Birthdays, Birthdays, and Egg Friends!

Over the last couple weeks, Lindsey and I have been invited to celebrate friends’ birthdays. Lindsey’s host professor invited us to celebrate her mother-in-law's birthday with a big, beautiful lunch at her home.

We enjoyed Maniçoba, a classic dish from the Amazon region that is made from the leaves of the manioc plant. The leaves are poisonous and must be ground and boiled for several days to remove the hydrogen cyanide before it can be consumed. It's served with white rice and has a consistency that is very similar to that of Chicken Mole, but it’s not as sweet. It also tends to dirty your teeth a bit--I like it.

She also served a shrimp and rice dish and her birthday dessert was a fruit custard made from Bacuri, a classic fruit also exclusive to the Amazon region. It has a hard shell, a very sweet scent and tastes similar to pineapple. It’s just a bit tangier.

We met many of her close friends and family including Marina, her granddaughter.She was very sweet and eager to give us a grand tour of her very pink bedroom— Lindsey and I are hoping she’ll invite us over again to go swimming!

The same day, my host professor, invited us to her husband’s birthday party. Larissa and Rafael are a couple of the most awesome people we have had the privilege of meeting in Belém.

They are always inviting to new places and introducing us to their friends and family. They’ve also made it somewhat of a tradition to take us to mass every Sunday then out to dinner to try new places.

It’s something that Lindsey and I definitely look forward to at the end of our weekend. At Rafael’s birthday party, we met Larissa’s cousin, Beatriz.

She is definitely one of the cutest and smartest little girls I have ever met. She was so entertaining with her clever remarks and silly comments—such a cutie!

My colleague Rosana also invited me to her son’s birthday dinner. I was treated to another amazing dinner with more wonderful people.

It was such a nice time with her family, and Rosana’s cake was absolutely delicious! It’s quite common in Brazilian culture to send your family and guests home with food from the party, so Rosana gave me some cake, and I had it for breakfast the next morning!

Just this evening, my landlord knocked on my door to invite us to his granddaughter’s 4-month birthday party.

When we first moved in, they celebrated baby Luiza’s 3^rd month and that was a pretty big deal, or so we thought. This month, the decorations were even more elaborate. There was a balloon arch and the baby’s name was posted largely in bright green, glittery letters.

Many friends and family were present. Baby Luiza was showered with gifts even though she was completely oblivious to it all. I guess it’s pretty common to celebrate each month of a child’s first year. We’ve been told that the actual 1^st year celebration is quite a grand event.

Last Saturday, Lindsey’s students invited us to their Amigo de Ovo celebration. The students decorated with balloons and made bunny ears for all their guests.

They prepared a yummy dinner and a delicious cake. They also made Brigadeiros, a popular Brazilian chocolate truffle, and served them in small, decorated cups.

In Brazil, Easter baskets are not commonly given as gifts for the holiday. Instead, people exchange large chocolate eggs. These eggs range in size, decoration and flavors, and they are displayed all throughout grocery stores and different stores in the mall beginning mid-March. We were a little curious about these eggs that took over the city until our students explained them.

The Brazilian Easter party seemed to incorporate our idea behind Secret Santa. A week or so before the party, the students picked names from a hat to determine their Egg Friend. Each person then bought a chocolate egg to the party for the person they had chosen.

Just before revealing their Amigo de Ovo and presenting their chocolate gift, they say something nice about the person they chose and the others try to guess who it is. It was definitely a fun first, and I may be bringing this tradition back home with me too!