Festa Julinha. . .

At the beginning of July, the Brazilians invited us to celebrate one of their holidays with them. Festa Julinha is actually supposed to be Festa Junina, celebrated in June, but for some reason, they often celebrate it in July. Usually there's a feast that celebrates rural life (hence, the pigtail braids and plaid shirts), and it's very important for the kids to get dressed up and have freckles painted on their cheeks.  We had another commitment later that evening, so we just stopped by for a short bit. The moms felt bad that Emma didn't get to stay for the whole party, so they decorated her cheeks and shared some food with her anyway.

These are four of my friends, Sarah, Janet (Sarah's mom), Paula, and Virginia. Janet has been living her for almost 15 years. She is so sweet and amazing and I wish I could be around her more. Her daughters are beautiful and kind and so intelligent and I really enjoy our conversations! Paula and her family moved here shortly after Christmas and they plan to live here indefinitely. Virginia and her family moved here in March and plan to be here 2-3 years. She's one of my ESL students. There were about 10-12 Brazilian women there that afternoon. Their husbands came later, just as I was leaving. These people have a party to celebrate something just about every weekend!

She was happy to have her makeup put on, but then I had to explain to our American friends the reason why she looked like she did! We were happy to share this tradition with the Brazilians and of course, happy just to get to spend time with them! It's always such a joy to me to be around them!