Jo Ward – Page 13 – Gibraltar Insight

Where in the world is… Gibraltar?

4 years ago in Features by Jo Ward

There is only one Gibraltar, or is there? With stories that people who receive Google Alerts or who are using Google Search for news about Gibraltar are getting a bit confused when they suddenly realise that it is not our Gibraltar, the British Overseas Territory located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula that they are reading about, but in fact Gibraltar a small city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan, we decided to investigate.

According to Geotargit.com website, there are 32 places called Gibraltar in the world. Not surprisingly the name is often given to mountains or hills due to their obvious resemblance to our Rock.

Canada

Located in the French River in the province of Ontario in east-central Canada, Gibraltar Rock is a popular summit from which death-defying jumpers often leap. Published in 1832, a book titled The Columbia River by Ross Cox commented that “The Canadians, who are very fertile in baptizing remarkable places, called an island near our encampment of the 6th Gibraltar, from the rocky steepness of its shore.” (p.118)

Gibraltar Point Lighthouse, located on the Toronto Islands in Toronto, was named by John Graves Simcoe, Ontario’s first lieutenant-governor, after what we know as Europa Point, who also chose it as the site for one of the new lighthouses he was planning along the Great Lakes. The lighthouse is the oldest one left on the Great Lakes and the second oldest in Canada. It was built in 1808 and guided ships to Toronto’s harbour from what was then a sandy peninsula until it was decommissioned in 1958.

USA

Even more confusing is the fact that if you had a craving for some ‘Gibraltar Candies’ you would be forgiven for thinking that you were eating sweets produced here in Gibraltar, when in fact you would be indulging in confectionary renowned to be the first candy produced in America. Also known as ‘Gibraltar Rocks’, presumably because the candy is so hard to break apart, the white candy comes in either lemon or peppermint flavours and apparently melts in the mouth. They originate from Salem, Massachusetts, in the early 19th-century when an English family set sail for America. They lost all their worldly goods in a shipwreck and arrived in Salem in a destitute condition. Mary Spencer (a widowed single mother) started the company with a barrel of sugar given to her by some of her neighbours on Buffum Street in 1806 and Mary Spencer’s ‘Salem, Gibraltars’ were born! They are now sold by America’s oldest candy company, Ye Olde Pepper Companie based in Salem.

American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem and had a special fondness for the candies. He sent some to his sister Louisa and in his letter said: “I send Susannah’s Gibraltars. There were fourteen of them originally, but I doubt whether there will be quite a dozen when she gets them.” He also mentioned the sweets in two of his novels. In The House of the Seven Gables, published in 1851, a character named Hepzibah Pyncheon operates a little “cent-shop” which contained “a glass pickle-jar, filled with fragments of Gibraltar rock; not, indeed, splinters of the veritable stone foundation of the famous fortress, but bits of delectable candy, neatly done up in white paper.” And in Hawthorne’s short story “The Old Apple-Dealer” there is a mention of “that delectable condiment, known by children as Gibraltar rock.”

AUSTRALIA

Another popular place for rock climbing enthusiasts is the 2,100 feet (640 metres) high granite outcrop known as Gibraltar Rock in the Porongurup National Park, south of Perth, in Western Australia. The Porongurup region is well known for its vineyards because the Mediterranean climate and long ripening season of the region produces exceptional quality fruit with intense flavours. One of the two oldest vineyards in the region was Gibraltar Rock, acquired by the Burch family in 2010, which provides the majority of fruit for their Howard Park label Rieslings.

Then there is the Gibraltar Range National Park situated in one of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, recognised as part of the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves of Australia, a World Heritage area, featuring rugged trails perfect for hiking and six spectacular granite columns rising out of Dandahra Gorge known as The Needles.

Colombia

There are also 10 places in Colombia, South America with the name Gibraltar. One of which is in the region of Antioquia, where Gibraltar is a town located some 223 km North-West of Bogotá, the country’s capital.

XOXO – To kiss or not to kiss

4 years ago in Features by Jo Ward

Most of us do it. Cheek kissing or air kissing has become a commonplace part of society in most countries, although there are still some cultures where kissing is not an acceptable practice. Whether once, twice, or even more, kissing has become a routine part of greeting someone – however well we know them.

Now, in the age of coronavirus, friendly kissing poses a dilemma for many of us and this may well lead to a change in our behaviour in the future with kissing becoming taboo. There was a time when a handshake was the more usual greeting, especially in the UK, and that air kissing was thought to be reserved for the more gregarious Mediterranean countries, or for those in professions such as fashion or in the theatre where exuberant behaviour had become de rigueur.

So is kissing a learned, cultural behaviour, or is it intuitive? The scientific study of kissing is called philematology (philos in ancient Greek means earthly love) and if you think about it, kissing is really quite a strange thing to do. Pressing our lips against another person’s lips and, in some cases, swapping saliva, sounds bizarre. There is evidence that a kiss was a way for early humans to subconsciously sniff each other out and that cavemen licked each other’s cheeks to obtain salt. There is another theory that kissing came from the practice of kiss-feeding based on birds feeding worms to their hatchlings and human mothers who fed children their chewed up food.

Romantic kissing can be traced back 3,500 years to Hindu Vedic Sanskrit texts. In these texts, kissing is described as inhaling each other’s’ souls. The Kama Sutra, written in the 6th century A.D., describes several different types of kissing and some anthropologists who believe that kissing is a learned behaviour theorise that the Greeks learned about it from the Indians when Alexander the Great invaded India in 326 B.C.

What about that first kiss – we surely all remember the feeling of pleasure that it evoked. Kissing feels good and this is because the nerve endings on our lips make it one of the most sensitive areas of our body. The stimulation of our lips sends signals to the brain, releasing the hormone oxytocin which is often referred to as the “love hormone” because it stirs up feelings of love, social bonding and well-being. Kissing also releases other happy hormones such as dopamine and serotonin and it lowers your cortisol (stress hormone) levels.

So a kiss is just a kiss – except when it spreads disease. In 1439, King Henry VI banned kissing to prevent the spread of the Black Plague throughout England and Europe. Even the French, thought of as one of the most romantic countries in the world, were recently asked to stop kissing when they greeted each other to try and slow the spread of coronavirus. French health minister Olivier Véran said that people should no longer do la bise, the distinctive French double (or treble) cheek kiss to greet people. The problem is that kissing with a mask on just isn’t the same! If we have to adapt to a new way of greeting each other there are several alternatives out there, including elbow bumping and the Thai “wai” semi-bow. In Beijing, billboards told people not to shake hands but to make the traditional gong shou gesture which is a fist in the opposite palm. Then there’s the “Wuhan shake,” named after the city where COVID-19 was first identified. The touching and bumping of feet – a quick right kick, then a quick left kick – first featured in a video that then went viral.

Prince Charles demonstrated the perfect alternative to a handshake when meeting guests as he joined his hands, palms together, and bowed slightly in respectful salutation. The Indian greeting Namaste, a combination of two Sanskrit words which translates into “bowing to you”, does not involve skin contact and allows people to maintain an appropriate distance. Although it did take a while for the Prince to remember what to do as he put his hand forward and then quickly withdrew it, which led him to break into a fit of giggles at his near faux pas.

The question is what happens to kissing post Covid-19 and will we return to the old ways of puckering up or air kissing? There may be some hesitancy to return to our past behaviours but maybe declining to air kiss or shake hands will be seen as an expression of concern for our own and other people’s health. The age of social kissing may be over.

Apple Cider Vinegar

4 years ago in Health & Beauty by Jo Ward

Apple Cider Vinegar, the fermented juice from crushed apples, is often classified as a ‘wonder food’ alongside things such as garlic, tomatoes, avocados and oily fish. There is no substitute for a healthy diet, but ‘wonder foods’ can give that added boost and help in a variety of ways that will aid health issues and help to strengthen your immune system. Apple cider vinegar is full of nutrients. It contains trace amounts of potassium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, manganese, amino acids and antioxidants and is only 3 calories per tablespoon.

A Myriad of Uses

Apple cider vinegar has been used as a natural remedy for years; in ancient times for its health benefits and it is known that the Greeks treated wounds with it. In recent years, people have explored apple cider vinegar as a way to lose weight, improve heart health, and even treat dandruff. Recent evidence based research suggests that it may also be effective in improving cholesterol and in blood sugar control for people with Diabetes 2. An article in Medical News Today stated that a study on eight people found that those who consumed apple cider vinegar before eating a meal had lower insulin and triglyceride levels after the meal than those who had a placebo. It may also have antibacterial and antifungal properties. This is mostly attributed to its main ingredient, acetic acid.

Use apple cider vinegar as a detox for your body. It can help promote circulation and detoxify the liver. The acid can also bind to toxins which can assist in removing them from the body. Apple cider vinegar’s potassium content helps to break up mucus in the body and clear the lymph nodes.

Here are some ways you can incorporate apple cider vinegar into your diet:

A great way to kick-start your day is by including apple cider vinegar into your morning routine. Dilute it into your morning tea or glass of lemon water. If you don’t like the taste, add spices like cinnamon or cayenne pepper which will boost your metabolism.

How about blending some apple cider vinegar into a smoothie? Add your favourite fruits or vegetables to give you all the nutrients and vitamins you need before you set off for work or start your daily routine. Another way to include the vinegar into your daily food is by adding it to salad dressings, mayonnaise or mixing it into soups.

Because of its strong flavour, some people prefer to mix apple cider vinegar with something else to disguise the taste. However, taking a shot or a tablespoonful is a fast and effective way to get it into your system. You may want to dilute it with water to protect your tooth enamel by mixing eight ounces of water with every 1-2 tablespoons.

Holland & Barrett have a range of apple cider vinegar products in liquid and supplement form. It is worth pointing out that not all vinegars are made in the same way. Apple cider vinegar is made through a two-step process. First, yeast is added to apple juice to break down the sugars and turn them into alcohol. Then, bacteria are added, which converts the alcohol into acetic acid. This bacterium is what is known as the ‘Mother’, because it is the catalyst that gives rise to the vinegar.

Raw, unfiltered organic Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar with ‘The Mother’ is high-quality, unfiltered vinegar made from organically grown apples. Some vinegar products remove ‘The Mother’, a cobweb-like substance that gives the vinegar a cloudy appearance, that forms naturally as the raw organic vinegar ferments but which is, in fact, the healthiest part of the vinegar.

‘The Mother’ consists of dozens of strains of good bacteria, which are also referred to as probiotics, which help keep your digestive system running smoothly and are good for your immune system. It also has enzymes which are essential for breaking down foods so that your body can make use of the nutrients you consume.

If you don’t like the idea of drinking apple cider vinegar then consider taking it in tablet form. Try the easy to take chewable New Nordic Apple Cider Gummies with ‘The Mother’ or Holland & Barrett’s Apple Cider Vinegar 300 mg tablets.

Apple cider vinegar won’t replace a balanced diet and exercise and it isn’t a miracle ‘cure-all’, but it can promote health and help you maintain it.

Advisory Information:

Food supplements must not be used as a substitute for a varied and balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking any medications or are under medical supervision, please consult a doctor or healthcare professional and always read the label before use.

Natural Remedies for the Menopause

4 years ago in Health & Beauty by Jo Ward

All women go through the menopause, defined as starting one year after the end of a woman’s last period. This ‘change of life’ usually occurs between the ages of 45 and 55 and is when the ovaries lose their reproductive function. For some women menopause can be a worrying time, but it is a completely natural part of aging.

Not everyone suffers with the same symptoms that are typical of the menopause and which are due to a decreased production of the hormones oestrogen and progesterone. The most common symptoms of the menopause include: hot flushes, night sweats, and flushing; vaginal dryness and discomfort during sex; reduced sex drive (libido); difficulty sleeping; emotional changes, low moods or anxiety and problems with memory and concentration.

Sometimes the symptoms can be really difficult to cope with and what works for one person may be different to what works for another. Avoiding certain foods such as added sugars, processed carbs, spicy foods, caffeine and alcohol may alleviate symptoms. Physical activity, yoga and relaxation exercises will help you to stay healthy and keep you in control of your body. Even a small amount of activity is better than none.

Some women choose to take hormone replacement therapy (HRT), but if you don’t want to or are concerned about doing so, there are other options, including some complementary therapies and natural remedies.

Holland & Barrett sell a range for products for treating menopausal symptoms, including herbal remedies such as evening primrose oil, black cohosh, angelica, ginseng and St John’s wort.

Night sweats and hot flushes are one of the more common symptoms and Sage, or Salvia officinalis, often used as a culinary herb, has been shown to help relieve the problem. One A.Vogel Menoforce Sage Tablet containing sage extract taken daily can help against excessive sweating, hot flushes and night sweats.

St John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum), a flowering shrub native to Europe, is another popular herb used to treat symptoms of low mood and anxiety, especially during the menopause. Try Holland & Barrett Moodease St. John’s Wort One-A-Day or alternatively Holland & Barrett Menopause Mood Relief Tablets which also contains Black Cohosh, a combination found to be effective in alleviating menopausal symptoms.

Have you lost your ‘get-up-and-go’ mentality? Do you suffer with a persistent lack of energy and feelings of tiredness? This can also affect your sex drive and many women experience a low libido during the menopause. The Ginkgo Biloba tree, also known as maidenhair, is native to China and has been used for thousands of years to assist with mental focus, memory, cognitive performance and blood circulation. Holland & Barrett’s Maximum Strength Ginkgo Biloba 120mg Tablets could be the answer to giving your sex life a boost.

Sea buckthorn is another herbal product that can help with symptoms like vaginal dryness and vaginal atrophy (where the tissues of the vagina start to thin) and sea buckthorn oil is especially useful for women who can’t use oestrogen creams or suppositories. Relatively few plant species are good sources of essential fatty acids, but Holland & Barrett Sea Buckthorn Oil Blend Omega 7 Softgel Capsules provide polyunsaturated omega 7 fatty acids, as well as omega 3 (alpha linolenic acid), omega 6 (linoleic acid) and omega 9 (oleic acid).

Vitamin E is known for its ability to support healthy skin and eyes, but research now shows it could be good for hot flushes, too. Holland & Barrett Vitamin E 400iu 100 Softgel Capsules can help relieve dry skin and tackle vaginal dryness as well.

Soy is a plant high in isoflavones which are a type of phytoestrogens – chemicals found in plants that work like oestrogens. It has been widely studied for its impact on menopause symptoms, particularly hot flushes and night sweats. Herbal food supplement A Vogel Menopause Support Tablets contain a unique formulation of Soy Isoflavones, Magnesium (known to help with tiredness and fatigue), Hibiscus and Vervain (a flowering plant in the verbena family of herbs), and can be used to help you through all stages of the menopause.

Valerian root has been used since ancient times for various health problems, including insomnia. Holland & Barrett Valerian Capsules are a traditional herbal medicinal product used for the temporary relief of symptoms of mild anxiety and to help aid sleep.

Whatever your personal journey through the menopause, you don’t have to suffer through it and there are plenty of natural options available which may help.

Advisory Information:

Food supplements must not be used as a substitute for a varied and balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking any medications or are under medical supervision, please consult a doctor or healthcare professional and always read the label before use.

Telephone CPR can save lives

4 years ago in Features by Jo Ward

‘Help us to help those people you love’

Would you know what to do if someone has a cardiac arrest? Cardiac arrest is reversible in most victims if it’s treated within a few minutes.

Collaboration between Gibraltar Fire & Rescue Service, Gibraltar Ambulance Service and Gibraltar Health Authority saw the launch of the Telephone-CPR service (T-CPR) on the 14th February, Valentine’s Day. Run along the lines of the UK system, this initiative will bring Gibraltar in line with developed countries in Europe. “Telephone-CPR and Bystander CPR is part and parcel of the chain of survival,” states Chief Ambulance Officer, Sigurd Haveland.

Chief Fire Officer, Colin Ramirez explains that calls from anyone ringing 190 or 112 will still be received by the Fire Control operators who will then deploy whatever resources are required in terms of emergency ambulances. “The dispatchers will ask the caller 4 questions to establish if the patient requires resuscitation and if the caller does accept those instructions and is willing to perform those actions, the Controller will then provide instructions on how to give chest compressions until the arrival of the Paramedic Ambulance.”

GHA’s Resuscitation Officer, Tina Reyes-Hughes, explains that an estimated 20 people in Gibraltar will have a cardiac arrest out of hospital this year, either at home, at work or in a public place. A cardiac arrest is when the heart stops beating suddenly and without warning. “Because these people are not likely to be in hospital, it is the public, friends, relatives and strangers that are in the best position to make a difference by starting CPR quickly and before the ambulance arrives,” she says. Tina is keen to stress that the quality of survival from a cardiac arrest is increased hugely by having somebody administering CPR almost as soon as they collapse. “We know that people survive because of it, but we also know that they survive better in terms of neurological outcomes – how their brain functions – so it is about the quality of survival as well as the fact that they do survive.”

“The initiative for the project came from Sigurd in 2017 who together with Tina were the instigators of all this,” Colin states. “We started discussions with the Gibraltar Fire and Rescue Service on how to implement it safely which required training and for policies and procedures to be put in place,” Sigurd tells me, going on to say that It also required an appetite from the Government to launch such a system in Gibraltar, and it was in September last year when everything started to materialise. “The endorsement by the Government was priceless.”

“It has been a show of cooperation between the services for the ultimate beneficiary, the community, and it is very important that Sigurd and Tina implemented that selfless effort to make it happen, and the GFRS want to thank them for their support,” Colin states.

Sigurd explains that the system in place is bespoke to Gibraltar. “We looked at various other algorithms around the world which have been used to implement CPR for years now and there are two aspects here – one is that they use digital systems and we still use a dedicated manual system – so that made us bespoke the algorithms to Gibraltar and secondly, luckily enough we had an appetite from the call handlers and dispatchers, so it was custom-made by all of us – the call handlers and the GHA – for Gibraltar, and there is no algorithm outside Gibraltar that looks like ours.”

Tina outlines the training process: “We started off by producing an algorithm for the call handlers to take the calls down – asking some very basic questions such as “is the patient unresponsive?’, “can you wake the patient up?”, “is the patient breathing?” and then another set of simple instructions including “don’t hang up”, “put your phone on loudspeaker” and “we need you to listen carefully”.

“We got all the nine call handlers in dispatches into two batches and spent four hours making sure that their basic life support was perfect and then got them to use the algorithms in order to instruct their colleagues outside the room on how to do CPR. So they did it themselves, then they told somebody else how to do it, and then they told somebody else how to do it without being in the same room, which is of course what is going to happen in real life.”

Initially, fire operators were trained to handle fire calls, then took on the responsibility of dispatching emergency ambulances and they are now responsible for the delivery of T-CPR instructions. Colin says that it was crucial to keep the process as simple as possible to ensure that the life of the person does not deteriorate as a result of the instructions that they are giving over the phone. It is difficult in a small community, where everybody knows everybody else, whether you are a paramedic, a nurse in A&E, a Resus Officer or the Fire Control officer, because you are going to see somebody at some stage who has been involved in the resuscitation procedure. “Sigurd and Tina have struck the right balance to give the call handlers the confidence that what they are doing is the right thing,” Colin comments. “They see the value because none of us can really understand what it is like to be on the phone,” Tina says.

Get Involved

Both Tina and Sigurd say that they are asking the community for their help to learn and give CPR. Every minute without CPR and defibrillation reduces someone’s chance of survival by up to 10%. “People should find out how to do CPR and that will always be better than hearing how to do it for the first time when faced with a non-breathing, non-responsive casualty,” Tina emphasises.

Sigurd highlights that this is a three-strand project. “Telephone CPR first of all, then Public Assisted Defibrillators and very soon we will be implementing Children’s CPR at school.” The curriculum has already been reformed to allow for Children’s CPR and it is hoped that in a couple of months they will be able to start training teachers.

As an aid to the instructions delivered by the call-handler, you can use the beat of some popular songs such as Staying Alive, Yellow Submarine, Happy Birthday, Match of the Day or Nellie the Elephant to help you perform CPR. Tina says that as long as you are doing 100-120 chest compressions in a minute you can use any song you like. “Preferably not out loud,” she adds. “There are a range of useful learning tools available online, including metronome apps that you can download to your smartphone, or go to the Resuscitation Council website where you can find some useful videos that you can interact with as you perform CPR.”

T-CPR and Bystander Assisted CPR saves lives.

www.resus.org.uk

Conquest on Chess

4 years ago in Features by Jo Ward

Jo Ward caught up with Stuart Conquest, Director of The Gibraltar International Chess Festival mid-way through the Festival to find out more about the chess tournament.

Founded in 2008 by owner of the Caleta Hotel Brian Callaghan OBE, known as the father of chess in Gibraltar and a chess fanatic himself, the Festival is now in its 18th year and has become renowned as one of the best open events in the chess world.

Founded in 2008 by owner of the Caleta Hotel Brian Callaghan OBE, known as the father of chess in Gibraltar and a chess fanatic himself, the Festival is now in its 18th year and has become renowned as one of the best open events in the chess world.

Stuart Conquest is a chess Grandmaster who used to be professional chess player, learning the game as a five year old, firstly taught by his father and then by a next door neighbour who kept his enthusiasm going.

“I came to work here in the very first year of the festival in 2003,” he explains. “I was games commentator for the public which meant I got to know the people here, especially Brian Callaghan, and we built a relationship from there and this is now my tenth year as Director.”

Hosted at the beginning of every year, this time taking place between 20th – 31st January 2020, the Festival sees an ever-increasing number of international chess Grandmasters duelling each other on the chess boards and it has become one of the most prominent and anticipated competitions in the world of professional chess.

The ten day event attracts some of the most exciting players from all over the world. “This year we have 248 people playing in the Masters, which is the main event here,” Stuart says, “with many top Grandmasters, both men and women, from around sixty countries.” Female chess players are really well represented at the Gibraltar Chess Festival. “It is great that 25% of the field are female players,” Stuart states.

The biggest representative Federation in regard to the number of players is India, with more players travelling from there to come to Gibraltar than any other country, including Spain and the UK. “We also have players from China, South America, Canada and four or five from Iran, so it is really global – chess is a global sport and we are a global Festival,” he comments.

One of the highlights was a visit by the 12th World Champion and Grandmaster Anatoly Karpov who came for a long weekend before the Festival started. “He had a session with local schoolchildren who are keen on chess and he also gave a simultaneous display for thirty people which went on for about five hours,” Stuart states.

Entry to the Festival is open to contestants with official FIDE ratings, with children as young as 10 taking part. “Maybe there is a future world champion sitting here right now as we speak,” Stuart exclaims. “There has been an influx of ambitious young juniors, keen to do battle with established stars of the game.”

The primary sponsor is now the Gibraltar Government, with several local companies offering sponsorship and support, some of which have been doing so since the advent of the Festival. Gibraltar can boast having the highest prize fund. The overall first prize has increased to £30,000, with £20,000 on offer for the top female player. This year’s joint top seeds, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave from France and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov from Azerbaijan are competing, but as the Festival is only in the fifth round as I speak to Stuart, it is too early to say whose name will go on the trophy. Stuart explains that there can only be one winner, so there has to be a playoff if there is a tie for first place.

One of the strengths of the Festival is the reputation it has for being fun and friendly. “The atmosphere is great and everyone gets into the spirit of the event,” he tells me. “It’s not just a Tournament, it’s a Festival!” In the lobby of the Caleta Hotel people are playing chess in one corner and in another having a bite to eat and drink. The competition games take place both upstairs and downstairs, and anyone can go along to watch these. In addition to the Masters, amateur and challenge tournaments, there is a blitz tournament and a number of other side events. There are screens downstairs showing the leading positions and there is a commentary room where people can listen to live commentary from GM David Howell and WIM Fiona Steil-Antoni.

“It’s not just one person coming to play chess, we have couples, siblings and families accompanying them,” Stuart explains, “and there seem to be more than ever this year.” There’s always a lot going on and the organisers provide a parallel social programme, with a range of events that participants are invited to take part in.

On Sunday 26th The Battle of the Sexes took place; a fun game of chess unique to Gibraltar played on a giant chess set consisting of two teams of some of the top seeded players, one of 5 men and the other 5 women, led by team captains Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Antoaneta Stefanova. Despite all their efforts the ladies could not stop the men from taking the crown back this year.

Prior to the tournament there was a three-day chess seminar at the University of Gibraltar, with former world champion Veselin Topalov and IM Elisabeth Pähtz providing coaching sessions, followed by a Celebratory Dinner attended by Anatoly Karpov. On the last day, the 30th January, there will be a closing Ceremony and Gala Dinner and, of course, the Prizegiving.

Going forward, there is no doubt that The Gibraltar Chess Festival will retain its reputation as being one of the top destinations for chess enthusiasts and its Masters group one of the outright top opens.

There are a couple of blitz tournaments during the event and masterclass

Love Factually

4 years ago in Features by Jo Ward

“Whatever ‘in love’ means” were the memorable words
uttered by Prince Charles in an interview on the day he and Lady Diana Spencer announced their engagement in response to a question from a TV reporter who asked “are you in love?” Diana replied “Of course!” Was Prince Charles’ retort a telling sign that things would end badly for the couple and that the heir to the throne wasn’t really in love with his bride to be?

Biological anthropologist Dr. Helen Fisher, a leading expert and the most referenced scholar on the science of love and attraction, says love is a biological drive and a survival mechanism, basically a system for mating and reproduction. “We’ve evolved three distinctive brain systems, which evolved for different reasons. One is the sex drive. Second are feelings of intense romantic love. The third are feelings of deep attachment. The sex drive evolved to get you out there looking for a whole range of partners. Romantic love evolved to enable you to focus your mating energy on just one individual at a time. And attachment evolved to get you to stick with this person at least long enough to raise a single child together.”

Love at First Sight?

Can there be such a thing a love at first sight? Did Shakespeare get it right in Romeo and Juliet – was it love or was it really lust and more of an intense passionate physical attraction? Romeo was certainly beguiled by Juliet’s beauty the first time he saw her:

O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!

It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night

As a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear—

Beauty too rich for use, for Earth too dear (1.5.51–54)

Have you ever made eye contact with someone that sent a flutter of excitement through your stomach, made your cheeks flush and your knees buckle? Relationship experts suggest that those feelings have a lot more to do with lust than love.

Dr. Judith Orloff, psychiatrist and author of The Empath’s Survival Guide, says: “Lust feels like you intensely want to have sex with someone. Love feels like you want to have sex with someone and be emotionally close to them, too. Love means you want to spend time with your partner and listen to his or her needs and emotions to feel connected. You also are interested in meeting your beloved’s friends. Lust means you’re more interested in having sex than having intimate conversations or meeting the person’s friends.”

Jane Austen’s novels often feature romantic relationships based on ‘love at first sight encounters’ but as in the case of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice who initially loathe each other when they meet for the first time, she shows that initial attraction is not always the proof of true love.

It’s scientifically proven that when you feel like you’re falling in love, a chemical reaction is actually happening in your brain, releasing all those warm, fuzzy feelings. Your brain is creating dopamine and serotonin and because of those chemicals, you may feel an immediate attachment to someone, so it seems to be that instant attraction comes from the brain, not the heart! Real love takes time to grow, so give it time.

Love Online

Online dating is now the second-most common way that couples meet, after meeting through friends. Matchmaking has been around for centuries, but the concept of dating, which replaced the old system of courtship, began at the turn of the 20th century when couples were able to go out in public unsupervised. In 1965, two Harvard students created what is known as “Operation Match” to make dating easier for young people. It was the advent of the World Wide Web in 1991 that saw dating websites pop up online and Match.com was officially founded in 1995. However, it was the launch of Tinder in 2012, the swipe left – swipe right feature, that created a whole new way to hook up with someone new because, unlike in days of old where people met at the village hall, the barn dance or the local disco, meeting someone in real life can be hard.

Nowadays, in a tech-savvy age, online dating has become socially acceptable for open-minded and enlightened people of all ages and dating apps are changing our behaviour towards romance, but the process can sometimes lead to feelings of disappointment. Think of a first date in the same way that you may have ordered a meal online, only to find that you didn’t actually like the dish when it arrived and definitely won’t order it again! Dating has evolved through history, but the truth is that whether you are looking online or in person, the things you look for in a partner are still the same and romance always prevails!

Romance

What is love without a little romance? There’s no doubt that romance scores highly amongst cinema goers who flock to see romantic comedies/weepies that portray idealised notions about love, but it’s important to remember that although relationships in real life have their fair share of romantic moments, they may not have as many as in the movies and there is much more to a relationship than those cute ‘hearts and flowers’ scenes.

The combination of romance and love, together with commitment, passion and trust, can lead to a fulfilling, lasting relationship. Valentine’s Day is generally when we prioritise and celebrate the action of romance through small, or large, gestures that demonstrate our love for someone else. The act of giving flowers to someone on a first date may have been replaced by a text and a heart emoji, but the internet has made keeping in touch easier and a daily ‘maintenance’ text is a low level way to strengthen a relationship and to let your significant other know that you are thinking about them.

Love or lust – how can we tell when it is actually true love? Love increases with time, but lust is rooted in instant gratification and decreases with time. Most new relationships start with some kind of physical attraction but it’s the feeling of wanting to put your partner’s well-being above yours that is a sign of true love. Once the early pangs of love and lust have diminished it can be hard keeping romance alive in a long-term relationship, but love is about commitment and endurance. Falling in love is often the easy part.

We’ll leave the last words to Dr. Helen Fisher:
“Love is arguably the most powerful feeling of all. Yet it is also the most confusing.”

How to parent teenagers

4 years ago in Health & Beauty by Jo Ward

We talk a lot about how to raise our children, from birth through to the toddler years and onward, but we don’t often focus on how to deal with our teens. Parenting teenagers is often difficult as they begin their journey towards being an adult and you may wonder where your ‘easy-to-bring-up’ child has gone as they become moody, defiant and reluctant to communicate with you.

The thing to remember is that their brains ARE acting differently to normal. The rational part of a teen’s brain isn’t fully developed, and won’t reach full maturity until around the age of 25. It’s all to do with the frontal cortex, the part of the brain that controls reasoning and makes them unable to act as an adult would in certain situations.

We can all remember what it was like to be a teenager ourselves, when our bodies were changing and our hormones were raging. So what is the best way to raise teenagers in a world full of chaos and uncertainty?

Communication

Knowing how to talk to teenagers can go a long way to building an open path of communication. Listen to what they have to say without judging them. Hear them, don’t lecture them. Active listening is a technique that is often used in counselling, during training sessions and when solving disputes or conflicts, and unlike passive listening you can validate your teen’s feelings by providing feedback when appropriate.

Building Trust

As they start becoming independent it can be difficult to know how to keep them safe without impeding on their independence or privacy. One way you can find out about what is happening in their life is to build up a trusting relationship. Understanding their point of view and listening to their perspective on life can go a long way to building trust.

Common Interests

Find something that you share an interest in and develop a conversation surrounding it. You can have differing points of view, but respecting each other is important and can lead to some lively debates. If you can’t find anything that you both share an interest in, try to learn about what it is they are passionate about. Have fun together; go to the cinema or out for a pizza, or just watch something on the TV that you know you will both enjoy.

Self-Esteem

Many teenagers suffer with low self-esteem issues which can make them extremely vulnerable. Having a supportive parent or family can go a long way to building their confidence and helping them to regain their self-esteem. Be positive and sincere with your praise and encourage their individual talents, whether that is academic, in the field of sports or the arts.

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

You may not like the way your teen is dressing or the style in which they are doing their hair. It’s good for them to make their own choices and they are not looking for your approval. The only thing that matters to them is how their peers see them and as long as they are not dressing inappropriately for their age, then try and bite your tongue and check back in with your teenage self to remember how you were experimenting with life.

Set Realistic Boundaries

Boundaries can help you and your teen know what behaviour is ok and what’s not and can help you to feel more in control of their behaviour. In one way boundaries are about letting your child know that you will always care about them, even when you are not together. A set of realistic boundaries can make them feel safe and supported and help them to make informed decisions. One good tip is to talk to your teenagers when they are in a calm and reasonable mood and not when tempers are running high. Ask them what they think is reasonable when you are creating boundaries and leave yourself some room to negotiate.

Social Media

Do you have concerns about your teenager’s social media use? This can often be an area of conflict, especially as nowadays social media can impact on their mental health, so the best thing you can do is to be aware of the risks and put strategies into place where possible to limit the effects of cyberbullying. Family discussions about their internet presence and social media use can result in less risky online behaviour.

Don’t approach parenting your teenager as a chore. Yes, they will test your patience and your limits, but remember that they are still developing both in mind and body. Negative expectations can actually promote the behaviour you fear most so make sure you spend some quality time together and learn to respect their choices and opinions if possible. Above all, enjoy them and let them find their wings and fly!

Protein Supplementation for Sports

4 years ago in Health & Beauty by Jo Ward

The importance of protein in sports nutrition is something that many sports people or those interested in keeping fit are passionate about because they realise the benefits of including good quality protein into their diet to support performance and recovery.

Protein is found in foods such as red meat, poultry, fish, dairy, eggs, nuts, tofu and legumes but for those who are looking to build strength or muscle, or for athletes who find that they need more protein than they can obtain from their diet, they can fill the gaps with a reputable brand of protein supplement.

If you’re looking to build the strength or muscle needed to train for a big sporting event, it may be that your body requires more protein to allow you to do so – whether that’s swimming or weightlifting. Plus, protein fills you up, so it may help you to reach your weight loss goals. The amount of protein needed is based on the amount or type of activity you are doing and is measured per gram per kg of your body weight.

There are two different types of protein supplements available

Complete proteins contain all 9 essential amino acids in adequate amounts which are used as the ‘building blocks’ for muscle growth. Animal foods, such as dairy products, eggs, meats, poultry, seafood and soy are complete protein sources.

Incomplete proteins are missing, or do not have enough of, one or more of the essential amino acids, making the protein imbalanced. To combat this, it’s advised to consume a combination of plant proteins to ensure you’re getting a wider range of amino acids. Most plant foods, such as beans and peas, grains, nuts and seeds, and vegetables, are incomplete protein sources. There are also three variants of proteins; concentrated, isolated and hydrolysates. Concentrated protein is made up from 60-80% protein with the remaining being fat and carbohydrate. Isolated protein has a higher percentage of protein, 90-95%, as more of the fat and carbohydrates have been removed. Hydrolysate protein is around 99% protein.

Protein supplements are available in a variety of formulated supplements such as drinks, bars and powders and the most common types of protein shakes are made from whey, a byproduct of cheese production.

Holland & Barrett have a wide selection of sports nutrition products that can aid in muscle growth and help weight gain. Try Precision Engineered Whey Protein Powder Cookies & Cream, a delicious cookies & cream whey protein shake that assists growth of muscle mass, strength and performance, or Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey Powder.

Recovery After Exercise

When you stress your muscles through rigorous exercise, the cells of the muscle recover by taking up more nutrients from the food you eat, resulting in the growth of the muscle and overall well-being. One of the essential nutrients responsible for muscle growth and quick recovery after exercise is protein. However, it’s hard to get enough protein from food and there is a need to supplement protein after working out to ensure you’re getting the nutrients needed to speed up recovery. Muscles can feel the effects of a workout for up to 24 hours afterwards, so it’s important to supply them with amino acids that can repair any damage and replenish energy.

Vegan Protein Powders

Holland & Barrett sell a range of vegan protein powders. It is totally possible to get enough protein from plants, but like regular protein powder, vegan protein powders can give you that added extra to support your workouts and exercise. Vega Clean* Protein, is a complete, multisource blend of premium plant-based protein, or if you are looking for a really indulgent smooth taste experience, try the chocolate flavour Protein World the Vegan Blend in Chocolate Flavour packed with a unique blend of Pea, Quinoa & Hemp Protein. To use as a meal replacement add 40g to 400ml of almond milk or other nut based milks or as a post workout shake add 40g to 400ml of water after exercise.

With any of the protein powders you can experiment making your own shakes by adding fruit or vegetables and adding different types of milk until you find the perfect blend. So whether you are male, female, young or old, or whether you are a swimmer, body builder, cyclist, ballet dancer or triathlete looking to bulk up or get lean, taking the recommended amount of protein powders and other protein products each day could help you to boost your immune system, build your strength and keep those joints healthy.

Advisory Information:

Food supplements must not be used as a substitute for a varied and balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking any medications or are under medical supervision, please consult a doctor or healthcare professional and always read the label before use.

Author Kitty Sewell

4 years ago in Culture Insight by Jo Ward

Over the past few decades there have been many writers who have written novels that feature Gibraltar. International best-selling thriller writer Kitty Sewell came to the Gibunco Gibraltar Literary Festival in November 2019 where Jo Ward managed to catch up with her for a chat about her latest novel, The Fault.

“I came here a few years ago for another reason,” Kitty tells me, “and I immediately fell in love with Gibraltar and thought it was an extraordinary place and a fascinating location in which to set a thriller, with many strange, mysterious and often sinister elements to it.” Kitty was helped in her endeavours to find out more about the Rock when she went into a restaurant owned by local restaurateur Tim Turner, and after chatting with him about her idea for a novel, he became interested in the concept. “I asked if he knew anyone that could help me get into the tunnels and possibly dive in the caves and he immediately introduced me to a whole lot of people including a structural engineer and a guy who owned the Diving Center.”

The best writers are those that get direct experience in the real world, fully immersing themselves in the characters they are writing about. Kitty was taken potholing in the bowels of the Rock and although she can scuba dive she didn’t go diving, but she told me that she had it described to her in vivid colour by several people who had been looking at the treasures on the seabed.

The Fault contains everything a good thriller should, focusing on secrets and lies, family relationships and a kidnapping, using Gibraltar as the backdrop for intriguing and unusual plot devices including the idea to build a cantilevered shelf city on the east side. The three main characters, Sebastian, a civil engineering prodigy, his teenage sister Mimi and his diver girlfriend Eva, are well developed but each seems to be dealing with their own demons, including mental health issues. Without giving away any spoilers, the claustrophobic labyrinth of tunnels are a crucial ingredient that are the perfect location in which to set the mystery. For those who know Gibraltar, the whole place is brought vividly to life in Kitty’s portrayal of a place with mixed traditions, religious diversity and a complicated history. The narrative is full of anecdotes and well observed nuances of everyday life that enable those who don’t know the Rock to fully immerse themselves into the setting and which hopefully leaves them with a desire to visit.

Chatting to Kitty after her talk at the Garrison Library, she said that apart from filling her in with information about the tunnels and Operation Tracer, the audience were mostly interested in how she found the discipline to write. “You are your own boss,” she says, “and unless you’ve been commissioned, there is no deadline, so you don’t know whether what you are writing is good.” Kitty adds that she always gives drafts of her novels to friends to read before sending them to the publisher. “I don’t want to know about the good stuff, I want to know what I have done wrong.”

Kitty’s life has taken her around the world. Born in Sweden, but not having lived there for over half a century, she moved with her parents to the Canary Islands and then to Canada several years after that. She continued to travel and hitchhiked solo around South America, before settling in Spain where she lives on a fruit farm in the mountains of Andalucía. As well as being a best-selling author, Kitty owns a Sculpture Park and Botanical Garden. “I exhibit my own sculptures and also the works of nearly thirty international sculptors, and there are around 160 pieces, mostly carved in stone, on display there,” she explains. Kitty Harri’s Sculpture Garden – www.kittyharri.com

There are many different threads to Kitty’s talents, and after finishing a degree in Urban Land economics, she took a degree in Law and then trained as a Psychotherapist. So where did her love of writing start? “It was almost a fluke because I was writing a weekly column about mental health for a newspaper group, which I did for 15 years, where it was the subject I wrote about that was more important than my skill as a writer,” Kitty says. “But then I got interested in perfecting my skill as a writer and I did an MA in Creative Writing and the dissertation for the MA was my first book ICE TRAP, which was subsequently published to critical acclaim and translated into 15 languages.” Asking what made the book such a success, Kitty states that it was based on the real story of something that happened to her and her husband. “We discovered a child that he didn’t know he had up in sub-Artic Canada.” Sometimes truth can be stranger than fiction! “It was a very dramatic incident in my life with a lot of complications and I wrote about it and I think it was because I put so much of myself into it that readers loved it.”

ICE TRAP was the first of Kitty’s four novels, but her initial foray into writing came when she was practising as a psychotherapist in Wales. What Took You So Long? A Girl’s Journey to Manhood, was written with Raymond Thompson and recounted the journey of his life as the first known transgender man.

Running a sculpture garden, which takes up a lot of her time, and writing best-selling novels would surely be enough for most people, but Kitty is now training to become a meditation teacher. “I’m very passionate about meditation and mindfulness and the role that they can have in saving the Earth in the future,” she states.

Kitty’s next novel is already in the pipeline but, like any good writer, she won’t divulge too much. “It’s about organ transplants, something which I know quite a bit more about than most people,” she confides, “and it’s very sinister.”

Jo Ward - page 13

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