My Blog (Eugene Ward)

Why El Peru? One question I always ask is why it is the Repubica del Peru and not Republica de Peru.  The name Peru  Garcilaso de la Vega (1539-1616) was one of the first historians to tackle the etymology of “Peru”. Garcilaso, commonly known as “El Inca,” was the son of a Spanish conquistador and an Inca noblewoman. His  Comentarios Reales de los Incas , published in 1609, remains one of the most important contemporary accounts of the Incas and the Spanish Conquest. In the first volume of his Comentarios, Garcilaso offers one of the first answers as to why Peru is calledt “Peru”. According to “El Inca,” a group of Spanish explorers landed on the Pacific coast somewhere south of the equator, where they encountered a native fisherman at the mouth of a river. With no interpreter at hand, the Spaniards tried to ask the fisherman his name and the name of the land on which they now stood. The native replied that his name was Berú and that the place where he stood was Pelú...

Mothering Sunday is the fourth Sunday of Lent. Traditionally, it was a day when children, mainly daughters, who had gone to work as domestic servants were given a day off to visit their mother and family. Centuries ago it was considered important for people to return to their home or 'mother' church once a year. So each year in the middle of Lent, everyone would visit their 'mother' church - the main church or cathedral of the area. Inevitably the return to the 'mother' church became an occasion for family reunions when children who were working away returned home. As the centuries passed the day evolved into the Mother's Day in the UK and Ireland that we know today Happy Mother's Day to all mothers. .

People regularly say it and it is true, football has definitely gone to the dogs. Seeing the world's most famous current football with a man waging an illegal war on the people of Iran, is grotesque to say the least. Of course, winning Ametican.sports teams being invited to the Oval Office is nothing new, but ironically only the American Women''s Ice Hockey team had the balls to say no. Messi is regularly compared to Maradona, but I have no doubt Diego would have rejected the invitation to visit the President of the United States.Maradona's principed stand on issies of the time such as South Africa, Palestine and Cuba is in stark contrast to the money driven footballers of today. WORLD CUP BOYCOTTS There is talk of Iran boycotting the World Cup and Iraq will have difficulties getting to the play-off at the end of March. There has been rumours online about Spain threatening a  boycott ( 1 ) but nothing is official as yet.  Writing on March 6th I defintely thi...