Category: Portuguese

Colonialism is a practice of domination which involves a powerful nation extending it powers to another country (Kohn, Margaret and Reddy, Kavita, 2017). This is considered a form of globalisation as in order to dominate one country it requires the powerful nation to sustain an economy in the country that they are taking control of. In order to do so, the powerful nation has to acquire the countries natural resources and materials so that they are able to trade with other countries in an effort to compete in the international economy of the time.

Very little was known about Brazil prior to colonisation by the Portuguese in 1500. Due to the semi-nomadic lifestyle of the indigenous tribes, there were no permanent structures and no physical written records. In 1500, Portuguese explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral disembarked in Brazil with 1200 others. Their initial intention was to go to South Africa however, they found themselves in Brazil.

The coast of today’s Brazil was initially disregarded by the Portuguese royalty, however the discovery of the deep red dye that can be made from Brazilwood started to attract the attention of other European nations, leading Portugal to set up their first permanent settlement, São Vicente in 1532.

The Portuguese also brought with them Christianity and European diseases. Their attempts to set up missions and convert the people was met with strong resistance, however with multiple settlements soon built, they pushed the Indigenous coastal tribes towards the West. This was made easier by the epidemics of diseases including smallpox, that wiped out most of the Indigenous population (Crosby, 1972). Such a dramatic drop in population meant the Europeans could spread throughout Brazil with far less resistance however, they also lost a possible slave workforce, which led them to introduce slaves from Africa.

Although the Portuguese colonised Brazil in 1500, it took them approximately half a decade for them to establish an economy. African slaves were brought into Brazil during 1530. Slaves were brought to Bahia which is where sugar plantations initially rose to prominence. However, in the 1690s gold became the main commodity in Brazil as the price of sugar declined. This was due to the Dutch’s involvement in the production of sugar in the Caribbean. This would eventually lead to the downfall of the Portuguese economy in Brazil.

Overall, colonialism has impacted the indigenous community immensely. Not only did the Portuguese expand sugar cane plantations into the Indigenous territory, they also brought with them diseases that decimated the population.

For this reason, there is a need for continuous research in this field, across different cultures, industries and situations. COO needs to be examined on a product-by-product basis, once an overall generalizable theory for all products and all countries may not be feasible. Furthermore, it is critical to acknowledge that COO image is volatile, and a newly liberalized society might exert different results compared to past research. (Insch & McBride, 2002). All these motives unleashed the need to address the Portuguese consumers purchase intentions regarding their preferences only, for national food products.

The impact that globalization has had on the Portuguese industry is undeniable, opening doors for greater imports of foreign products. According to INE (The Portuguese Statistics National Institute) from the 1990s to the present day, the volume of imports of foreign products has increased at a compound annual growth rate of 5.4%, registering only three periods of time when imports decreased (from 2001 to 2003, from 2008 to 2009 and from 2011 to 2012). The trend in the food industry is similar to that of the whole industry, considering that the compound annual growth rate was 5.6%, and the weight of food imports on the total was always in-between 11% to 16% during the above years.

From a study on the Portuguese consumption habits of Portuguese-origin products, elaborated in 2018, important conclusions can be drawn about the importance that Portuguese consumers place on products of Portuguese origin, the importance of engaging in such a behavior and the categories of such products that the Portuguese buy most. According to the study, there is a significant importance placed by Portuguese consumers on Portuguese products, given that 72.2% either always try to buy Portuguese products or just for some type of products (36.9% and 35.3% respectively). Reportedly, 68.8% of participants consider it important or very important the consumption of Portuguese products and 85.1% are satisfied or very satisfied with the Portuguese products they buy. When asked about the categories of Portuguese-origin products that the Portuguese buy the most, the five top results are within the food industry – fruits and vegetables (89.8%), bread and pastries (85.4%), olive oil (83.6%), dairy products (71.4%), and fish, meat and meat products ( 67.8%) – showcasing the preponderance that the Portuguese food industry has over the preference of Portuguese consumers (Moreira & Vale, 2018).

In line with the previous findings, a big question is raised: Do Portuguese people prefer to buy domestic food over international options? Furtherly, how far do their purchase intentions go? And, under what circumstances? And, finally, what is causing their preference?

Aiming to answer these previous questions, this study settles to better understand what is driving Portuguese consumers to have a preference for domestic products. Is this related to the fact that they are patriotic in general? Does it have to do with ethnocentrism? Or it is just because they perceive the country’s image is seen highly by Portuguese people?

The current investigation also approaches the fact that consumers are exposed to an abundance of cognitively demanding situations in every daily life. People talk when driving, think while watching TV, go shopping with nagging children. Because product evaluations are likely to be formed when participants are under different time constraint, it is important to explore how variations in levels of time constraint affect purchase decisions (Chang, 2004), particularly the COO effect.

As it is further analyzed, limited time or capacity for processing information that is relevant to the decision problem (e.g. time pressure) often leads to overweighting some relevant variables at the expense of others (Kosh et al., 2011), for instance COO as a product attribute.

1.2 Problem Statement

In Portugal there is an old popular saying: “O que é Nacional é bom!”, meaning “What is national is good!”. This research aims to explore to what extent Portuguese people prefer to buy domestic food items and what are the main reasons leveraging this choice.

1. Research Question 1: Do Portuguese consumers always prefer domestic food products over foreign alternatives or simply when they are stereotypically better?
2. Research Question 2: Do Portuguese people prefer domestic food products because, for them, Portugal has a better COO image?
3. Research Question 3: Is their preference for domestic food products related with the fact that they’re patriotic?
4. Research Question 4: Are Portuguese consumers going to resort more to COO as a heuristic cue if they claim to have higher time constraints while shopping?

Chapter 2: Literature Review

This chapter intends to do a critical review on previous research that is relevant to this field of study. The following theoretical exposure will showcase the importance of this topic and lead towards the understanding of the research questions undertaken.

2.1 Understanding of the COO

There has been a growing importance about the importance of COO issues. With the rise of globalization and international business, people are having ongoing access and exposure to international products from all over the world (Bilkey, 1993). Thus, the COO phenomenon has been emerging alongside the international markets’ complexity and dynamics.

“COO means the country that a manufacturer’s product or brand is associated with”, also known as “the home country” (Saeed, 1994). Subsequently, the study of COO effects seeks to understand how consumers perceive and evaluate products originated from a certain country (Romeo & Ross, 1992; Chang, 2004). Previous studies have shown that COO affects consumers’ perceptions of quality and purchase intent (Baugh & Yaprak, 1993), others have also demonstrated a difference in product-specific effects (Japanese cars vs. Japanese designer dresses), which will be addressed later.

COO can also exert different effects, such as perceptions, cross-culturally (different nationalities meaning sometimes, different opinions), (Incsh & Mac bride, 2002). Overall, it’s pivotal to acknowledge that beliefs germane to evaluation of product quality, a product’s individual attributes and behavioral intention diverge significantly by country of origin. (Agrawaal & Kamakura, 1999).

2.1.1 COO image

COO image was, firstly, approached by Nagashima in 1970 who defines it as a picture, reputation or stereotype that a consumer has towards a product from a specific country. This image has multidimensional factors. Simplifying, it represents the conscience for product quality from a specific country (Bilkey & Nes, 1982; Han, 1989).

Consumers have a perception about a product from a particular country based on their previous perceptions about a country’s production and marketing strengths or weaknesses. Hence, COO image plays a major role when assessing certain products. (Romeo & Ross, 1993).

As stated by Listiana (2015), COO image can be divided into two levels, General and Specific COO image. General COO Image illustrates a macro context, encompassing several variables like economy, politics, historical events, relation with other countries, tradition, industrialization level and technology advancement (Zeugner at al., 2008). Likewise, Specific COO image represents a micro context, where one’s judgement is based on the capability of a country producing a certain product category (Pecothich & Rosenthal 2001).

This last statement is in accordance with Roth and Romeo’s (1992), Product-Country Image approach. This concept focuses on the general perception of product’s quality from a certain country. For example, consumers tend to think highly about Columbian coffee, Swiss watches, US appliances, Japanese electronics and German cars. Consequently, in many product categories, the COO image is the main actor in decision-making (Kotabe & Helson, 2011).

COO image is also a powerful tool that can be used to gain competitive advantage and enhance brand equity (Parameswaran & Pisharodi, 2013; Listiana, 2015). For instance, when a COO image is negative, marketers may want to downplay this information whereas if positive they may highlight it (Incsh & Mac Bride, 2002). Pricing may also change according to COO image, firms originating in countries with better product–country image should be able to charge premium prices and discount prices should be applied in the opposite situation.

Besides, country of origin image is not static, in fact it’s quite volatile (Nagashima, 1970; Papadopoulos et al., 1987). To illustrate, in the 1950s Japan was associated with cheap and fake products, yet from the 90s onwards the country’s image has changed into a country of high-quality products (Pappu et al., 2007; Yassin et al., 2007).

In brief, COO affects the judgement of perceived quality and has significant influence on a consumer’s preference level. Moreover, it affects their information search intention, purchase intention and post-purchase behavior (loyalty), (Lin & Chen, 2006).

2.1.2 COO as a Bias

After addressing COO image it’s critical to determine whether “these perceptions” are valid or if they’re merely a stereotype and bias on consumers’ minds.

According to several authors such as Chao (1993), COO can be a stereotypical bias that affects perceived quality ratings. Agrawaal and Kamakura (1999) took it a step further inferring that assessment of quality for products originating from different countries might be based on factual information, such as their own experiences or information obtained through consumers’ own knowledge. Despite this, it can’t be also disregarded that COO can be also a perceptual bias.

The central question is whether observed perceptual differences in product quality associated with COO are due to some halo effect indicating cognitive bias or due to actual differences in objective quality. The answer is both! The halo effect is the possibility that the evaluation of a product, under some bias, interferes with the judgment on other important factors, creating a sound impact on the final result. More specifically, suggests that consumers use COO image to make conclusions about product attributes, affecting the attitude towards the product in general. As Shapiro (1982) noted, consumers feel the need to use COO image in product evaluation because they’re usually unable to detect the true quality of a country’s products before purchase. Awareness of the halo effect, however, does not make it easy to avoid its influence on consumers’ decisions (Rasmussen, 2008).

Deshpandé, (2010) calls the COO bias “the Provenance Paradox” explaining that countries that are not perceived to be good in one product struggle to make their way and rise up in the market. For instance, chocolate El Rey is a Venezuelan company that produces some of the best cacao beans in the world bought by prestigious chocolate houses in Switzerland and Belgium. Consumers have been accustomed to believing that great chocolate comes from Europe, not South America, although Venezuela produces the world’s best cacao. Thus, it’s not considered a legitimate source of great chocolate and consumers perceive it to lacking authenticity.

“Made in Brazil”, also, implies high-quality coffee but not high-quality aircraft. It’s a hurdle for companies to overcome this, sometimes, taking decades to change consumers judgements. This bias engraved in consumers’ minds is a true Marketing and Branding challenge.

2.2 An overview on Heuristics

Information processing time and ability are lim¬ited, therefore humans often use mental shortcuts or rules of thumb. This is the reason why simplifying heuristics are so appealing, (Arkes, 1991). According to Gigerenzer and Gaissmaier (2011) “A heuristic is a strategy that ignores part of the information, with the goal of making decisions more quickly, frugally, and/or accurately than more complex methods.” Subsequently, extra effort required to use a more sophisticated strategy is seen as a burden by individuals.

The heuristic–systematic model assumes that people are cognitive misers (Maheswaran & Chaiken, 1991). People avoid elaborative processing unless they are motivated and have the cognitive ability to engage in it. In situations in which individuals are not motivated to elaborate on messages methodically, they rely on heuristic cues to develop their attitudes, whereas, under conditions in which individuals are motivated to develop accurate judgments, systematic processing will prevail (Chaiken & Eagly, 1983). When a heuristic mode of processing is adopted, message perceivers exert relatively less cognitive effort whereas, if a systematic mode of processing is adopted, message perceivers exert a considerable amount of cognitive effort.

This model proposes that heuristic and systematic processing can co-occur and generate interactive effects on judgments (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993). In a real-life context there are several situations in which people are more prone to using simplifying strategies. Those occasions in which product information is ambiguous and uncertainty is high, prevailing cues lead consumers to make inferences about the quality of the product, resulting in an overall biased evaluation of the advertised product, when product information is clearer, thus unambiguous the opposite effect takes place.

Despite prominent claims stating the contrary, the human mind is not worse than rational, may often be better than rational (Cosmides & Tooby 1994). In fact, heuristics can be beneficial for the decision-maker. Psychologists have identified decision rules that produce “less-is- more” effects (Lee, 2010; Smithson, 2010). That is, heuristics that save effort and promote efficiency can also improve predictive accuracy (Brighton & Gigerenzer, 2012). Nevertheless, heuristics can also bias the decision-making process by decreasing accuracy, but they are able to yield reductions in time and effort that justify their use.

2.2.1 COO as a Heuristic Cue

In their attempt to conserve cognitive capacity, consumers are known to adopt simplifying heuristic cues as the decision-making environment becomes more complex (Bettman, 1979). As reported by Liefeld (1993), there are two types of product cues: intrinsic, part of the physical composition of the product; and extrinsic, in other way related to the product, such as price or COO. COO has been found to be an important extrinsic cue (Klein et al., 1998), especially when buyers have less familiarity with the products (Han & Terpstra, 1988). Thus, consumers might use COO as a summary construct representing their knowledge about a product’s quality from different countries (Han, 1989).

COO is used to eliminate brands and develop an evoked set, saving consumers from extensive evaluation of intrinsic attributes (Agrawal & Kamakura, 1999). When experience or knowledge about a product is limited, consumers will call upon COO cues in order to evaluate products (Maheswaran, 1994). Greater product knowledge usually means additional and stronger cues into the decision process, which reduces the strength of COO cues. Heslop et al., (1987), also noted that as purchase frequency increases, the consumer’s ability to form judgments is enhanced, hence the consumer will not rely as much on COO cues.

The COO effect on product evaluation is smaller for multi-cue studies than for single cue studies, since the COO cue becomes less salient (Verlegh & Steenkamp, 1999). In a real consumer decision-making environment, consumers are likely to be exposed to additional information and access to multiple cues such as the product by itself, brand name, price, nutritional facts etc. In these situations, the impact of one single cue such as COO may diminish significantly (Peterson & Jolibert,1995).

Recalling the heuristic–systematic model framework, COO beliefs learned through past experiences can serve as heuristic decision rules when individuals are not motivated to process product information, but not when individuals are motivated to do so.

Heuristic cues become more salient or vivid in certain message contexts and, therefore, are more likely to exert significant effects. For example, when messages are ambiguous, heuristic cues may become relatively more salient and vivid, encouraging individuals to engage in heuristic processing, as opposed to unambiguous messages (Chang, 2004).

Prior to 1975, there had been a constant abuse of power within the countries of Angola and Mozambique by an Imperial power forcing its will on indigenous peoples living within the territory. Portugal was the colonial power ruling over these two countries since the early 16th century; along with their asserted power they chose to neglect the health and well-being of their colonized peoples. The Portuguese chose to neglect their colonized people for a number of underlying factors. The main factor for Portugal withholding healthcare assistance to these colonies was money; the point of imperializing a country was to improve the economy back home while profiting off free labor and new resources. The other factor was racism and a belief of superiority; Portuguese colonial powers deemed their colonial subjects to be less than them and figured their health was not as important as turning a pure profit. Once the wars for liberation began to take place, nationalist parties within Angola and Mozambique ensued a time of infrastructure buildup and saw about the creation of medical centers and health wards for colonized people. Yet, these medical centers were in distant locations which brought about an obstacle for people in need. The healthcare in Luso-Africa, specifically in Angola and Mozambique, has been a troubling matter dating back to its colonial roots tied to the Portuguese Empire. Portuguese rule in these countries greatly repressed the growth of healthcare for its colonized peoples through systematic racism and a misappropriation of colonial funds. Despite nationalists struggles during the war for liberation to create healthcare programs within Angola and Mozambique that were far more inclusive than programs offered by the Portuguese government; the programs have been severely affected by the turbulent era of state-building following the process of decolonization in Luso-Africa.

To understand post-colonial public health services, one must first analyze the healthcare infrastructure, or lack thereof, left behind by the Portuguese after liberation was achieved. A principal reason for the Portuguese empire to limit, in both quality and quantity, healthcare programs within their colonies deals with the ideology of racial hierarchy. The notion that the color of one’s skin, or proximity to western lifestyle, is relative to the civility of said person instigated a shared mindset amongst many European colonizers that led to innumerable acts of epistemic violence. Leading up to 1890 the Portuguese colonies were primarily controlled by indigenous leaders; it was not until the conference of Berlin that Portugal was pressured into an intensified occupation of their African colonies.[footnoteRef:1] …. Prior to the fundamental establishment of schools and hospitals dedicated to ‘tropical medicine’, ill colonial subjects were often overlooked and were left to use traditional remedies such as the use of medicinal plants to quell the symptoms of diseases like malaria.[footnoteRef:2] Within the early years of Portugal’s intense colonization of Angola and Mozambique, the focus of medical treatment, and their facilities, was centered [image: https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/V0015560.jpg/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg]upon the European colonizers. An accurate portrayal of colonial focus on the health of colonizers is depicted by F.C. Dickenson and E. Watts; in their collaborative painting Dickenson and Watts depict four scenes revolving around the first European hospital in Beira, Mozambique, created for the English during the Boer War in 1899.[footnoteRef:3] This painting, although representative of an English hospital, gives a subtle first-hand look at the underlying systematic racism within Mozambique as one can note the African characters laboriously working while the European characters are enjoying themselves within this euro-centric society. This method of focusing healthcare resources on the European population would aptly continue well into the 1920s. [1: The emergence of tropical medicine in Portugal: The School of Tropical Medicine and the Colonial Hospital of Lisbon (1902-1935). 303-304] [2: A review of antimalarial plants used in traditional medicine in communities in Portuguese-Speaking countries: Brazil, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe and Angola. 144 & 153] [3: F.C. Dickinson and E. Watts, Boer War: four scenes from the first English hospital in Beira, Mozambique, (1899).]

Within Angola, healthcare initiatives would not be shifted to acknowledge colonial subjects until the late 1920s when a dramatic population decline was observed. Officials within the colony began to note a steep decline in the native (labor) population between 1920 and 1927 and accredited the roughly estimated 2 million deaths to endemic diseases of the times such as sleeping sickness and smallpox.[footnoteRef:4] In reaction to the health-related population crises during this time, in Angola , the Portuguese colonial government opted to raise “poll” and “hut” taxes in order to fund a mediocre infrastructure project narrowly focused on bettering healthcare provision for indigenous people.[footnoteRef:5] Other than the establishment of the African Health Care Program (AMI) created mainly to curtail endemic diseases amongst the indigenous population[footnoteRef:6]; Portuguese colonial rule did relatively little in curbing inequalities of healthcare for their colonial subjects because they focused efforts on building tertiary hospitals in urban centers that tended to the ruling class.[footnoteRef:7] Despite the diminishing effects that a lack of concentrated public health services had on the colonial subjugated population, the Portuguese Empire promoted the colonies of Angola and Mozambique as exemplary states with prospect for African hope. As described in a guide to Mozambique published by the Portuguese Empire in the years just prior to the liberation wars, “Certainly medical and hospital care in both Angola and Mozambique bears favorable comparison with neighboring African territories…these services are the finest in tropical Africa.”[footnoteRef:8] Although the Portuguese did in fact provide a relatively decent healthcare system in comparison to surrounding colonies owned by competing colonial powers, the longevity of the healthcare infrastructure did not hold up against the needs for the liberation . [4: Tensions of Colonial Demography. Depopulation Anxieties and Population Statistics in Interwar Angola. 475] [5: Havik. Policies & Revenue in Portuguese Africa, 1900-1960. 193] [6: Tensions of Colonial Demography. Depopulation Anxieties and Population Statistics in Interwar Angola .476] [7: Enrico Pavigani and Alessandro Colombo, “Providing health services in countries disrupted by civil wars: a comparative analysis of Mozambique and Angola 1975–2000”. World 11. Health Organization, Department of Emergency and Humanitarian Action, (2001). 47] [8: Mozambique guide ]

Throughout the duration of the liberation wars – starting respectively for Angola in 1961 and for Mozambique in 1964 – the nationalist parties leading the fight for liberation sought to create a medical infrastructure of their own to provide for both war and civilian efforts. Yet, the mass emigration of Portuguese medical professionals, cadres, and settlers left both Angola and Mozambique to practically start the process of state-building from the ground up.[footnoteRef:9] Leaders within the MPLA (People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola) and FRELIMO (Mozambique Liberation Front) alike sought to create relations with outside nations in order to build up humanitarian aid, military, and infrastructure. [9: Enrico Pavigani and Alessandro Colombo, “Providing health services in countries disrupted by civil wars: a comparative analysis of Mozambique and Angola 1975–2000”. World 11. Health Organization, Department of Emergency and Humanitarian Action, (2001). 47]

Angola received an immense amount of medical and military support from communist Cuba, led at the time by Fidel Castro. Such support aided to Angola by Cuba entailed: civilian medical teams, state of the art Cuban hospitals in over ninety percent of Angolan provinces, and mass medical training systems.[footnoteRef:10] In his book, Southern Africa Stands Up, Wilfred Burchett claims, “By the end of 1976, Cuba was training some 6,500 Angolans – 500 of them in Cuba, the rest in Angola — to become doctors, engineers…”[footnoteRef:11] Such healthcare advancements brought the indigenous population of Angola out of the social inequalities surrounding them, for the moment being. Concurrently, FRELIMO merely depended on communist nations such as China, the USSR, and Cuba for militaristic struggles against the Portuguese.[footnoteRef:12] Albeit the war for liberation was necessary in the hearts and minds of most Angolans and Mozambicans, the absence of the colonial powerhouse created a near void in the power and control of both countries by a sovereign polity. This brought about rival anti-colonial insurgent groups such as UNITA in Angola and RENAMO in Mozambique; ensuing an all-out civil war in both countries torn apart by the political climate of the Cold War. America and its communist enemies swooped down on both of the weak nationalist party rivalries in Angola and Mozambique following the ousting of the Portuguese in 1975.[footnoteRef:13]The civil wars fought within these countries would oversee the shifting of healthcare systems to their worst state since colonial times. [10: Wilfred G. Burchett, Southern Africa Stands Up: The Revolutions in Angola, Mozambique,Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa. (New York: Urizon Books, 1978), 93 – 94. ] [11: Ibid. ] [12: Wilford, Southern Africa Stands Up. 53] [13: Wilford, Southern Africa Stands Up]

Although much was attained during the fight for liberation, the ensuing civil war created by the power vacuum left behind by the Portuguese Empire and heavily instigated by the Cold War actively destroyed accomplishments and set a substantial number of obstacles for future health care systems. Both the war for liberation and the civil wars fought between the MPLA and UNITO in Angola and between FRELIMO and RENAMO in Mozambique relied heavily upon on the use of landmines for the dual purpose of greater number of casualties and cost-effectiveness.[footnoteRef:14] In his essay on the geography of landmines within the African continent, Joseph Oppong states, “Angola and Mozambique are excellent examples of how landmines were deployed to degrade the environment, making them an environmental and health problem.”[footnoteRef:15] Despite physically destroying cites of civilian medical centers, RENAMO and UNITO systematically mined paths leading to medical centers, schools, markets, and fields.[footnoteRef:16] The stipulations caused by heavily mining any given area go beyond war time efforts and civilian casualties; landmines reconstruct the geography and limit the extent of medical progress reachable to outer-lying communities.[footnoteRef:17] [14: Oppong and Kalipeni, ‘The Geography of Landmines and Implications for Health and Disease in Africa,” 8. ] [15: Oppong and Kalipeni, ‘The Geography of Landmines and Implications for Health and Disease in Africa,” 11. ] [16: Ibid 11. ] [17: ?]

As soon as landmines are planted into the ground whole regions become untouchable and impediments are put on the expansion of public health initiatives and infrastructure; mines cannot be easily rounded up and disposed of because of they are hidden and extremely sensitive. The trickling effects caused by accidental discharge of mines set off by civilians during and after the civil war are seemingly endless. As the civil war in Angola came to an end, eighty thousand people were reported as amputees with a sizeable amount of that demographic under the age of fifteen.[footnoteRef:18] Increasing the chances of succumbing to mine-related injuries, a report published a few years before the end of the Angolan Civil War showed that there was an estimated 20 million landmines within Angola alone.[footnoteRef:19] Medical work pertaining to landmine victims is strenuous on the amount of humanitarian resources, medical professionals, and society. The average victim of a landmine explosion requires a multitude of surgical procedures and blood transfusions to sustain life; the number of blood transfusions facilitates the possible spread of deadly diseases such as malaria, syphilis, and HIV.[footnoteRef:20] [18: oppong 12] [19: ibid 11. ] [20: ibid. 5]

The scattered placement of landmines throughout Angola and Mozambique also had the abysmal consequence of creating a famine brought about by a forced agricultural decline. Within areas containing ideal farming situations e.g., fertile soil and good rains, civilians avoided farming in the likelihood of possibly stepping on a landmine.[footnoteRef:21] Oppong goes on to state, “landmines have a more insidious effect than drought and environmental disasters-and able-bodied people starve, despite an abundance of fertile soil.”[footnoteRef:22] This quote echoes an accurate representation of the ramifications landmines have on a region and its people. [21: ibid 17. ] [22: Oppong and Kalipeni, ‘The Geography of Landmines and Implications for Health and Disease in Africa,” 4. ]

Another complication brought about by the civil wars in Angola and Mozambique was the systematic destruction of public health systems during the years of liberation. Within Mozambique, RENAMO sought to kill and kidnap healthcare professionals in order to weaken the healthcare systems established by FRELIMO, to a point of incapacitation.[footnoteRef:23] This faction of the civil wars – coupled with famine and the rise of deadly illnesses brought on by a growing number of landmine victims– allowed for diseases and death to run rampant within both of the countries, and transformed the hopeful health and political situation into bludgeoned mess. Within Angola specifically, the second wave of war from 1992 till 1994 severely diminished the capacities of the healthcare systems provided by the supporting communist countries.[footnoteRef:24] The intense destruction of both Angolan and Mozambican nationalist healthcare progresses brought about a societal inequality produced in terms of subtle racial hierarchy. This accounts for a cause in the harboring mindset amongst people in ‘first-world’ countries with regards to the state of health for Africans. The harboring mindset within most ‘first-world’ people is one of pity as it is often portrayed within media that all people of Africa are in despair and reliant upon ‘our’ help. Although there are regions within Angola and Mozambique that are still reliant upon foreign aid, there is a vast number of thriving countries within Africa that do not mirror the pitiful images permeating the mind of ‘first-world’ people. Recent efforts made by Mozambique and Angola have aimed to reconfigure the common notions preemptive on the idea of health within said countries. [23: Pavgini and Colombo, “Providing health services in countries disrupted by civil Wars”, 10. ] [24: Ibid. ]

Within nearly three decades, Mozambique has turned itself from an impoverished, aid-dependent entity into a country that has endlessly worked to witness substantial growth in healthcare goals and initiatives.[footnoteRef:25] Despite being heavily reliant on international aid for the first twenty years following the end of civil war, health initiatives in Mozambique saw about decreasing the infant mortality rate and the number of deaths in women occurring at childbirth.[footnoteRef:26] A case study done by the Developmental Progress Organization on the number of deaths between child-bearing women and infants observed over a 14 year period resulted in a notable, fifty percent decline for deaths amongst infants and a forty-six percent decline in maternal mortality.[footnoteRef:27] The relatively high numbers in the decline of death amongst two different demographics is representative of a successful healthcare program fixed on fully recovering years lost in the wars fought for independence and political autonomy. [25: Romina Rodriguez Pose., J. Engel, et al,. ‘Against the odds: Mozambique’s gains in primary health care.’ London: Overseas Development Institute (2014).] [26: Ibid. 9. ] [27: Ibid. 9 & 11. ]

Unfortunately in the case of Angola, a prolonged civil war and an exceedingly high volume of landmines have caused progressions within public health initiatives to be prolonged. The number of landmine related injuries appear at the forefront in recent post-war attempts to revert the healthcare system in Angola into a healthy one. During the first two years following the end of the Angolan Civil War, NGOs reported the clearance of nearly three million square meters of land, and destruction of more than eighteen thousand unexploded weapons left behind from the war. Coupling these effective efforts with preliminary healthcare measures will produce a much-warranted advancement in the progression of healthcare initiatives.

Before the 1960’s, the Portuguese Colonial rule had imposed such a major hindrance on the expansion of healthcare for African people living in the colonies through systematic racism and a purposeful misrepresentation of the colony abroad. While the war for liberation warranted a new means for the healthcare systems within the countries of Angola and Mozambique, the limitations imposed by a subsequent Civil War quelled any progression from that point forward. Yet, the progress that was created through the war for liberation could not be ill-regarded either; for it was the fight for freedom that pushed for and built a more modern understanding in the necessary healthcare focused on the lives of indigenous people. Although medical systems within Angola and Mozambique are not the most advanced in the world, or Africa for that matter, they are steadily recovering from a major debilitating era of repression by political rivals brought about by the long-lasting effects of Portuguese Colonialism.

Portuguese (Portuguese Timekeeping) is one of the most popular watches in the world and is familiar to all players. But what you may not know is that the IWC has been launched for more than 20 years. Although today, all the countries in the series have introduced new and new styles, but the country has never changed, it is one of the most worthwhile watches in the world. There is no change in the big reason worth buying.

IWC

IWC was launched in 1998.

The Portuguese series is the most profound series in the history of the country. In 1939, the country launched the Portuguese series. According to legend, in 1939, two Portuguese businessmen found the nations and hoped that the nations would create a high-precision nautical watch for them. Therefore, the country produced a watch with a steel shell, large size, easy to read, and a manual pocket watch movement (Wan Guo 74 movement). This is the birth of the Portuguese series. History stories, you can find out.

The Portuguese in the 1950s

In 1998, IWC launched the Portuguese Chronograph, which is familiar to everyone today. In fact, it was earlier than the Portuguese program to check the needles. In 1995, the country was out of the country. However, the Portuguese version of the needle is too complicated, the market is small, and the country has subsequently issued a regular automatic chronograph. From 1998 to today, the appearance of the Portuguese meter has remained unchanged and is very rare.

Portugal has not changed since its birth.

Nowadays, the famous watches and cars are very fast. Each brand has changed very quickly. In a few years, it has changed its face, and the old models have been discontinued and a new generation has been launched. Players familiar with the nations should know that a few years ago, the country implemented a series of guidelines every year. I remember very clearly, the 2013 update engineer, the 2014 update marine timepiece, 2015 Portugal, 2016 pilot, 2017 Da Vinci. Every time the update is changed, the watch changes a lot. For example, Mark 17 to Mark 18, the new Ocean Timepiece, Da Vinci, and engineers, the appearance has changed compared to the previous generation. Later, the nations may realize that watches are not fashionable and fast-selling. They should remain classic and should not change frequently. So you can see that in the past two years, all the nations have introduced new styles based on the classic models, maintaining the classic style.

The most popular gold and blue needles on the market

For more than 20 years, the appearance of the watch has not changed, and in the environment where all watches have changed, it has become the most famous and most iconic watch in the country.

Portuguese is a very good watch

The high value of the face has always been a big advantage for the country. The design of 20 years ago, one step in place, does not require any modification, and this table fully demonstrates the design level of the country.

The size of the Portuguese meter is 40.9 mm and the thickness is 12.6 mm. The size of 40.9 mm is very moderate, and the country has grasped the trend of the big watch 20 years ago, and the design is very clever. The size of 40.9 mm is medium in size in today’s men’s watch, but in order to make the watch visually large, the Portuguese meter uses a very narrow bezel, and some even say that the watch is simply ‘no’ bezel. In this way, the proportion of the disk surface of the Portuguese meter is very large, and the size of the watch is visually increased. At the same time, the thickness of the meter is 12.6 mm. As a self-winding chronograph, 12.6 mm, not thick. With a moderate size of 40.9 mm, the size of the case is very good.

The bezel of the country is very narrow

In the case treatment, the Portuguese meter is polished on the edge of the bezel, the lugs and the bottom of the case, and the middle section of the case is brushed in a large area. From the handling of the watch, you can see that both luxury and certain pragmatism (large area drawing can cover small scratches).

The high value of the Portuguese model is because the level of the disk design is high. In the three major chronographs of the country, the Portuguese, the fly, and the cymbal, the balance of the Portuguese is the most balanced and harmonious. In fact, everyone knows that the movements used in Portugal, Feiji and Baiji are the same (essentially 7750), and the position of the movement timing plate has been modified. Both the fly meter and the cyber meter are 3-eye chronographs, plus a weekly calendar. The Portuguese meter is a 2-eye counter, the 30-minute timer is at 12 o’clock, and the small second’s disc is at 6 o’clock. It is symmetrical up and down, without any cumbersomeness (there is a disc-shaped decoration in the binocular chronograph disc). And at 3 o’clock, IWC’s LOGO is written. At 9 o’clock, there is an English automatic timing, and the disc is flat and stable. They are all completely symmetrical.

The disk of the country is very symmetrical and harmonious.

There are several types of Portuguese dials, including gold, blue and silver needles, while the dial has white, black and blue discs. The most famous of them are the gold and blue needles. Both the disk time scale and the small dot scale are three-dimensional (except for the 150th anniversary edition). With the slender willow pointer, you can notice that the end of the minute hand is curved downwards and has a retro character. In addition, there is a lap scale on the edge of the disc surface, which adds a little sense of movement to the Portuguese meter.

IWC

In terms of the movement, the Portuguese uses the 79350 movement, which is the 7750 improved by the United States. For the general movement or the self-produced movement, I personally have not always cared. Because of the use of a general movement, I have bought a lot of countries including 2892 and 7750. Whether it is the Mark Fly meter or the cypress, the movement is very reliable and accurate and can reach the level of the observatory. This Portuguese meter is stable for 1 second every day and is very satisfied. On the contrary, recently, a watch that is famous for its self-produced movements, after buying it, found that it was very bad when it went. It was much slower every day. It could be slow for more than 10 seconds. After wearing it for a few days, the watch was obviously slow and very much. The official warranty (not labor, Europe, labor and Europe has always been relatively accurate). Compared with the general movement or the self-produced movement, I value reliability and precision. Some brands of self-produced movements can not rely on, it is better to use a general movement.

The 79240 movement (above) and the current 79350 movement (below) used by IWC before 2007. It’s just that the rhodium plating process is different.

The current 79350 calibre, 31 jewel bearings, and 44 hours of power. Before 2007, the Portuguese used the 79240 calibre. In fact, the 79350 and 79240 were both 7750, but the current 79350 splint is rhodium-plated.

The Portuguese meter is a solid bottom cover.

In the past two years, IWC began to replace the self-produced movement on the entry model, using the 69000 series self-produced chronograph movement to replace the 79900 series universal movement. But at present, the largest version of the conventional version of the Portuguese, Baiji, Feifei, still use the 79900 series movement. The self-produced 69000 series movements are now only used in the 150th Anniversary Edition, some pilot branch series, and engineer timing. Buying a Portuguese meter, including the regular version of the Feiji, Baiji, now don’t care too much about the movement, because the conventional version has not changed the movement.

Some special versions of the Portuguese version, in which the green disk above is a custom prototype table.

The public price of the Wanguo steel shell is 54800. This public price is also at the regular price of mainstream watches, but like Cartier, you should note that the world is now better controlled globally. I was very impressed. Last year, after the United States tightened the discount, the market for Portugal was also rising all the way. Coupled with the relatively large demand, Portugal has always been a popular watch in the country. Of course, the three countries are the most famous watches for daily wear. The public price of Feifei and Baiji is lower. You can choose one according to the actual price.

Remembers going on educational field trips such as the zoo, museum, and aquarium. He said that the prep school he went to in the U.S. had the same types of field trips as the other school did in Brazil. Antonio also said that there weren’t any athletic teams that could compete because he was in elementary school. He did play on the “soccer team,” but the team just played against each other. He remembers there being an art club and a book club that he remembers some of his friends joining. After-school clubs are also a huge part of elementary schools in the U.S. because they help kids make friends and learn important communication skills. Antonio said that clubs help students feel like they belong while also giving them responsibility. The goals of clubs and extra-curricular are the same in the U.S. and in Brazil, to have fun and be a part of something.

Discipline and Classroom Management

Antonio said that discipline in Brazil is the same as it is in the United States. Corporal punishment was not used, instead they scolded. They had time outs just like in the U.S.; he recalled a story of when him and his friends got in trouble. He they had to sit at their desks in class instead of going out for recess and had to watch everyone play outside. Antonio said that schools and teachers weren’t necessarily stricter than those in America, but they expected more. He felt like the teachers at his school in Brazil put more trust in their students than school in the U.S. He said that there was in school and out of school suspension at his school. When a student misbehaved, students could also get detention or suspension and a phone call to the parents. If it wasn’t anything serious, they wouldn’t call the parents, they would just be lectured and then sent back to class.

Teacher-Student-Parent Relationship

Antonio said that at his school in Brazil, teachers are very much respected and praised by parents and students for their hard work, dedication, and sacrifices. He said that teachers were very open and friendly with students and concerned about their well-being. Students in the classroom always made sure they were on task and listening to the teacher. He said that parents are expected to enforce academics and teach their children ethics. Antonio remembers there being a PTA and that parents were always ready to help the school and their children succeed. He recalls his mother and teacher communicating frequently about his progress in school. He noticed that when he came to the U.S., the teachers don’t communicate with the parents unless their child is in trouble or gets a bad grade. He believes that both students and parents have a better relationship with the teachers in Brazil than in the U.S. In the United States, students don’t feel like they have a responsibility to learn or that they owe the teacher anything. In addition, teachers often aren’t seen as professionals. A known saying in the U.S. is, “those who can’t do, teach” which is inferring that teaching is an easy and worthless task. This belief that a lot of Americans have is the reason why they aren’t respected fully but parents and students.

Language

It is important to note that European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese are slightly different. The difference is mostly in the accent, Brazilian Portuguese people speak with exaggerated pronunciation of vowels while European Portuguese people don’t. There are also some words with the same meaning that are different, but other than that they are both quite similar. If a European Portuguese speaker and a Brazilian Portuguese speaker were trying to communicate with each other, they could easily do so. The English alphabet has 26 letters and the Portuguese alphabet has 23 letters. The three letters it doesn’t have is K, W, and Y (Shoebottom, N.A.). Portuguese, like English, is written from left to right. There are also accent marks used in order to pronounce words correctly in Portuguese, which English doesn’t have.

Phonology

Phonology is the study of the pattern of sounds in different languages. Portuguese has around 9 vowel sounds, and 19 consonant sounds and English has a lot less (Shoebottom, N.A.). This is what makes it difficult for Brazilians to pronounce certain words in English. A couple examples of this are cat and bat or take and steak. They have an issue distinguishing words from each other because they sound so similar. This is why a lot of Portuguese speakers continue to say certain words differently even if they’ve been in the United States and have been speaking English for a long time. Pronunciation in Portuguese is very straightforward, while in English it’s a lot more confusing. This is because letters have different pronunciations in different words. For example, chair and chord. The “ch” has a different sound in both words, so this would be confusing to learn as an ELL.

Morphology

Nouns in Portuguese are either masculine or feminine; this is completely different than English, in which words don’t have gender (Thomas, 1997). A similarity that Portuguese has with English is that they both have singular and plural words (Thomas, 1997). Another thing they have in common is that they both classify the majority of its language into verbs, adjectives, nouns, and adverbs (Thomas, 1997). In Portuguese, the subject isn’t stated in the sentences, the verb implies it (Thomas, 1997). For example, if the sentence in English is “I ate” you could omit the “I” and just say “ate” and it would be acceptable. In Portuguese, sentences are usually written in the passive voice while sentences are generally written in the active voice in English. In Portuguese there are also variable words and invariable words (Thomas, 1997). The variable words tend to change depending on the gender, number of people, the present or future, etc. (Thomas, 1997). On the other hand, invariable words are shown in only one form and include prepositions, adverbs, etc. (Thomas, 1997). There are less prepositions in Portuguese than in English, so they have trouble learning them. There is also only one possessive pronoun for gender so this could cause trouble with grammar. For example, she’s going to go to school with his friend. A big difference is that in English, an adjective generally come before the noun. On the other hand, in Portuguese, an adjective generally come after the noun.

Cognates

There is a numerous amount of words that are the same in English and Portuguese. A few examples are acidente and accident, controle and control, and humano and human. There are also words that are exactly the same, such as banana, piano, and natural. They are so similar that it would be hard to not recognize the words right when they’re seen. While some may have an “e” or an “o” at the end, they still have the same definition. This must have made it a lot easier for Antonio to understand vocabulary in English because a lot of the words he already knew in Portuguese are the same in English.

Syntax

The word order in Portuguese is SVO, which is subject, verb, object (Thomas, 1997). This is the same order of English words, but the difference between the two languages is the placement of the adjectives. In Portuguese, an adjective comes after the noun. While in English, the adjective comes before the noun. An example of this word order is “he plays football on Fridays.” In Portuguese it would be “ele joga futebol às sextas-feiras.” The subject would be “ele,” the verb would be “jog,” and the object would be “futebol.” Due to Portuguese and English having the same word order, it made it easier for Antonio to understand the syntax of the new language he was learning.

Semantics and Pragmatics

In Portuguese there are different forms of address for informal and formal greetings. For addressing someone formally an individual could use “senhor” or “senhora” (sir or lady) and it is used to greet someone older (Thomas, 1997). For addressing someone informally, they either use “você” or ‘tú.” (Thomas, 1997). Greeting someone informally would be used in a situation when an individual is meeting up with a close friend. It is appropriate to use slang and informal language, just like it is in America. Although, it is only appropriate if it is with a person the individual has a close relationship to. Verbs are not conjugated according to the form of address, they stay the same whether formal or informal. Some examples of slang in Portuguese include “foi mal” which means “my bad” and “legal” which means “cool.” Just like in the Spanish example used on Canvas, Portuguese speakers say, “I have 21 years,” instead of “I am 21 years old.”

Difficulties in Learning English

Antonio had a hard time learning English. He didn’t learn any when he was back in Brazil, so he had a language barrier when he moved to the U.S. The school had no programs for foreign student, so he was mostly on his own learning an entirely new language. He had a really hard time with phonology because he couldn’t pronounce new sounds very well. Specifically, he had a hard time pronouncing the sound “th” and couldn’t do it with his tongue. This is because they don’t have that particular sound in Portuguese. He learned different sounds by listening to 90’s rap in English; he said that music taught him the language more than school did.

Summary

I learned that every ELL comes from a different background, some have a little knowledge of English and some not at all. For example, Antonio came to the United States with no knowledge of the English language. This is why it is important for teachers to understand the starting point of their ELL students and to go from there. I also realized that some ELL’s are being placed into schools without a foreign language program. Antonio told me that he struggled with feeling like he didn’t belong, homesickness, discrimination, culture shock, and a language barrier. Antonio was just thrown in to school with not much help. He said that his teachers didn’t assist him as much as they should’ve and that he learned English from listening to music. He said that one of the big things that got him through school was his mother. Antonio’s mother valued dedication in regard to education. His mother helped as much as she could, but she could only do so much because she couldn’t speak English either. She had a positive influence on his education, even putting his quizzes up on the refrigerator. He needed the teachers at the school to put more attention on teaching him the language rather than the curriculum, because he was already ahead in it. This is why it is important to test ELL’s before they come to the school on their language and knowledge, so educators know how to instruct them. Having a foreign language program would have helped Antonio thrive at his new prep school. A couple of things that might make it difficult for students to fit in coming from Brazil to a U.S. school would be culture shock and the language barrier. Antonio explained to me how rough it was to move to a completely different country without knowing how to communicate with people. Whether it is for social or educational reasons, students need to be able to express their opinions and thoughts.

Conclusion

When I become a teacher myself, I will make sure ELL’s find themselves a home at school. They often find themselves lost in the crowd and feeling like they don’t belong. I will learn their greetings and gestures, so they feel accepted. I will make an effort to get to know them and understand their background. I would make sure I understand how much knowledge they have about the English language so I could create my lesson plans from there. I will make everything a lot more visual, so the information is easier to understand. I will do this by writing instructions for classwork and homework on the board. I will also instruct them about what happens in the classroom and what the usual routine is, so they don’t feel confused when they walk into class every day. I want my ELL students to feel prepared when they walk into class, with all the right supplies and the right mindset. I’m planning on giving them extra help and always staying late after school to help those who need extra attention. I will also help them understand the culture in the United States, including telling them about the other student’s general interests and hobbies. I would also ask them about their interests and try to get them involved in some after-school activities, so they feel like they are part of the community. I would tell the student that they could come to me for anything, including if they’re being discriminated against or bullied. I would also introduce the student to the school counselor, so they could go to them when they’re not in a good place and need to talk to someone without being judged.

History and evolution of Goa.

Origin and early inhabitants

Legends from Puranas and Vedas say that Goa was created from the sea and it was received by Lord Parashurama, sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The name Goa or Gomantaka is believed to be derived from Govarashtra, one of the seven divisions of Parashurama Kshetra (land comprising Kerala, Tulanga, Gorashtra, Konkana, Kavalata, Varalata and Barbara, which Lord Parashurama is said to be reclaimed from sea. The Sarasvat Brahmins who came for the correct conduct of yadnya wished to make Goa their home. Lord Parashurama granted them their wish and settled them in different regions of Goa, allocating them with grants in the form of villages and lands. They were also directed to venerate the deity that was in worship in the local region. So the local deity also became the kuldeva of the Sarasvat Brahmins. These Sarasvat Brahmins apparently served as priests in temples of their family gods, as scribes, as accountants, masters of trade, commerce and administration.

Goa’s original inhabitants were Kols, Mundas, Kharwis and others. These people took up hunting and fishing as primary occupation and later took agriculture as secondary occupation.

Goa in iron age (16th century – 3rd-century B.C.E)

The initial phase of iron age witnessed the formations of Gaumkaris and self-rule. Gaumkari is the democracy of village administration in Goa. The main feature of Gaumkari system was that the village’s preeminent deity’s temple was center of all activities. It consisted of defined boundaries of land from one village to another village with its topographic details, its management, social, religious and cultural interaction. The later inhabitants arrived between 1700 and 1400 B.C. They were south Indians from Deccan Plateau.

The history of Mauryans is almost non-existent. The existing records disclose the names of only three kings of the dynasty who were Suketavarman, who ruled from 4th–3rd B.C.E, Chandravarman in 6th C and Ajitavarman in 7th-century B.C.E.

During this time Buddhism was introduced in Goa. The Mauryans were followed by the satvahana dynasty, which began as vassals of Mauryan empire but declared independence as the Mauryan Empire declined. They ruled Goa until 249 A.D. The satvahana was followed by Bhojas who ruled Goa for more than 500 years and annexing the entirety of Goa.

Middle kingdoms and late medieval period (3rd century B.C.E- 16th century CE)

Goa was ruled by several dynasties from 1st B.C to 1500 AD. Since Goa was under the sway of several dynasties there was no organized judicial or policing system in those days, except for traditional arrangements. During this time, Goa was not ruled as a single kingdom. Rather parts of its territories was ruled by several kingdoms and their boundaries were not clearly defined.

Portuguese colonial rule (1505-1961)

In 1498, Vasco Da Gama landed in Calicut, India and broke the Arab monopoly of trade. Later in 1510, Portuguese Admiral Afonso de Albuquerque attacked Goa at the behest of local chieftain Timayya. After losing the city to its former ruler Ismail Adil Shah, the Muslim King of Bijapur, Albuquerque returned in force on 25th November, with a fully renovated fleet. The Portuguese fleet took possession of Goa from Ismail Adil Shah and his Ottoman allies, who surrendered on 10th December. It was from this period that the Portuguese advent in Goa began.

Goa’s independence movement:

After India’s independence in 1947, India made many requisitions to the Salazar regime of Portugal to grant their Indian colonies independence. But when it failed, on December 18 1961, Indian troops crossed the border into Goa and liberated it. Operation Vijay involved sustained land, sea and air strikes for more than 36 hours, which resulted in unconditional surrender of Portuguese forces n 19th December.

Historic evolution of Goan houses:

pre-Portuguese secular architecture in goa:

Earliest traces of architectural activities would be the group of six caves near Arvalem waterfalls, which were probably Buddhist in origin and were large enough to be used as living spaces. Earliest traces of secular architecture is found in the cave complex at Rivona. These Buddhist caves dates back to 7th century. These houses didn’t bear decorations or embellishments of any kind.

In subsequent centuries, the secular architecture remained similar throughout the Konkan region. Also architectural emphasis was more on religious buildings (built in stone with rich carvings and embellishments) rather than residences which were built with mud bricks and thatch or tiled roofs. The secular buildings were built with materials of a relatively temporary nature and were bio-degradable compared to the basalt or granite which was used to existing while the secular buildings are not.

From what remains of the Hindu houses today we can conclude that Hindu features were small and narrow windows generally barred with masonry piers or with wooden turned posts and lain plank shutters within. Houses were single storeyed and never more than double storeyed. This must have been the character of secular houses when Portuguese took over Goa in 1510.

Architectural activities of Portuguese after their arrival in Goa.

Early building activities of Portuguese focused on construction of forts and drew inspiration from Italian mannerist style. Years of warfare enhanced the Portuguese military technical and nautical skills and impressed upon the people an austerity which got reflected in their buildings. Buildings of this period were characterized by solidity and somber appearance. This architectural style was the primary source of inspiration for the aesthetics of building from 16th C till beginning of 18th C. It is characterized by its functionality and practicality with less importance on ornateness.

Early phase of secular architecture in Goa.

It is the period in which Portuguese residential architecture was styled on religious model. It lasted till the middle of 18th C from when the late phase of residential architecture in Goa began.

Religious structures like monasteries influenced the design of secular mansions of this period and this influence was seen till mid-18th C. These structures portray typical characteristics of this period: massive, simple structures, utilitarian and functional. The feature of small openings on the ground floor and larger openings on first floor further enhanced the solidity of the structure.

Late phase of residential architecture in Goa.

According to historical research on the subject until the 18th C, no part of the local population (neither Hindu nor Christian) had assimilated Portuguese culture and taste.

Portuguese fortune dipped around the same time that the local landlords experienced an upswing. The major reason was trade with British-India. Goans were also accumulating large amounts of wealth abroad. There was another class of Goans who held high posts in Portuguese government and were rewarded with large tracts of land in appreciation of their services. It was around this period that the osmosis of styles which led to Indo-Portuguese architecture really began in Goa. It was also around the same time that Christianity came to be fully accepted by the converts. A time when Goa’s unique hybrid cultural style evolved.

As theoretical equals of Portuguese, Goans were emboldened to build huge mansions on a scale as grand as their rulers. This attempt to assert their own superiority through their lifestyle.

This period in Goan domestic architecture also saw the decline of Portuguese power in Goa. It was also a period that fostered the expression of a strong Goan identity. The houses built by the Goans during this period reflect the metamorphosis of concepts derived from the traditional Hindu house and the house built by Portuguese gentlemen and it can be said as typical Goan houses.

Types of façade in the houses of late phase

Some of the features of Portuguese secular architecture that reflected in the secular architecture of Goa (after mid-18th C) are the front planar facades, the emphasize being on top storey in case of double-storeyed houses, the vertical and horizontal division of the façade being with moldings and pilasters.

Double-storeyed house façade

The double-storeyed house or Casa de Sobrada is a throwback of Portuguese double-storeyed mansion. These houses maintained a European sense of form. Even so it was still within the Goan tradition and the main rooms following the andar nobile syndrome in that houses never went above two storeys and the living areas were on the first floor while the service rooms were on ground floor.

We cannot say that the double-storied house in Goa has the same significance as the one in Portugal. Such houses were built in Goa not for retaining the hierarchy of classes as the Portuguese did but to imitate it blindly as a status symbol.

Just like the Portuguese double-storeyed houses, these also had the first floor for the exclusive use of the family and the lower floor for services. This feature is reflected in the facades by the grand windows on the first floor and smaller non-descript openings on ground floor. The first floor windows usually had a balcony corbelled with a carved table and enclosed with a railing in cast iron or wood. The window surrounds ranged from a single plaster band to elaborate mouldings in Baroque and Rococo styles. The ground floor windows were simple square openings with no decoration.

The single-storeyed house or courtyard

House facade:

Till the end of 16th C, supremacy and formality was portrayed by double-storied houses the Goans built for themselves in resemblance to the ones built by Portuguese.

By the 18th C, the character of supremacy got diluted in these house forms giving rise to a new Goan identity. Houses built over centuries focused on practicality and functionality rather than grandeur in mind. The single-story houses evolved from the Hindu courtyard house and in 16th C was adopted by catholic converts of upper class.

The single-storeyed house as a type was fully acceptable to the wealthy families in Goa. The Hindus had been living in this house type. For the rich and the poor only the scale of the house and the no. of courtyards varying to reflect the economic status of the house owner.

The traditional Hindu architectural style has evolved over generations incorporating certain socio-specific needs. The Hindus had their own set of customs, traditions and rigid social forms which were all integrated into the design of the house. These cultural aspects reflected in the spatial arrangements of the rooms, the orientation and location of spaces and aesthetics of house.

Sizes of windows in Hindu houses remained small. The window was at first barred with turned wooden posts or a square section fixed at diagonal with a spacing of 8’’. In later years, one finds that the exterior of traditional courtyard also adopted a lot of features of Portuguese secular architecture. Although single-storied, the façade began to incorporate pilasters and horizontal bands of mouldings and cornices and the exterior facades were divided into bays with pilasters alternating with windows. On the exterior the window surround of a plain plaster band which became a common feature.

The catholic influence on Hindu houses in areas not controlled by Portuguese government was equally strong. This was mainly because the Hindu artisans working on Catholic houses brought these influences to Hindu houses. Also Hindus who converted to Christianity built houses which were influenced by the Portuguese design.

The half-storeyed house facade:

The transition from the sobrado or double-storied house and the single-storied courtyard house gave birth to the half storeyed or meio sobrado house form. The height of the plinth ranged from 3ft-8ft leading to an interesting array of plinth details.

The Goan identity:

The late phase Goan houses differs from the Portuguese secular architecture in the form of the porch or balcoe and the details of its ornamentation.

The ornamentation of 18th C Goan house combined the Mannerist and Rococo styles. Later 19th C house were termed as Goan eclectic style which was a mix of Neo-Classicism and Neo-Gothic. It was a compounding of the Mannerist and Rococo features with the Maratha and Mogul interpreted in a folksy manner.

Another important feature of Goan house is the Neo-Gothic arched windows. The aesthetic features of the Neo-Gothic and Neo-Manueline styles of 19th C were also manifested in the interior of houses. Houses owners with houses earlier in fact rebuild their interiors in accordance to this trend.

The end of 19th C saw the final evolution of the style of the house, which we commonly referred to as Goan houses or the Indo-Portuguese houses. The climatic conditions of Goa changed the balcoe into a wide running verandah running all along the front and sometimes the sides of the house too. This change which took place in the 19th C was even adopted by the houses built thereafter until early 20th C. The traditional Hindu house was a response to the people’s need, culture and lifestyle. Since the traditional Hindu Houses of Goa was designed and built without conscious aesthetic pretensions found in the Post-Portuguese houses, we are justified in saying that the aesthetic embellishments we see in Goan houses are largely a throwback from Portuguese.

Elements of Goan houses:

Parts of traditional hindu houses:

There are predominantly two major types of Hindu houses: one that existed before colonial invasion and one that existed after the Portuguese came.

Before the arrival of the Portuguese, most Goan houses were mostly made of mud and had a thatched roof. They faced inwards towards a central courtyard and had small windows, mostly devoid of ornaments.

After the Portugal invasion, there was very little influence of Portugal style in planning and layout. Ornamentation was added to the houses as an impact of Portuguese invasion.

Ancestral Hindu houses in the town are plain, closed structures which conceal the tradition of the inhabitants.

A traditional Hindu house in goa had the following elements

• Rectangular in plan
• Single storey
• Central courtyard with tulsi maadam
• Central entrance has a veranda
• The rooms are arranged around a central pillared courtyard

The courtyard is called as rajangan, where a tulsi vrindavan is seen.

Chowki is a space next to the courtyard, where the family activities take place. It is the internal verandah.

Devakood is a place for prayers and their rituals. A hall was specially meant for celebrating ganeshotsav.

Soppo is a space used for relaxing.

Saal is a hall space in the house.

Kothar, vasri and gotho are store room, dining hall and goshala respectively.

Manne are bathrooms located next to the well.

Features of Goan catholic houses

Rococo features of the façade:

In the late phase, the exterior began to articulate with pilasters and entablatures. Windows frequently opened out to balconies. Each window has individual balconies with a projection over the portal. The facades of the house were planar. Sometimes the windows are purely classical tradition and have a pediment over the opening with a moulded bust within the tympanum. This is a characteristic feature of the Italian classical style. Other features of Italian classical style included fluted pilasters with a Corinthian capital and the pilasters in true baroque style which alternate the windows dividing the façade into no. of bays. Other details which were introduced was the magnificent entrance way and pediments.

A little romanticism came into the design of Goan houses in the 19th C. The revival of neo-gothic style in late 19th C enhanced the decorative elements in Goan houses making them more pronounced than the houses in 18th C.

Balcoe:

The balcoe is a common feature of Goan houses and could be described as colonnaded porch with seats built into the sides. It is the Goan houses’ device for opening up to the new world. The entrance steps are the main example of influence of baroque. In baroque, curvation is massive and more precisely structured compared to the rococo style. In Goan houses, the entrance steps with undulating parapets is quite common and could be described as two types:

• Cyma reversa (convex in its upper part and concave in lower part)
• Cyma recta (concave above and convex below)

Gate houses and gate posts:

Gate house was probably the only way to get inside the master’s castle. They looked imposing and impressive that it endured way long after the fortified walls. In 16th C, gate houses were lofty and elegant and their ornamentation reflected its owner’s social status. By 17th C, gate houses were usurped by towering gateposts that became banners of architect’s skills. In Goa, the only house that boasts to have a gate house was the Deshprabhu house in Pernem.

Early examples of gateways in Goan houses is seen in Cardozo house in Loutolim. The compound wall itself towers to 8ft height at the entrance, capped with a simple pitched roof covered with Mangalore tiles. Simple angular brackets anchored into the wall supported the tiled roof.

The opening which is entrance to the compound wall is about 7ft high and 4ft wide. Compound wall on the either side of the gateway gently slopes up to a height of 6ft and abuts the edge of the gateway. A protective coping covers the top of the wall designed to throw off rainwater. Gate and the compound wall is lime plastered and simply white washed to meet the color specification during the Portuguese rule.

Eave board:

Eaves boards are gable ends and eaves of timber roofs decorated with carved timber fascia. These eaves board are used on the verge of gables where the covering of the roof extended over the wall. Design of eaves board in Goan houses is very simple. Width of the board ranges from 6-8 inches. The planks of the desired width are first sawn, an organic or geometric design is first drawn and carved out. The plain edge f the eaves board is nailed along the edge of the roof on rafters. Thickness of the board is almost half an inch.

Design of eaves board was influenced by the Rococo styles which gave them curvilinear pattern. One design, the betel leaf dominated the house façade and was symbolic of hospitality and welcome. Not abashed about revealing the Hindu identity, Goan Catholics often used motifs and symbols from temples. They were painted so as to catch light and present and sharp and strong contrast against shadows caused by roof projections.

Pilasters and cornices:

Goan house of later phase of Portuguese advent reveal Italian Classical features in façade planning. A vertical emphasize on the building was supplemented by the use of pilasters. Repetitive use of these column like projections along with the windows flushed to the wall surface, divided the wall into no. of bays.

Pilaster can be divided into three parts- capital, shaft and base. In secular architecture of Goa, Tuscan order was frequently used.

After the 18th C, the neck of the capital was incurvated and came to be known as Indian Tuscan. Another popular form which also evolved was Tuscan Corinthian. Acanthus leaves of the Corinthian order was superimposed on the neck of the capital of the pilaster along with volutes and scrolls. An unusual feature similar to the Goan Rococo is the pendant or drooping leaf at the top of the pilaster shaft. In the lower storey, the capital of the pilaster was deleted and in its place was a cartouche- a form like a sheet of paper with edges folded over.

The cornice detail is remnant from the Early phase of secular Goan architecture. The top of the laterite masonry wall is crowned with a moulded projection or cornice. In several houses, rows of cantilevered country tiles lie above the cornice. The projecting roofs of the houses are supported on the cornice.

Pillars and columns:

At first, they seemed to be quite futile as they do not seem to be influenced by any style. The variety of mouldings found in columns in Goa can be classified into 3 types: Flat or square, concave and convex. The fillet is flat or square faced, the convex mouldings are the “astragal”, “bead”, “torus”, “bow tail” and “oval”. The concave mouldings are “apophyge”, “carvetto” and scotia. The combination of convex and concave- the ooge and cyma are peculiar Goan style. The pillars or piers were in solid stone masonry and were either square or rectangular in section and supported the beam.

Masonry columns had large bases 2ft x 2ft or 2ft x 3ft in case of rectangular columns. The base or the pedestal was the same height as the railing or about 2.5ft. The columns shaft would be about 1.5ft x 1.5ft or 1.5ft x 2.5ft. The features of the classical columns were absent. By 19th C, slenderer columns were used and large bulky masonry piers were totally out of favor. Columns with straight circular shafts were common supports for the balcoe in Goan houses. The abacus was more often square and similar to that of Tuscan order. The astragal was invariably present with or without fillet mouldings. The circular shaft was annulated with bands encircling the shaft at the top or bottom.

Railings:

The most intricate embellishment in Goan house is seen in the design of railings. Intricately carved wooden railings are present both in Hindu as well as Catholic houses. Floral, geometric designs and patterns taken from elements of nature were common motifs.

Railings were usually made of wooden strips laced together to create patterns or from carved wooden strips arranged together vertically. Railing design on the verandah were often reflected at the base of the window.

Windows:

Fig. 19: Types of railing

Simple, functional or heavily ornamented, windows lend charm and grace to the Goan houses. They let fresh air in along with a feeling of grandeur and gaiety. Window gave the house a sense of balance and symmetry. Also, it gave the façade character and personality. Functionally they were an important frontier for communication and a point of transition. When windows front a road they make a statement. That they once belonged to a house that was grand and important and its members were high up in the village hierarchy. And hence the windows in Goan house became ornate, decorative and expressive.

The simplest Goan windows were square openings which were about 3ft wide and the distance from the plinth to the window is 2-2.5ft. The functional aspect of having a low sill could be attributed to the need to view household activities outside the house which were often conducted at road level. The square openings were supported by flat arches made in laterite stone. Much before the glass was made available in Goa, the Goans covered their windows in Mother-of-pearl shells collected from mangrove forests. While breaking the monotony of long, cold, blank walls, these windows added to the elegance of structure with decorative elements. The choice of an angel or cherub motif was peculiar to Christian family homes were religious motifs advertised devotion to the catholic faith while asserting individual identity.

The graffito technique in which a layer of red plaster is applied followed by a layer of white plaster on which the desired design is scratched out was popular during the 18th and 19th C. Flat arch openings were popular with windows that were positioned on the side façade of the house. Mouldings continued along these side facades but weren’t elaborate as the ones that faced the road.

In 19th C, the grander houses had openings that ranged from 4ft-45ft with semi-circular arched windows. With the advent of 20th C, French doors were introduced. In this window design simulating the French door, the shutter can be opened from above the window sill level. The lower half of the window sports a wooden panel modelled after the railings along the verandah, giving the simulated effect of French door without being one. Besides external shutters most houses had internal shutters that came up to the lintel level, in wood. These shutters helped the house remain bugler proof. With the introduction of glass panes wooden shutters went through some modification. A small pane 6’’ x 8’’ was fixed into the center of each shell shutter to enable people to look out through the window even if it is shut. Another key feature in the window design is the use of various classical arch as seen in ancient Rome and the semi-circular arch seen in Renaissance Europe and Baroque architecture.

Doors:

Doors of the Goan houses are lined up. So when the doors are opened, a long vista is obtained- A baroque feature borrowed from 17th C. Entrance door occupied the place of honor at the center of the façade. The dimension of the doors gave it prominence. As compared to other doors, entrance door was larger and elegant. Sometimes the doors are flanked by pilasters and columns which enhanced the grandeur of the house. Heavy moulded doorways and door surrounds were a development of late 18th C and early 19th C. During late 19th C and early 20th C, door shutter reached its fullest elaboration. At this time the raised door became increasingly common.

Flooring:

Earth excavated from the site itself is beaten with a wooden spatula over a bed of flat rocks to make up smooth even floor. Over this in some house is laid a paste of cow dung, which acts as a disinfectant and hay which acts as a binding agent. The top surface of this organic flooring is thin and wears off easily. The earliest grand houses of Goa have stone slabs on the ground floor. Stone used was either local laterite, basalt or granite. In certain houses the service area had cow dung flooring. Later broken China crockery was recycled to make mosaic flooring. Later the use of different colored material was employed to produce patterns such as frets, guilloches, foliage, etc.

False ceiling:

False ceiling was mainly intended to conceal the tiled roof (and probably to protect the house from draughts.) These ceilings followed the lines of roof timbers. So if the house had a hipped roof, the false ceiling followed its lines. Floral and geometric motifs were carved into this false ceiling. False ceiling gained popularity in the 1770s.

Color:

According to the code dictated by the Portuguese, no private house could be painted all white. The code also made annual coloring and white washing compulsory. Before the introduction of chemical dyes, natural dyes were used. This limited color to red (from red oxide), burnt red (from clay) and blue (from indigo). As chemical dyes came, a variety of pastels got added.