The Sir Winston Churchill Home Busy Month of December10 Heather B. Cobham 10 Gabriel L. Rizzo 14...

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January 2020

The Sir Winston Churchill HomeBusy Month of December

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BSU CONTACT Newsletterwww.britsoc.org.uywww.facebook.com/BritSocUywww.instagram.com/BritSocUyMontevideo, Uruguay

President:Richard A. [email protected] 096 233 233

Treasurer: Ricardo [email protected] 547 279

Vice President: Gabriel [email protected] 264 614

Webmaster and Editor: Geoffrey [email protected] 586 168

Secretary: Colin [email protected] 022 055

The Sir Winston Churchill HomeBusy Month of DecemberPage 4

Chair of the Sir Winston Churchill Home and Benevolent Funds: Carolyn [email protected]

ContentsPresident’s Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Upcoming Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Member News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2The Sir Winston Churchill Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4British Hospital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7Christ Church Montevideo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Anglican Church of Uruguay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8British Cemetery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9Silver River Lodge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9Saint Andrew’s Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Medical Column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12Back in Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Speedy Crossword Time! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14Chef Phillip’s Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15The Far Side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17Link of the Month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Edition Number 117 Year 11January 2020 +598 96 021 918

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Contact Newsletter January 2020

Page 1www.britsoc.org.uy

The British Society in Uruguay

PRESIDENT’S WORDS

I hope you have enjoyed your Christmas break with family and close friends and are looking forward to 2020 as much as I am.The beginning of a new decade is always exciting. At the same time, it makes us more acutely aware that time is passing and think back on what we have accomplished in the decade that has ended.From the Society’s perspective, the ‘teenies’ were a decade of significant change and modernisation. The teenies saw us start up our website, our Facebook page and our Instagram account, all now essential forms of communication with you, our members. They saw us reshape this publication from a mere occasional listing of Society events sent out to members to a fully-fledged monthly magazine read by a far broader audience. They saw us create a comprehensive members database now not only useful to the Society itself but to all the institutions of the British Society Council. They saw us set up a completely new set of regular Society events and activities which many of you now look forward to on your annual calendars. They saw us double our membership to include many anglophile Uruguayans and friends from a long list of nationalities from around the world.

They saw us significantly improve the Sir Winston Churchill Home through an agreement with the British Hospital that now cares for the Home’s residents in a far better and more professional way than the Society was able to do before. They saw us start to attract younger people to this venerable institution. And they saw us reach our Centenary, as strong and resilient as when we were founded in 1918.Now we are at the threshold of the twenties. Let us hope they bring the Society as much positive change as the past decade, so that come 2030 my successor can look back on them and smile as widely as I do now while writing these words. That will only be possible - as it was in the teenies - with the help of the many kind-hearted members (thank you all!) willing to give time and effort to the preservation and improvement of the British community and its institutions, which our Society leads.So much for reflection. I wish you all a great summer and look forward to seeing you sometime soon.Richard Empson President

Dear members,

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MEMBER NEWSBirthdays in January

01 Karen A. Higgs01 Ana K. Fontes02 Eric Quevedo02 Manuel Ciganda03 Mark N. Sexton05 Adriana de los Santos06 Maureen Stoutt06 Marta Arechavaleta07 Helena Jorge09 Teresa Gallette09 Virginia A. Brown10 Heather B. Cobham10 Gabriel L. Rizzo14 Mariana Fox16 Joan Lucas-Calcraft16 Diana R. Surgey18 Aída P. Scott

19 Silvana M. Frigerio19 Alejandra Mendioroz21 Anthony P. Prevett21 María P. Ciasullo22 Sheila B. Henderson23 Ondine Aenlle23 Eleonora R. Liotti26 Elvira J. Shaw27 Elisabeth C. Whitty27 Francisco M. Ruvertoni28 Nicolás F. Etcheverry29 Pedro L. Maisonnave29 Caroline V. Empson29 Stephanie Bell30 Elaine M. Horne30 Cecilia Lebrato31 Verónica Funch-Thomsen

“Best things are yet to come this year, celebrate being special on every day!

Happy birthdays!”

UPCOMING EVENTSFriday 24th of January at 8:30 pmBurns NightSt Andrew’s Society of UruguayAcevedo Díaz 2324







THIS MONTH’S COVER

This month’s cover is the first of a series dedicated to special locations in London.The White Lion is a pub in Covent Garden, London, on the corner of James Street and Floral Street.There has been a pub called the White Lion on the site since at least 1839, and the current pub was rebuilt in 1888, as can be seen under the rampant lion at the top of the building.The White Lion Group, a radical political group in the 1820s and 1830s, with members including Dr Watson, and John Gale Jones, was named after the pub, as that had been their first meeting place.The White Lion was once used just by market traders and local people, but is now used mainly by tourists, office workers and opera goers.Geoffrey W DeakinEditor.

The beautiful and historical building of The White Lion

in London

BSU MEMBERSHIP FEES

The British Society would like to kindly remind all members who have not yet done so to get up to date with their membership fees (for 2019 and any previous unpaid dues).Remember you can now do this easily from the comfort of your own home using any local debit card and most credit cards through the RedTickets platform.For those members that like to be on time, the membership fee for 2020 is also available.

Notice to Society Members

2018

2019

2020




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THE SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL HOME

December was a busy month at the Home with many activities and entertainment for our residents.

Our Christmas Party was a success and we thank family and friends who were able to accompany us!







THE SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL HOME Continued...

A highlight in December was the screening of The Battle of the River Plate in the gardens of the Embassy! It was such an original and enjoyable event and we want to thank Ian and Neil and all those who went or contributed as all the proceedings went to the Home.







THE SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL HOME Continued...

The Form 6 Choir of The British Schools visited us as they do every year and sang a well chosen selection of Christmas songs which had our residents happily singing along.

On the 10th of December we celebrated Valerie’s birthday!

After they finished they chatted and asked the residents questions.







BRITISH HOSPITAL

Types of medical assistance for emergencies in the countryside

SUMMER COVERAGE

Home doctor in Maldonado:To arrange for a doctor to see you at home please call UCM directly on 147.

For life-threatening situations: Maldonado, Punta del Este:La Emergencia, T. 4266 3535Canelones, Costa de Oro:SAPP, T. 1910Ciudad de la Costa:UCM, T. 147

Private Medical Facilities with reciprocalhealth care along the east coast:Maldonado: Mautone, Cantegril, Clínica San Fernando. Rocha: Comero.

Private Medical Facilities with reciprocal health care in the rest of the country:- SIEM (UCM) network polyclinics - Medical assistance can be arranged with prior appointment with the duty doctor.Call 2487 1020, extension 3000 (no payment is required, the bill will be sent directly to the BH).

Medical advice is available on the online chat from anywhere 365 days a year 24 hours a day with UCM:Download the UCM app to your mobile pho-ne from Play Store (Android) o Apple Store (for iPhone). Access is also available on the website: https://portal.ucm.com.uy

OUTSIDE MONTEVIDEO







CHRIST CHURCH MONTEVIDEO

ANGLICAN CHURCH OF URUGUAY

The English-speaking congregation of Holy Trinity Cathedral invites all residents and visitors to its English service every Sunday at 10 am with an Anglican Eucharist celebrated

according to the 1979 Prayer Book of the the

Episcopal Church of the USA.

Baptized Christians of all denominations are invited to receive Holy Communion in order to be spiritually fed and united to their brothers

and sisters in Christ.

www.anglicanchurch.uy

Everyone is always welcome. English with Spanish

simultaneous interpretation.

Arocena 1907Esq. Lieja, Carrasco

Tel 2601 0300www.christchurchmvd.org

VISIT OUR

NEW WEBSITE




http://anglicanchurch.uy/

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www.cementeriobritanico.com.uyEmail: [email protected]

Telephone: 2622 3071All those interested in our events are very welcome!

BRITISH CEMETERY

SILVER RIVER LODGE

All our meetings are held on the 3rd Monday of every month, from March through November, at the William G. Best Masonic Temple, located at

1429 Canelones Street, Montevideo.

For further information please contact us at [email protected] or call Mr. Martin Macadam

at 096 001 995.




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SAINT ANDREW’S SOCIETYLast 30th November we celebrated St. ANDREW’S DAY with a night of music and dance in which we joined forces with The City of Montevideo Pipe Band, The Traditional Gentlemen, The Jock Tamson’s Band and The Montevideo Country Dancers to have a wonderful Ceilidh at the premises of our friends the Montevideo Players.







SAINT ANDREW’S SOCIETY

And to begin a new year of activities comes BURNS EVE, a night to remember the great Scottish poet Robert Burns.We will put together a few traditions like Addressing the Haggis, talking about his poems and Scotland, listening and dancing to Scottish music.You are all welcome again at the premises of the Montevideo Players next Friday 24th of January.For catering purposes booking will be required, so please make your reservations to the phone numbers in the flyer.

Continued...







MEDICAL COLUMN by Dr Jorge C Stanham MBE [email protected]

Chronic Non-Communicable DiseasesHumans are living longer. The reasons are manifold but have little to do with acute health care provided at hospitals. The main factors have to do with improved housing, food preservation, water supply, waste disposal, energy from renewable or non-renewable sources, transportation, communication, community support and where relative peace reigns, less violent deaths due to war and crime. Where does health care fit in as a factor? If you look closer to persons 75 or older, although they are probably on many medications and follow-ups for many chronic conditions, only a very few have been clearly rescued from the jaws of severe, acute, life-threatening illnesses. Childhood vaccinations have certainly done their part, but acute care provided at hospitals in reactive-mode only target those few that get into harm’s way. Ironically, when studies about harm caused by health care have been estimated, we are faced with the fact that a Jumbo-jet full of patients die every day in the United States – in hospitals, as was documented in ‘To Err is Human’, by the Institute of Medicine, back in 1999 (and it hasn’t gotten any much better since!).Can we also conclude that the diagnosis and ongoing treatment of chronic illnesses like hypertension, coronary disease, obstructive airway disease, osteoporosis and joint problems, diabetes and metabolic disorders, plus controlling previously rapidly fatal cancers has contributed to longevity? This may be a chicken-and-egg situation: as people are living longer, they tend to develop one and usually more of the above-mentioned list of problems and the availability of health care paves the path to frequent clinic visits, tests, diagnoses and multiple medications. In this setting, diagnosing or not, treating or not is not a black-and-white situation. Physicians and other healthcare professionals are continuously bombarded with exponentially increasing information produced by studies which try to prove that treating condition A with medication X as opposed to medication Y is best. Or, more so, new diagnostic tests appear and are questionably used to diagnose diseases well before they cause symptoms, so as to ‘sell’ them as ‘prevention’. Things are not so simple, as the benefit is never clear-cut and requires sophisticated statistical analysis to prove the stated benefit – and later we have to look at the team of investigators closely for conflicts of interest and industry ties. Dr Arnold Relman in the early 1980s reworded President Eisenhower’s ‘military-industrial complex’ to ‘medical-industrial complex’. In grass-roots terms, it means that health care is to a great extent a wheat-and-chaff environment.

Going back to the title: the major burden of health care is nowadays how to help persons who are adding anything from 1 to even 4 or 5 of the chronic ailments I mentioned. How to live meaningfully with these conditions and enjoy life without over-testing, over treating (polypharmacy = being on up to 10 or more pills a day) or having to visit the doctor many times a year is a major issue in designing modern health care systems. Hospitals will have their place, especially as Emergency Departments, Surgical Centres and Intensive Care Units. Most of the usual care will be provided at home, aided by state-of-the art information and communications technology, with remote monitoring, telemedicine and directly by personnel with qualifications more in line with Nursing, Social Services, Nutrition, Physical Therapy and Pharmacy. Patients will be more informed and will have their say about how they want to live with the burden of their ailments. Yes, we’ll still be pill-popping for a while, but with the increasing development of ‘precision’ medicine, this may be in our rear-view mirror in less than a generation.




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BACK IN TIME by Tony [email protected]

When I came to the United States in the late 1970s, I worked on an oil rig off the coast of Louisiana. As part of my job, I helped out in the galley, and after a few weeks the cook, Jayro, decided I was ready to relieve him while he took some shore leave. So, in a sort of battlefield promotion, I assumed the cooking duties for about twenty-five roughnecks living on a tiny metal platform a hundred-odd miles offshore, somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico. Making breakfast, lunch, and dinner kept me extremely busy, and by the time my workday was done, the sun had gone down and I was exhausted. But rather than go straight to bed, I’d go up and join Mitch and Bobby on the helicopter landing pad. We’d lie there gazing up at the stars—fabulously bright so far from land—unwinding after a long day. Mitch talked about growing up as a juvenile delinquent in Alabama, Bobby talked about growing up as a black man along the coast of Louisiana, and I wondered aloud about what to cook for lunch the following day. The huge, sparkling sky hung over us, stretching off into the unimaginable distance, and we all agreed that, up on that helipad, none of life’s problems seemed quite so bad. Every day a group of welders, electricians, and carpenters came out to the rig, by motorboat or helicopter, and of course they stayed for lunch. The head man on the welding crew was Vic, and it soon became clear that Vic had something on his mind. A charming man, he’d wander into the galley and talk to me about nothing in particular, keeping out of my way while observing what I was doing. I gradually realized that Vic was Cajun, a native of Louisiana who, like many members of that ethnic group, was passionately interested in food. One day he casually mentioned, in the nicest possible way, that since beans were a basic part of any Cajun meal, and since they were a standard item on the rig’s menu, then wouldn’t it be great if the beans were really good? I told him I was cooking them just as my predecessor had taught me to, seasoned with a ham hock and some salt and black pepper. “Well,” he said gently, resting a hand on my shoulder, “Jayro’s from Missouri. And there’s

beans, and then there’s Beans.” I asked Vic right then to teach me how to cook Beans, and thus began my apprenticeship in the fine art of Cajun cooking, albeit on a very basic level. My mentor coached me every morning and, in the afternoon, gave me a detailed evaluation of the day’s lunch. It was the kind of one-on-one training that fine culinary schools the world over can only dream of. His approach was broad and surprisingly philosophical. He helped me understand that cooking is a form of communication, a way to express one’s feelings for one’s fellow human beings. Vic showed me how to mince garlic, onions, andouille sausage, and celery and stir them into the pot of pintos to add a rich flavour the humble ham hock could never equal. He taught me to scoop out a ladleful of cooked beans, puree them, and

blend the paste back into the liquid to make a wonderfully thick gravy that transformed the beans into a delicious, hearty soup, perfect for serving over a heap of fluffy white rice. Among his many tips, Vic also taught me to save the breakfast bacon fat in an empty Folgers coffee can and add a little to the biscuits and cornbread, two other staples on the menu. He was spending more time in the galley than out on deck with his crew, but nobody seemed to mind since it was generally agreed that what he was doing was far more important and was for the benefit of everyone on board. Every afternoon he told me my beans were getting better until one day, as he pulled his tasting spoon from his mouth, his eyes rolled back, a truly blissful smile spread across his

face, and he said, “Now there’s some Beans!” I couldn’t have felt prouder if he’d told me I’d been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Up on the helipad that night, Bobby said, “They sure was some Beans you cooked today, man!” I looked up at the stars, thinking about the nearly seven thousand languages that people around the world use to communicate with each other, and savoured the immense satisfaction of having learned how to talk Beans.

Talking Beans




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SPEEDY CROSSWORD TIME! from The Guardianwww.theguardian.com

Across

1 Pass to a different owner (6,5)9 Novices (9)10 Sheltered side (3)11 Track down (5)13 One of Santa’s reindeers (7)14 Pressing (6)15 Ornament pinned to clothing (6)18 Boat using a net to catch fish (7)20 A foxy lady? (5)21 By way of (3)22 Make better (9)24 With no protection (11)

Down

2 Embrace (3)3 Hard-wearing fabric, originallyfrom China (7)4 Not subject to taxation (6)5 Perplexed (2,3)6 French romantic painter, d.1863— coax idler (anag) (9)7 Hindering (11)8 Admonished (11)12 Make worse (9)16 Bringing back to prominence (7)17 Cut capers (6)19 Let (5)23 Beast of burden (3)

Print this page and start playing! Solution in the next Contact issue.

December solution:




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Phillip Berzins is an English man who has lived half his life in Montevideo. Born in Crew, Cheshire, he spent his childhood on a farm in the Lake District before moving to Lincoln as a teenager. Phillip obtained a Higher National Diploma in Hotel and Catering Administration at Manchester Polytechnic. After graduating, he worked as a Junior Manager at hotels in Newcastle and Edimburgh, but his main interest had always been the kitchen side of the business. Therefore he moved to Ireland to work as a Chef, and then to Austria, where he worked at the Österreichischer Hof, currently the Sacher Hotel, in Salzburg. There he met his Uruguayan wife, Beatriz. After marrying and spending a year in Uruguay working with his now friend Eduardo Ithurralde at Le Lutèce in Montevideo and Punta del

Este, Phillip and Beatriz returned to England, where he worked at Claridge’s and Hyde Park Hotels in London. Upon returning to Uruguay, in 1988 he opened his own restaurant, Le Gavroche, where he offered first-class French cuisine for the following four years.In 1992 he became the Executive Chef of the Victoria Plaza, then Radisson Hotel, for the next six years, when he became the Executive Chef at the Punta Carretas Golf Club. He was in charge of all the catering operations at the Golf Club for the following 18 years.He is currently working as advisor to restaurants, and has been teaching at the Alta Academia de Gastronomía del Uruguay for the last twenty-five years.

Introducing Phillip Berzins as our new monthly Contributor

CHEF PHILLIP’S CORNER by Phillip Berzins [email protected]




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January’s RecipeGrilled fish, potato and watercress salad with aioli sauce4 portions

Fish fillets• 800 g fresh fish fillets• Flour for coating

Season fish with salt and pepper and coat with flour. Cook in a frying pan with a mixture of oil and butter (small amount, just to prevent it from sticking and to give it colour) until crispy on one side, then flip over and cook the other side.

Potato and watercress salad• 750 g potatoes peeled and cut in 1 ½ cm cubes• ½ onion, finely diced• 40 ml olive oil• 20 ml vinegar or lemon juice• Bunch of watercress• Salt and pepper

Boil the potatoes in salted water, reserving ½ cup of the cooking liquid. Mix reserved hot cooking liquid with the oil and vinegar, salt and pepper and onions and stir carefully into the still hot potatoes (it is important to mix while the potatoes are still hot, so they absorb the flavours).When mixing the potatoes with the dressing, they will break up a little bit and become slightly mushy, but do not worry as this is characteristic of this dish. The most important thing is that the salad is well seasoned. While still warm, mix in half the watercress to allow it to wilt a little bit. Save the remaining watercress for decoration.Serve the warm salad with the hot fish and garnish with aioli sauce (recipe below).

Aioli sauce Note: this is not your typical aioli sauce, which is usually made with egg yolks and olive oil, but a lighter version.

• 100 ml of whole milk at room temperature• 250 ml sunflower oil at room temperature• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped• Salt and pepper

Add these ingredients to a mixer and blend well, until light and fluffy (approximately two minutes).

CHEF PHILLIP’S CORNER Continued...







THE FAR SIDE by Gary Larson

LINK OF THE MONTH

Click HERE to visit the Website

How to cope with email overloadAll those emails you don’t have time to deal with could be making you ill




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The Sir Winston Churchill Home Busy Month of December10 Heather B. Cobham 10 Gabriel L. Rizzo 14...

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