Easter in Brasil

I think that Brasilians like Easter almost as much as Carnival.  First they have another – that’s ANOTHER – 4 day weekend.  Everyone I know is going somewhere and I can only hope that they will all be safe.  Yesterday downtown Friburgo was CRAZY with people shopping.  I can understand this kind of shopping at Christmas.  they all, after all, receive an extra paycheck in December.  Yesterday the lines in the grocery stores where 20 long, everyone with full baskets OR TWO.   Camillo and I turned around and left, there isn’t anything I need so badly that I will wait in line for an hour.  Everything we needed could be bought at one of the little markets and with less hassle.  It is the weirdest thing to me, the stores hang chocolate eggs from the ceiling.  I am a little taller than the average Brasilian and this stuff hanging from the ceiling gives me a feeling of claustrophobia.  Look closely at the photo..... the prices of the hollow chocolate (waxy) eggs are out of this world.   I was told yesterday that R%75.00 wasn’t bad,  “because there were actually 3 eggs inside”  I was not rude and laugh in her face – but I have to work 4 hours for R$75.00 and some people have to work the whole week.....and R$75.00 was totally unrealistic.

Today Kurt and Kybran bring the girls and another couple with a young girl up for the weekend.  I will bake Salmon on Friday and on Saturday we will make a churrasco.  On Saturday we will have an Easter egg hunt (if it isn’t raining) out in the garden.  They have to leave early on Sunday, so the Easter candy hunt will happen on Saturday.

Easter color in the store windows.

 

The garden centers are full of orchids.   I  LET  Camillo buy me a geranium that had an unusual flower.  Beautiful.  And the Christmas cactus in in bloom.  Have a great and a SAFE Easter weekend.

Brasilian styled birthday party

Tuesday was a national holiday, everything was closed including the gym. Next week is Edgar's birthday. These two things combined prodded me to invite the young people from the gym up here to the house for a Churrasco.

They came, it rained, they ate everything on the table, they laughed and talked and enjoyed each other's company.  They enjoyed their day off.  They did not care that they were stacked up against each other to avoid the rain.  They sang happy birthday to Edgar, ate cake and they left.

Camillo and I cleaned up for two hours then collapsed.

 

 

 

This is a normal routine for a birthday party. When I first arrived here I did like you would in the States;  you feed everyone, you give them coffee and desert. They sit around and talk and laugh, maybe have another drink, and sit and talk some more.

Here after the birthday cake everyone gets up at once, kisses and hugs everyone all around (and around) and then leaves.... hum?

So here you feed them, talk and laugh and dance, offer coffee, maybe give out chocolates, then when it is time for the party to be over you serve the birthday cake.

and that is that, everyone leaves.

A New Day

After four days of rain, I woke this morning to bright blue skies, night fog rising from the valley Stucky and singing birds. Hum? It is also very quiet. No buses on the road below the house, no school children laughing as they walk to the bus, only birds singing and dogs barking, it must be another holiday in Brasil.

Camillo has been in disagreement with me over holidays in Brasil. He says we have more time off in the USA. But since he has been trying to organize some meetings in Rio, he is now seeing the error of his thinking in this. Everyone from waiters to top executives have a 30 day vacation starting after one year of employment. In the States, until you have worked for a company for five years, if your lucky, you get ten days of vacation a year. After five years, you get 3 weeks, and if you make it to 20 years you might get a month.

Brasil has mother's day, father's day, children's day, saints' days, world cup days, carnival days, Christmas days, New Year Eve Days, Easter days, .... and today is Labor day and I think May day also, so if it weren't labor day they wouldn't be working anyway. On holidays, all the schools are closed, (Oh! schools also have summer and winter breaks), shops are closed, some restaurants are closed, government offices are closed and worst of all MY GYM is closed. Also, I think that there is a day before and a day after each holiday when nothing happens because they are getting ready for or recovering from a holiday.

In the states, there are by standard 10 paid holidays a year. AND the stores and restaurants are never closed because holidays are the best shopping days for all those women at home for the day with nothing to do because their husbands are watching football games all day. Hum! maybe there is room for improvement there.

I wonder if any government body here has ever related the holiday issues with low national productivity numbers and sluggish economic growth? Speaking of productivity I'd better get to work.

GingerV