Birthday Par-tay

By far one of my favorite things so far in Moz is the “festa” scene.  Mostly because they’re usually like more dreamlike than life-like… For example, this past Friday was our friend Chris’s birthday.  I guess that I was assuming we’d all go out to the same bars we usually go to and have a beer(s). However, word spread through Bairro A (the science neighborhood…yes, I live in a science neighborhood) that there was a family party that night and that there would be two (TWO!) cakes – if you got there in time.  When a group of 8 volunteers arrived at his house around 7:30, we started the festa train (festa means party, btw). His mom brought out all of the chairs from their house and sat them in a circle – which is standard party formation for the chairs.  More people showed up slash circled around while his mom started carrying out massive dished of food.  Turns out this “family party that might have cake” was actually a full-blown dinner party for the volunteers. Which was pretty much amazing…Mostly, because Festa food is very different than everyday food. Everyday food is rice and some kind of green vegetable that has been cooked into mush (I love it, don’t get me wrong).  And festa food is, well, not that! There was chicken and some other kind of meat…. Pasta salad. “Fancy” rice.  Two types of cole slaw.  They weren’t kidding around. This was a serious bday party. Instead of lighting candles and singing Happy Birthday, we all gathered around the table and sang three different versions of the Portuguese birthday song while he and his mom cut the cake. And when I say “cut the cake,” I mean like, wedding style (shout out to Holly, who is a pro cake cutter hah!) where he and his mom both cut a slice with the same knife while we watched. Then, he took a little bite of cake with his hands and when he ate it, the room burst into applause.  Standard for American Birthdays? I think not. Entertaining? Absolutely.