Festa Junina (June Party)

Hi everyone,,
June party, is this the same as a May, July, August, Sept......party. As it turns out this is a party in honor of Saint Peter (I don't know who this Saint is). This party happens on the Tuesdays throughout the month of June celebrated throughout Rio and maybe all of Brazil. The June party (Festa Junina) I happen to be attending as celebrated at the cheapest hostel in all of Rio is a party where you pay initially R$15 (half in US$) for all the food and beer one can eat and drink. Quite cheap with entertainment included.

The food, so far has consisted of suasages and cheese grilled over charcol. I've never had grilled cheese as the sign read. I thought of grilled cheese in the form of a sandwich. but this form of grilled cheese was literally grilled cheese. Just like the sausage, the cheese of similar shape, .5 inch square by 5 inches long grilled over hot coals until crispy dark brown on all four sides. The cheese could have been dipped in a course brown flour or eaten plain straight off the stick. I don`t know what kind of cheese, white in color but definetly not mozerella to be able to become crispy over the high heat of charcol. The first grilled cheese on a stick was eaten plain, the second, rolled in course ground brown flour giving the hot cheese a crunchy texture. I don't know what kind of cheese this was being grilled but it must have been some kind of hearty cheese able to withstand the high temperatures of charcol without melting like mozeralla or cheddar cheese. Other foods were a traditional Brazilian soup made of creamed rice and hominy, sweet and regular cornbread, and peanut brittle. As I have restarted the low carb diet, the sweets were set aside as I ate more of the grilled cheese and sausage.

Various festivities during the Festa Junina include a plethora of games for all participants. My favorite of which is bingo. You all know the game, right. The numbers were drawn from a coconut with a hole large enough to stick your hand through. The winner of all these games won a chip enabling the winner to a free drink of Caiprinha. Caiprinha is a Brazilian drink made from the liquor Cachaca which happens to be a liquor made from cane sugar, a sweet liquor. Making caprinha involves using a wooden mallet to mash the fresh limes, pulverizing the pulp within the liquor of cachaca. To make the sugar cane liquor even sweeter, granulated cane sugar can be added. I, so far have had mine made without the granulated sugar as it appears to be sweet enough without the sugar.

Other games to get chips to trade for the caiprinha drink involve a drinking game where a deck of cards are placed on top of a beer bottle. The game is called BLOW. The object is to see how many cards you can blow off the bottle without blowing the final card off. The one who blows the final card off the bottle has to drink. Reminds me of all the drinking games I participated while in college, not recently but in my younger college days at the age of 18 to 22. The games of yesteryear were wuite familiar, but now mostly all I do is watch. I have been able to derive enjoyment out of watching others in their state of inebriation playing these silly games, socializing and getting drunk. I don't see where the celebration of Saint Peter on any Tuesday evening in June plays a part in the Festa. The party could have just as well been in celebration of a favorite cat who died last year or in celebration of rearrenging the living room furniture. This party resembles in appearance, nothing to Saint Peter, but of what, I can`t quite figure it out. Another reason to have a party. May God rest Saint Peter's soul.

The hostel is a notorious location for the younger party crowd as I am for the most part twice or almost twice the guests ages. There are people from all over the world staying here. I've met individuals from Holland, Korea, Japan, China, UK, New Zealand, India, Iran, Egypt, Australia, all over South America, Canada, Nepal, Scotland, Finland, Germany, Belgium, Ireland.... many countries but I have yet to meet one from the USA. There are many different languages spoken here. But English seems to be the one common language spoken amongst all as I can carry on a conversation with almost everyone from around the world.

Now a few days later as fourth of July has arrived. Another means for celebration with more drinking games, more caiprinha and beer and, to my surprise american food (grilled hamburgers and hot dogs). Tonights main game is called beer pong. The pool table this game is played upon has seen its better days. The felt cover has many gross stains on it from long since dried spilt drinks. I have yet to see a game of pool played on the table. I heard someone say not to lean on the table as it may collapse. The pool table has seen better days. Beer pong through my eyes for about five minutes, involves pairs of peoople at opposing ends with 10 half filled small cups of beer. The object is to toss a ping pong ball into one of the 10 cups from across the table into the cup. If the cups lands in a cup of beer, the person standing with the cups has to drink the beer contained within the cup. The losing couple of the game when all the beer is consumed from the cups in front of them, has to drink the remaining beer in the cups of the opposing team.

I am so fortunate I have been able to sleep through all the noise. The hostel seems to quiet down after midnight as the majority younger crowd leaves out into the night for the night life contained in a 24 hour city. The young party crowd don`t return until 0400, 0500 or sometimes not until after the sun rises, sleeping till 1400 or later. I am amazed at how wiser I get with age, not joining the masses of drunken recreations. Two or three beers is quite enough for me once or twice a week. Tonight, the majortity are heading to a favela party leaving here at 2330 til the late hours of the early morning. I barely wake up as those who return finding their way to their bed after sunrise, trying to be quiet as they are nearing the borderline of an inebriated hangover. Of the maximum capacity of 23 people in the room (11 double bunk beds and one single with the total capacity of the hostel at 50), last night there were only maybe three sleeping when I retired at 0200 this morning. Now approaching 2345, the loud music of the hostel has been turned off as the people congregate outside for mass transportation to the largest favela in the city. The decible level has been reduced drastically except for the occasional outburst of those still playing beer pong on the pool table.

Portuguese class starts at 1000 tomorrow at the federal university here in Rio. Later, another story.

Chewy