30th Birthday

I turned 30 last week. Some folks were nice enough to come out yesterday to celebrate with me. In Brazil, the party starts at three, people start showing up at four, the grill gets going at five and the fun goes deep into the night. We weaved a little St. Patrick's Day theme into the mix. It's the best time I've had since arriving.

Silas, Noa, Dani e Tati.

Dani e Joice.

 Mama dos Santos Lima, brother Rodrigo, Vanessa e brother Humberto.

 Adriana, Dani, eu e Marina.

 Bruna, Dani, Tati e Adriana.

 Rodrigo, Vanessa, Dani, mae, Lorayne e Humberto.

The tradition in Brazil is for the birthday boy/girl to blow out the candles, cut the cake and put the first slice on a plate. You then give the piece to someone special and tell them why. A small little speech. It's usually a beautiful thing to witness and so I didn't want to let anyone down. Dani was nice enough to translate as I gave the piece to Edna, Dani's mother. I thanked her for all of her support and love as the mother of my new family.

 And the capivara was there, too.