Worldly Wednesday: Family

There are two ways to go with this. 1) You can study the family structure in other cultures (arranged marriages, extended families living together, etc) or 2) You can study the culture of your heritage. We are going to focus on our heritage. Both my husband and I are first-generation American on our mothers sides. My mom was born in England and immigrated as a child. My husband's mother was born in Mexico and sold as a child to a Mexican-American woman.

England

-Flag is often called "Union Jack"
-Capital: London
-located in Europe
-part of Great Britain with Scotland and Wales and the United Kingdom which consists of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
-England is a constitutional monarchy, currently Queen Elizabeth is Head of State (laws are made and passed by Parliament though); other prominent royalty are Prince Charles and his sons Princes William and Henry (learn more about the Royal Family here)
-We will read a small bit of Shakespeare and listen to some Beatles music
-soccer is a very popular sport in England, but it is called football there
-One day this week we will prepare a traditional English Sunday dinner consisting of Roast Beef, Yorkshire Pudding, roasted potatoes, gravy, and rutabaga (a squash)
-Famous landmarks and other sights of interest include:
Stonehenge






Big Ben (shown with a double decker bus)









Buckingham Palace







a palace guard









Mexico

-located south of the United States, in North America
-Capital: Mexico City
-Current President is Felipe Calderon
-Spanish is the most common language spoken in Mexico
-native civilazations of Mayans and Aztecs were located in Mexico
-Aztec Pyramid of the Sun can still be visited today








-Several examples of Mayan architecture can also still be visited today







-We will try our hand at making flour tortillas from scratch this week and will serve them with menudo (a Mexican soup).