Brazil is in Festa!

There is no time more exciting to be in Brazil than during the World Cup Soccer games that are being held in South Africa right now. All the stores, streets, city squares, and houses are decorated in green, yellow, and Brazilian flags. At the games, faces are painted, horns are blowing, and flags are waving. When the Brazil team is playing everything shuts down...banks, stores, offices, and schools so that everyone can watch the game and people gather in the streets or outdoor restaurants with big screen televisions to watch the games together. It is no fun to watch it alone. No one is more passionate, more emotional, and more serious than the Brazilians about soccer and especially the World Cup. It is impossible to live in Brazil and not join in all the excitement. And all with reason as Brazil is the only country in the world that has won five times and played in every World Cup. The excitement is rising since they have a good chance to win again this year making it their sixth, the hexa. And more exciting is the fact that the next World Cup in 2014 will be played in Brazil and Cuiabá is one of the 12 subcities.

To kick off the World Cup this year I had a "Festa de Futebol" as a kick off party with the Cadets, my adolescent group. They had lots of fun with team competions of dribbling and kicking goals. To make it more fun and challenging we used and American football for one of the games and also to play soccer. It was so funny to see them trying to make a goal and the ball go off in a different direction. Of course I had to let them play real soccer before going inside for another team competition. This time they had to burst a balloon and answer the question about the World Cup. We ended the party with hot dogs, yellow juice, and green and yellow ice-cream, prizes, and much anticipation for the months of June and July. Go Brazil!