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| Dressed up to go to the São João school party |
This week Loni and I are back at the university but since classes haven't officially started yet and there is not much going on, I have some time to share a little bit more about what I was up to this past month.
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| The traditional dance "forro" came from the Portuguese pronunciation of the words "for all" (so cool!) |
One of the biggest things that happened during vacation was the Festas de São João also known as the Festas Juninas. This festival comemorates the birth of Saint John the Baptist and is the biggest and most celebrated holiday after Carnival here in Brazil. Although the official holiday is only one day, most parties last several weeks. As soon as I arrived in Brazil, my students informed me about São João and said that I was going to love it. From what I experienced, I would say that this holiday is kind of a combiation between Halloween, Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July. A common saying for Brazilians here is that if you are single then Carnival is the best holiday, but for everybody else, São João is where it's at.
Though São João is a religious holiday, it also celebrates the harvest, the end of the rainy season and rural life in general. Thus, the best place to celebrate São João is in a small and rural city. I was lucky enough to be able to stay with my boss and his family in his home town which is 10 hours north of here and out in the middle of nowhere - perfect for São João. Before I traveled north, I helped out with an elementary school São João party which gave me a taste of what was to come: dancing, tradtional and brightly-colored costumes, specific food only eaten at this time of year and lots of Forró music (reminds me of square dancing both in types of music, the style of dancing and the costumes). There's also plenty of fireworks and the parties don't stop until 5am or so.
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| Traditional breakfast in a rural town during the holiday - cous cous, fried sun-dried meat, and papaya |
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| Manioc dessert/snack |
Another famous tradition is making bonfires outside of your home and then going from house to house to visit, sampling the homemade treats and drinking hot alcoholic drinks. It was amazing to drive around the town and see it lit up completely with small fires. While staying with Isaias and his family I learned how to make a lot of the traditional foods using corn, peanuts and different types of manioc flour.
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| Watching soccer with boiled peanuts and popcorn |
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| Making pamonha from corn |
What I liked most about the June parties was the general happiness, the sense of community and the remembering of times past. It's like how we feel when we start to hear Christmas music or snack on Halloween candy. The São João traditions only appear once a year which makes them all the more special. I was glad to be able to participate and I have a feeling that the this holiday was a little more my style than Carnival.
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| Playing dominoes is also popular to do |
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| Waiting for all of the tasty treats to finish cooking |
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| The finished products - delicious! People eat it with fresh cheese. |
Awesome commentary & pictures! Thanks