National Identity Crisis

An ongoing debate amongst Welsh people is whether we can accept being called British, there are those that vehemently refuse to be called British and only accept Welsh! Never "English" of course.
"Welsh! Never British!", I've seen in these on line discussions.

CRAP! You are British!

Whenever people ask me here where I'm from or what my nationality is I always reply: Britain and British but I'm not English (because it's far easier to begin thus), THEN I have to go on to explain that I'm Welsh and about the differences.

WE ARE BRITISH! GO STUDY HISTORY!
From the Romano-Greek - "Pretanni" or "Britannia" and - DUH! - think about your school history lessons...when were the Romans around?? UH? EH?? and then... when did the Angles, Saxons and Jutes arrive??? Wasn't there a few hundred years time lapse? Who were there first? The Pretanni or the Saesson and Angles?? Is it some kind of coincidence that ANGLE-LAND sounds remarkably like ENGLAND??!! OF COURSE NOT!!

I'm British AND Welsh.

And of course certainly not English.

Thank you and good night.

What the FUCKIN' Blazes??!!

As I write there is the sound of gunshots in the streets. It's freakin' 12.30 lunchtime for freek's sake! I actually began this post with the following:

The United Nations Commission for Finding Things Out has found out that Brazil is: Corrupt, Violent and Racist. What? Really? How so??

Then I heard the shots and modified the post. Last Sunday night around 11pm there was a big gun battle, the worst I've heard since I've been here, must've gone on for a good 10 mins and I believe I counted 3 or 4 separate weapons from different directions. Perhaps today is the counter-attack. I took a peek out on the terrace and saw the usual bunch of skinny clowns rubber necking in some directions, then I saw one of them with a hand gun in his ...er hand (sorry!), it was a big 'un, quite possibly a Browning 9mil or whatever the equivalent is here; that's the first time I've actually seen one armed, I thought about taking a pic with my mobile but it wouldn't've captured anything at that distance.

I've had another surreal experience at the bank, my card was blocked because I haven't yet updated my details by proving my income. I mean I've been depositing between R$2000 and R$4000 every month without fail for the past six years and every year I have to prove that I earn a salary, I mean WHAT THE BLAZES?!

Dewi Sant

Tuesday last, my conversation with Vivi, Big Boss Lady of the Shamrock, went something like this:

Me: So you'll be doing St. Patrick's again this year.
Vivi: Oh yes, of course, you know the usual stuff, green beer, green people, etceterah.
Me: What about St. David's, are you going to do St. David's?
Vivi: What's that?

So I didn't go to the Shamrock last Sat'day, I stayed home and sank loads of Slava.

May the Gods Bless the Beer makers!