19 million euros: "Fado" (continued)

Today's DN of Funchal includes a 4-line news item regarding this week's EuroMillion lottery. This week's calculations: 19.5 million euros were wagered in Portugal on this week's lottery; the highest winning in Portugal was one third-place ticket paying 92,563.82 euros. Let's be generous and say that there were others who won lower-paying prizes (I honestly don't know how many levels of prizes there are), and that 100,000 euros came back "home". Final score: Portugal loses this round to the EuroMillion Lottery by 19.4 million euros...IN ONE WEEK!

As the late Illinois senator Everett Dirksen once said: "A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money." Can anyone (including a country, especially a small, "poor" country like Portugal) continue to throw away 20 million euros every week without getting into "real money"?

"Fado" -- Part 3

This thread of posts started a couple of days ago, and once again there's a brief item in the Diário de Notícias of Funchal that gives a bit of insight into the way Portuguese feel. We could call it their "soul".

(Parenthetical notes)
Yesterday, thanks to one of the blogs I follow, My Little Russia, I came across a website called Big Russian Soul (BRS) that has a quiz you can take to see how much you really understand the Russian soul. I failed miserably, of course, having never lived in the Russian culture. Now, if the quiz were about Portuguese (and Madeirans, in particular) I believe we could pass with flying colors.

While on the subject of Russia, I am planning to post some links for those of you who are interested in Russia or Ukraine. So watch for that in coming days.


Now, back to our regular programming....

Here is my quick translation of today's article, which talks about Europe's multi-national, multi-million euro lottery (my comments in italics):


Two Euros a Week on EuroMillion

Two euros ($2.50) is how much a Portuguese spends on average on the EuroMillion lottery every week. (Population of Portugal= approx. 10,000,000 ) In July a succession of jackpots led Portuguese to bet about 1.8% of their available income on the game. The figures were calculated by the Jornal de Negócios.

The Portuguese lead Europe in the amount of money bet on the EuroMillion lottery. Between October and the end of July, they spent more than 671 million euros.

Half of this amount was retained for operating expenses of the lottery and the other half was distributed by chance.

Calculations show that almost 336 million euros left the country. Prize winnings returned less than 297 million. In other words, the net result is a loss. Portugal has a EuroMillion deficit of 39 million euros (approx. $47 million).

The trend is the same in all the nine countries that participate in the contest. Ireland is the only exception. Thanks to the last jackpot, it achieved a positive balance. (At the beginning of the month, an Irish woman won a €115.6 million jackpot. The DN reported that over €1,000,000 were bet that week in Madeira alone by people hoping to win the big one.)

With Portuguese demonstrating the lowest level of satisfaction with their lives in relation to citizens of other European countries (see previous posts), it's understandable that they would be the heaviest bettors. But the numbers show that gambling only makes the poor poorer still.

"Fado".

A God-fearing atheist?

The NYTimes Aug. 24 article on the fallout from Pat Roberson's call for Chavez's assassination includes this statement:

Yesterday, Mr. Chávez was visiting Mr. Castro in Havana, and shrugged off Mr. Robertson's comments. But Mr. Castro said of the Robertson remark, "I think only God can punish crimes of such magnitude."

I don't know anything about Fidel Castro's personal beliefs, but I have to assume that he, as a staunch defender of the Communist Party's political ideals, would claim to be atheist. Curious comment on his part, to say the least.

"Fado" -- Part 2

Today's edition of Diário de Notícias do Funchal, the main daily of the island, runs the following article: (Summary/Translation)

"Portuguese Are Depressed"

The Institute of Pharmacy and Medicine released a study in June showing that Portugal is one of the countries with the highest use of benzodiazepine (sedatives, basically--EP) in Europe, and concluded that the most widely sold subgroup of therapeutic medicines in Portugal in 2003/2004 was psychopharmaceutical drugs, with antidepressants in first place....(representing) half of the money spent on psychopharmaceutical drugs....their use increasing by 14.3% in 2004.

See previous post from yesterday.

There's a reason for "fado" after all

Fado is the most well-known traditional Portuguese form of music. The word itself means "fate" or "destiny", and by the mournful tunes and words of their signature music, you can tell that Portuguese, deep down, have the feeling that fate is against them. The fado singers dress in black, which only adds to the somber atmosphere.

I thought I would leave you with a few quotations regarding Portugal in general. You perhaps have seen on the international news that once again, Portugal is on fire. Over three thousand firefighters are involved and over a thousand vehicles and aircraft, including some from other countries are trying to save towns and villages. That piece of news only adds to the negative mood expressed in the headline in this morning's local paper:

"Portugal is the country with the lowest index of happiness among the 15 countries that were part of the European Union before the recent expansion." The text explains: Eurobarometer conducted a survey and one of the questions was, "QA3. On the whole, are you very satisfied, fairly satisfied, not satisfied or not at all satisfied with the life that you lead?" Portugal appears in last place with an average of 2.52% (who were satisfied), while the Danish had the highest level.


Here are some quotes taken directly from the English version of the study:


1.1. Personal satisfaction
- Slight increase in personal satisfaction -
The level of satisfaction of European citizens with the life that they lead has increased
by 2 points since last autumn. As was the case at the end of 2004, their state of mind
is positive and the vast majority of European Union citizens are satisfied on the whole with the life that they lead (80%).

Pessimism regarding the economic situation and employment seems to be particularly strong in Portugal, Greece and Cyprus, while expectations in Ireland, Estonia and Lithuania are comparatively stronger than in the rest of the Member States.

....

The democratic systems in Northern Europe are the least criticised, notably in
Denmark (92% rate of satisfaction, i.e. 39 points more than the average), Luxembourg
(82%) and Finland (77%). Conversely, a majority of respondents in Italy and Portugal are dissatisfied with the way democracy works in their country (55%). (Emphasis in passages mine)



What a difference! 80% of Europeans are satisfied with their lives...and only 2.52% of the Portuguese are. What does that tell us about the spiritual needs of the Portuguese?

Sudoku and theology

Maybe you've never tried to work a sudoku puzzle. A couple of months ago I had never even heard of one. As I left the office the last day before our trip to Ukraine, one of the ladies in the office handed me a piece of paper and briefly explained the object of the game and told me it would be something to do on the flight. It was still a few weeks after our return that I saw an article about the puzzle, explaining it in more detail, and began to grasp the logic of it. Then the local paper began to publish a sudoku puzzle every day along with the crossword, and I discovered that USA Today also publishes a daily sudoku. Now I was hooked.

(If you don't know what a sudoku is, check out this link, so you'll get the point I'm about to make.)

I realized immediately that the puzzle is eminently logical, and from the first one I tried, I set about to develop a system for solving it. After working a few, most of which were classified as "easy", I knew how long it ought to take me to complete one. I considered any length of time over "x" minutes as a defeat. I made improvements to my method of attack. This game is a cinch, I told myself.

Then one day, as I was finishing up an "easy" sudoku, the numbers weren't coming out right. I was finding two 7's in the same row; there was no place to fit in a 4. It was impossible to figure out where the initial error was. I knew what had happened: by entering just one wrong number, which obviously fit in the space when I wrote it there, I had set in motion a chain of logic that sooner or later would give an incoherent answer. I found that I could work all but the last row or section with relative ease, but I could not fit the right numbers in at the end. The only solution was to start completely over, but use more care in choosing the numbers I wrote down. My initial "method of attack" proved to be inadequate, for I found there were three or four different puzzles that I failed on the first attempt. Having learned from that, I adapted my approach to correct the "loopholes" in the method.

A couple of things emerged from this experience: 1) To solve the problems, I had to go back to the very beginning and be sure I was starting with the "given" numbers. I had to redo every number I had written in. I had to call in question my reasoning at every point. 2) All it took was one misstep to throw everything else askew. My subsequent logic was solid, but because it was based on a false premise, it led me solidly astray.

After 40 years in the ministry, I see clear parallels in the field of theology (or philosophy, or religion, or any other term we use to describe our world view). When we come to the realization that our beliefs are forcing us to put two 7's in the same row, or we can't find a place to insert a 4 that obviously has to be dealt with, we can tear up the puzzle and blame the author for not giving us the proper numbers to start with (I was tempted to do that with one of the puzzles); we can pretend we have the correct answers and the inconsistencies are not important; or we can go back to square one, in which case we have to re-establish the "given"---the basic, fundamental premises we will not surrender---then work from there.

Personally, I couldn't tear up my puzzle. Life is...the world is... Personally, I don't believe anyone can truthfully claim to have all the answers and be 100% coherent in applying them to the world around us, but some of the inconsistencies I saw were so glaring I could not ignore them. Theologically, I tried going back to square one. But for a number of years, I kept coming up with wrong answers. I may have made advances in one area (I no longer had two 7's in the same row), but it was still not right (probably had two 3's, and I still couldn't insert the 4). Obviously, I had not retreated far enough to reach square one, so at least one of my initial premises was faulty, and needed replacing.

As with all illustrations, one mustn't stretch this one further than necessary. A sudoku puzzle has an answer that can be immediately checked, even if it takes several days to solve it. As for life, we'll be trying to fill in the empty blanks of our understanding of the world until our very last breath, unless of course, we decide to tear up the puzzle and blame the author for giving us insufficient data, or we give up trying to resolve any of the remaining problems we come across.

I purpose, by the grace of God, to continue working on the puzzle.

Out Jogging --- Excercises of Another Sort -3

Thoughts running through a mind jogged by the news

This posting (and others similarly titled) is not directly related to Madeira or our work here. It is rather an outlet for commentary on events and remarks in the news. Previous posting in this series was on July 4.

I have sort of intended this heading to be for comments on news in general that is not directly related to our work here in Madeira. Perhaps I could create a subcategory:

OVERHEARD WHILE WALKING DOWN THE STREET


"Eu cá tenho medo de morrer." The two young women were walking along the street and at the exact moment our paths crossed, those words spoken by one of them came out clear as a bell, in spite of the noise of the city traffic. Oftentimes we hear only the beginning of a phrase or the end of one in such circumstances, but this time the timing was perfect. I heard only these words...nothing that preceded them, nothing that was said in response: "I, for one, am afraid of dying." One wonders what occasioned that statement.

It was only 5 minutes later, as I was walking along another of the city streets that I overheard the following words (or something very close to them) by one of two older women who had just bumped into each other: "Não se vai morrer hoje." ("We won't be dying today.") I seem to remember that there's a local superstition that if you accidentally run into an acquaintance twice in a day, you won't die that day. Apparently the two ladies had already had a similar encounter earlier.

I thought it strange that within a matter of minutes I would have overheard two snippets of conversation related to death, albeit quite different in their emotional content. While it's probably true of everyone who reads this that "we won't be dying this day", it is obvious that one day we will be dying. Will we be free of fear when the time comes? That's one of the reasons Jesus came: "that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Hebrews 2:14-15

On turning 39

When I announced Sunday morning that I had turned 39 last Friday, nobody, not even the visitors in services, believed me. I could tell by the look of incredulity on their faces. Then I explained that on Friday I turned 39 as a husband...

We never seem to understand where the time has gone when we see our children getting older, then our grandchildren growing. But time passes and we can only seek to use each day given us to the best advantage. But now that the subject of marriage has come up, I thought I would share some photos of weddings we've participated in over the last year.

This past Sunday, in fact, we had the first wedding ceremony in our new church building. Abbie and Jackie worked hard getting the flower arrangements fixed for Nelio and Rita's wedding. Nelio was baptized in December 2001, and in the past year he has moved to England, where he is working. The newlyweds will be returning to England in about a month.

Back in April, we attended the wedding of Blanchard and Rosa. (Left) Leaving the church. (Right) At the reception. They are originally from Angola, but have been living in the Lisbon area for many years. They got married in the Third Baptist Church of Lisbon, where they are members. Blanchard's company sent him to Madeira last year to work for several months, and this year he has returned to the island. He may be with us for several more months yet. Rosa is working and studying on the mainland. Blanchard is a member of musical groups in the church in Lisbon, and he's a welcome addition to our small choir. Two weeks ago in services we sang a song he taught us in Kikongo, his native language.

The wedding reception was marked by Angolan food, music, and traditions, and we are glad we were invited to be a part of it.
















The bride and groom were led into the reception hall by two lines of dancers.


It was a party for the little girls, too.


Finally, and AT LONG LAST, here is a family picture taken at Joy and Mark's wedding a year ago. I guess by now they're an old married couple, and I might as well put a couple of pictures from their visit here in June, shortly before their first anniversary. One is a night view of Funchal taken at a reception on board a ferry. The four of us were a little more informal on our outing to the top of the island. The peak is close to 6000 feet in altitude.





















Since I'm posting some pictures from their visit, I mustn't leave out Rick, Margaret and the grandkids, who were here a couple of weeks ago. It all adds up to evidence that 39 years of marriage is not so far out of the question after all.




In these pictures you can see that it was a little cooler when we went up to the same peak with Rick's family. One of the things that most impressed the grandkids was seeing bananas growing on the trees.



With all this posting about the passing of time, and about kids and grandkids, it's most appropriate that today is my mother's 89th birthday. Happy birthday, Mom!

A word to the faithful...

There went another week! As I mentioned last time, we had some ship traffic coming through Madeira that required my attention for several days, and what time was left over didn't allow me to work on the blog. I have pictures to sort through, besides finishing the report of our trip to Ukraine, but enough "urgent!" translation work has been coming in to keep me away from that project.

We got news that Rick and his family returned home safely. They were in the air over Toronto at the very time the Air France flight crashed! This week, we found out that Joy was stopped at a traffic intersection, and a semi cut his turn through the intersection too short and ran over the front of her car with the rear wheel of the trailer. Fortunately she was not injured (she is doing some check-ups and chiropractic exams to make sure there was no whiplash damage to her neck), and we can only thank God for His protection.

Thanks again for stopping by the blog. I have some ideas about other features I would like to add, but some of them require experimenting with the html code.

If you've been checking in...

I apologize for not posting at least a line every now and then. I did say on the eve of Rick and family's arrival that I didn't expect to be posting frequently for the following week. And I didn't!

We got a phone call last night saying that they had arrived home safely. The 10 days they spent here were a real joy to us, especially as we got to know the grandkids better.

They left Monday, but since then I've had to wear my other hat quite a bit. Two Coast Guard ships are in port this week, the USCG Cutter Bear, which leaves tomorrow just as the USCG Barque Eagle arrives for a weekend stay. There's an official reception on board the Eagle tomorrow evening, so all of this together has meant a lot of time in contact with local officials and the embassy in Lisbon.

I will not pretend that it was entirely impossible to get off a line or two over the past week or so, but I don't find it difficult justifying my lack of communication! :-)

I do expect to finish posting the account of the Ukraine trip in the next few days, plus some recent photos from here. Thanks for your patience.