Celebrations of Children

Finally a country that prioritizes children – at least recently. It seems like every weekend is another celebration of children. September 27 was the Catholic day for Saints Cosme and Damion, and then last Friday was Children’s Day. The latter is the kid's equivalent of Hallmark’s Father’s and Mother’s Days, but many people get the day off. Celebrations for Cosme e Damião – as they’re called here – continued well past the 27th, into the weekend and next week.

My playground had an offering of sweets and candles by a tree. But a more festive event for me was the Umbanda ceremony to the Ibeijadas, African spirits of twin children who through Afro-Catholic syncretism are associated with Cosme e Damião, two Arabian brother doctors who helped cure the poor for free in Jesus’s name. When we first arrived I ran into the center of the ritual area, where all the action was; but was quickly removed, unfortunately. So while dad videotaped the ceremony from a fabulous vantage point on the drummer’s platform, mom and I circulated with the other moms and kids – seated around the ritual and eating in the kitchen. It was hard to tell why the ceremony was going to wind up being dedicated to children because for the first hour, adult spirits incorporated the mediums one by one, ushering in a session of rigorous dancing and singing. The Iemanjás were fairly passive, but the Oguns wielded swords and the Xangos and Juremas weren’t holding back either. But all of a sudden, after greeting Ogum again, the music changed and the Ibeijadas took over many of the mediums. They fell to the floor, rolling around, laughing, joking, pushing each other, sucking on pacifiers, handing out candy, playing practical jokes, and generally acting immature. How insulting! That’s not how us, real children behave! We roam around, seemingly aimlessly, hopping from one distraction to the next, making unexpected demands on our parents, all while refusing to eat or drink anything except yogurt and crackers. Nonetheless, it was nice to be recognized.

For the long weekend of Children’s Day, we fled to the coast with our neighbors and their daughter. The coast of Rio Grande do Sul is mostly one long sandy beach – though they say it’s not all that by Brazilian standards because of cold currents and silty water from the Rio Plata. Where we were, in Torres, along the border with Santa Catarina, is apparently the best beach of the state and kicks-off the better beaches to the north. Several high basalt mesas distinguish Torres from beaches to the south. At the top of one were paragliders and a street vendor selling Catholic saints on small boats. At the top of another was an interesting mix of flora, including passion flowers and cactuses.

It was great to get out of town, having been in POA for over a month, and having not yet seen the beach while in Brazil. It also gave me an opportunity to wear my all U.V. protective suit, hat, shoes, and sunglass combo. I may look funny, but, hey, I don’t need to find a Halloween outfit. I’m going as the ol’ kid-of-paranoid-and-gear-happy-North-American- parents. Sadly, this photo was taken minutes before I began shivering and began the painful onslaught of a 103-degree fever. Ah, the benefits of daycare. Nonetheless, the folks enjoyed a Thai shrimp dinner made from mom’s peanut butter, as well as crab, fries, and beer on the beach. Polar is the state’s cheap beer and a favorite of Exu Tiriri – but that’s another story.