Emma had her first school program a few weeks ago. The kids celebrated a June holiday in July - calling it Festa Julina. All the kids dressed up as little Caipiras, which is a word that identifies people who are from rural areas and are less educated ("hillbilly" is an English word that closely resembles Caipira). Each class performed a short skit to music. Emma's class performed with the two classes above her age group. One class pretended to prepare soil for planting, Emma's class pretended to be seeds that were planted and another class pretended to water the seeds. It was kind of a comical moment when I realized how proud I was of my little seed:) It wasn't a difficult role, but really, she was a great seed!! After her class was finished, they danced around for a while and then exited. Well, they all exited except for Emma!! She was having so much fun whirling and twirling around that she didn't notice the rest of her class had gone. I'm not sure she cared. I loved watching her dance away and my heart was happy to see her having such a great time.
During the week leading up to the festival, I was able to help at Emma's school. We wrapped presents for the festival, ironed decorations, organized food, sent out reminders for the party and helped with other little preparations. I was in a small room with about 7-8 other moms and teachers. I really had a good time. My language isn't good enough to just jump in and offer my opinion or comments, but I understood everything and enjoyed being around the other moms. It was fun to be able to help and participate. The night of the festival, I signed up to be a helper for selling drinks. I poured countless cups of Coke and Guarana, along with hot chocolate and quentao, a hot-spiced wine, similar to apple cider. Emma was thrilled because I painted our faces with fake freckles and lots of blush. I even put my hair in pigtails. We stayed for most of the party, but left when Emma was about to fall asleep. She had danced herself into exhaustion.
The festival was also an end-of-semester celebration. Emma is now on winter break for two weeks. I love having her home all day. We've had some busy days running around town, playing at home and at the park, baking lots of fun things, and making crafts. Even though she misses school, I think she's loving her time here too!!
