Mama Lisa Now Has a Facebook Group

We'd love it if you'd join the Mama Lisa Facebook Group. You can post anything you'd like about your culture. You can post your own musical recordings or YouTube videos… Links to culture and musical sites… Photos of your country… Questions about songs or cultural issues… Anything related to World Culture and [...]

Symbolic Foods Eaten Around the World for New Years

In many parts of the world, the foods eaten on New Years Eve and New Years Day have important symbolic meanings. These symbols seem to fall into several major categories. The first class symbolizes financial prosperity. This type of food is round like coins. Often, the dish will be round beans, like lentils, [...]

An Amish Children's Song to the Tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”

Previously, I wrote about how my family and I toured the Amish country in Pennsylvania. While there, I was lucky enough to be put in contact with a young Amish lady (she may have been in her late teens) who was willing to give me an Amish song for Mama Lisa's World, my site [...]

Touring Amish Country

Last month we brought our children to the Amish country in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The Amish are a group of Christians originally from Germany, Switzerland and the Alsace region of France. They immigrated to the US in the 18th century. They believe in being separate from the society around them. Amish people [...]

May 1st in France

By Monique Palomares May 1st : this day has been a protest day in France since 1889 as a tribute to the workers of Chicago who died during the riots in 1886. It was a day off dedicated to demonstrations (off, but unpaid). It's been a (paid) public holiday since 1947. There are workers and trade [...]