Festa Juliana!! A celebration to be remembered!

Whhhhatttt??  Is that the sun I see?  I do believe it is!  In fact I know it is! After almost 48 straight hours of rain it is a beautiful sunny morning!  A bit cool, by my standards.  I am afraid the kids might be a bit cooler than I am.

Yesterday was amazing!  We got up early and headed back to the ACM Morro Santana.  I think we were all a little apprehensive.  The plan was to help with set up and then be part of their Festa Juliana, a real country party.  The thought that none of us really speaks Portuguese and none of them really spoke English was a bit daunting.  How in the world was that going to happen and happen smoothly when we only really had our host to help translate for all of us.  Yikes!

Enter determination, technology and a bit of translating and ... game on!

First came set up and testing of all the games...

Then a chance to share football (not soccer folks!) and dances from both Brasil and the USA... Good thing we have talented teens to represent us, that is all I can say about that!

After spending time with the Brazilian teens it was time for lunch... We were on a tight time line the littles would be arriving soon, we needed to be ready...

Sausage on a roll, with mustard and potato sticks... YUM

Great way to butter hot corn don't you think?

Quick group photo and then look outside at those anxious littles....

Once the gate opened it was a serious flood of excitement and costumed youngsters... rain was not dampening any spirits!

Some our teens got involved in the spirit of the moment right away, all of us made little friends, and some not so little friends.  Language was no longer even a consideration... WiFi (weefee) had made google translator our best friend, the kids were determined to break through any type of a communication barrier and a hug is universal!

We gave and received medals, I have no photos of those, was part of the process, we participated in snacks, dances, even teaching them all the Cupid Shuffle... 

On the bus ride home it was hard to feel the exhaustion... the feelings of joy, happiness and the wonder of having spent a day making a difference were much stronger! 

We've made friends... even if just on Facie Bookie... maybe for life... 

Today... well it's going to be interesting... today we head to the Cemetery and then the teen round table... and other fun stuff in the mix... 

last nights dinner