Colonial powers

This is the second time I've received mail - and stamps - from Joao in Portugal. This time he included stamps from previous Portuguese colonies: Angola and Mozambique. To me the stamps all were very thematic. They featured uniforms worn by the colonizing soldiers, raw materials that were extracted from those places, native women, maps of the conquered lands and portraits of the distinguished explorers etc involved.

It's amazing how many countries have been involved in the colonizing process. I'm not going to single any one out. Holland, my parents' country has dabbled. New Zealand, where I was born, was itself a colony. I recommend that you listen to a podcast by Dan Carlin on the topic.

Work gets in the way

'Nova Zealandia' looks so much more interesting than 'New Zealand', don't you think? That's how they write it in Portugal, the country that is actually exactly on the other side of my home city. Joao spelled it that way on the envelope he sent me with 50 Portuguese stamps.

As well as the 50 stamps, Joao also included three minisheets. He is interested in receiving NZ only, as another friend from Australia sends him stamps from that part of 'Downunder' from there.

Joao works several hundred kilometres away from home, so he is away for eight or nine days at a time. I would imagine that it is quite a thrill to open the mainbox on his return! I'll do my best to contribute my bit towards the excitement.