of the equinox. The Songkran Festival is in a certain sense like April Fool's Day, when the maids of the village play pranks on any gallant who happens to pass by their way. He will be caught and bound by the united strength of the maids and they will daub him with blacking.
Information from: "Essays on Cultural Thailand" by Office of the National Culture Commission.

ELLA ENCHANTED

ella enchanted is a great movie for the teenagers. Well, i think movie like this is one of the movie for the teenagersbut this movie doesn't have the subtitle. 18 years and above can watch this movie.

if our child want watch the 18 years and above movie, parents must be there too because maybe have a scene like something not good for children brains.

here i also post the Ella Enchanted Movie.

SUMMARY- THE LUCKY NUMBER IS....

     (= fourth assignment =)

         Pythagoras believe that certain numbers and their multiples had mystical power. People have given importance to number and develop superstitions about them. Many of these superstitions have been passed on throughthe generations and still exist today.
          Many of the superstitions surrounding numbers have a basis in science and nature. A seventh child was thought to have special gifts. Human life was divide into seven ages. Every seventh year was believed to bring great change. if the person's date of birth could be divided by seven, that person's life would be lucky. Three was a lucky number because it symbolized birth, life, and death. Some people still believe that adream repeated three times comes true.
         The number 13 be almost universally considered unlucky number.