The participants had dressed up with "traditional" costumes and had made lots of preparations. The event finished with presentation of the book "Christmas and Bayram with Inter-cool-ture" which included all the facts sent by the partner schools and collected by the Bulgarian team. 
Last week we drew some Christmas cards and we sent you by ordinary mail. They are a picture of our most important monument in San Lorenzo. They are coming!!
For Christmas our teachers, Alessandra and Fiorenza, wrap some presents for every child in the class.
The mistletoe and the holly are evergreen, symbol of fertility and life: we kiss under the mistletoe to wish a happy wedding.
In the past in Bulgaria the newly married woman in the family had to get the whole dinner ready. She had to get up early, before daybreak. The preparation of the dishes (all vegetarian) took almost a whole day. The woman used to begin with preparing the ritual round loaf of bread, being decorated with different elements made of dough symbolizing all the living creatures in that house. So each one could get to know something about himself. The traditional leek pastry was prepared with cornel buds as fortunes indicating health, wealth and fertility. It was known in advance what each one of the fortunes was intended for. A white beans meal with many seasonings, sauerkraut leaves and peppers stuffed with rice were prepared too, all cooked with oil as people fasted until Christmas Day. The custom required the preparation of stewed dried fruits. Some juice of them was mixed with a little ground garlic. Everyone in the family tasted a teaspoon of it with the wish for good health throughout the year coming. The other members of the family had to clean the house thoroughly, the yard and all buildings used by them. After all was put in order and ready, everyone prepared himself for the Christmas Eve itself putting on their new clothes, while the young people trimmed the Christmas tree. The eldest one in the family brought some straw into the house and on the tablecloth, there were placed the dishes, this symbolizing the Nativity. On this day the whole family gathers, eat on straw and get off the table in the same time. The dishes are left on the table for the night. It is believed that the dead relatives will come to dine too.
Christmas is undoubtedly one of the biggest celebrations of the Portuguese calendar. Currently, due to globalization, the Portuguese Christmas begins to be influenced by other cultures, especially by American films, one of the facts is the replacement of the Child Jesus by Father Christmas to deliver gifts. However, this does not mean that the Portuguese Christmas traditions have disappeared! On December 24, Christmas Eve, at night in certain parts of the country (especially in the north) takes place a Christmas dinner (called consoada), we serve cod, turkey or octopus, it depends on the region. Also at the end of supper, there is the midnight mass at midnight, although this mass is now falling into disuse. On the 25th, a banquet with meat several improved in some areas of the country in 25 days lunch is served the traditional “Roupa Velha” (old clothes), made from the remains of the supper of the day before. In some areas we burn the “Madeiro” (stump) of Christmas, particularly in churchyards, around which we sing traditional Portuguese songs.
Christmas Markets
Our religious bayram (festival) is about helping eachother and sharing. its name is Kurban Bayramı in Turkish. the people who have enough money make the animals (like cow , sheep) cut and they share the meat to the people who haven't got money.and in most of the houses the meats are cooked and are eaten.and also the people meet eachother (relatives, neighbours and friends), the younger people visit the older people ,they give presents eachother , they give candy and money to the children , the children kisses hands of their older relatives,and the people eat sweets especially baklava and şekerpare all together.
Marta and Alessandra, the teachers, and their students of the classes III A of the primary school of San Lorenzo in Campo -Italy and the 4th class of the primary school in Girona, have started to exchange postcards, letters and messages.
There are so many customs, beliefs, superstitions, traditions and magic related to Christmas in Slovenia that they would barely fit into a thick book. Christmas is the most popular religious and family holiday, its celebration having a long tradition. Slovenians are still keen makers of Christmas decorations. Archaic decorations include the marking of "god's corner" and the hanging of green wreaths (made of evergreens, box tree, ivy and mistletoe), branches or paper wreaths from ceilings or walls. Crafted doves hang from the ceiling to represent the Holy Ghost, as well as crowns and "chandeliers" made of paper and straw. Later, the hugely popular nativity scenes appeared. In Ljubljana and elsewhere, exhibitions of the most beautiful nativity scenes are staged each year. In the Postojna Caves, one of the most famous karst caves in the world, we have a live nativity scene accompanied by baroque music.Not only are Christmas decorations - and naturally the Christmas tree -characteristic of Christmas in Slovenia, food is very important too. Pigs are typically slaughtered before Christmas, so pork dishes are often on the table. There are also special Christmas breads and pies, with many different fillings, forms and names. One cannot but mention the most typical of Slovenian dishes, the potica. This nut roll can be sweet or salty, round with a hole in the middle like in the old days, or a single long roll. There are over 50 different types of classical potica, but people's imagination has increased their number so there are currently about 110 kinds of potica. The Christmas and New Year’s holiday season is a time that everyone awaits with special joy: children, because of the presents they expect to receive, and because they know they will not have to go to school for at least a week; adults, because they know they will bring people joy with their gifts, for giving is indeed a rewarding experience.
La fune, The Rope - الحبل 
On the web there's a short film, about intercolture, that could be interesting. Everybody could use it in a very easy way because it's without any text!
NASRETTİN HOCA
