Children's Day - Young and Old in Brazil

Last day of the traditional working week, where we are, and I thank you for choosing to look in on the Blog before erupting into what I hope is a fun filled weekend.

Our street, here in Aracaju, was flooded yesterday evening along with much of the City.  Looking through the window as I type, I can see that it will be much the same today.  Nature is slapping us with a late dose of winter (ie temp still in 70sF/low 20sC, but HEAVY rain) after a few weeks of apparently early summer.  The still warm temps and heavy rain means that the day's activities will be punctuated by swatting mosquitoes and hoping that one of them is not a Dengue mosquito carrying the fever.

I am rather going to skip over the daily news review, as there's nothing that can't be caught up on on Monday, and talk about what some rather ungallantly call the book ends of life.

Where ever one lives, childhood and old age can be challenging times.  In Brazil, however, both are afforded special significance.

An example of this is found in Children´s Day, which is tomorrow.  I was fascinated to find that, in addition to Christmas and birthdays, children here also celebrate Children´s Day.  On 12 October, kids (from families that can afford it!!) are showered with gifts and the day is given over to fun.  As it falls on a Saturday, this year, fun will indeed be the order of the day.  When it falls on a week day, however, schools still hold to the ethos and often run their own parties or arrange fun school trips for their students.  Whereas 12 October is the actual day of celebrations, shops, restaurants etc often play up to the theme throughout the preceding week with employees dressed in clowns clothes or in highly colourful attire with flashing head adornments and other festive garb.  In Aracaju, the two lanes of the main beach road on the ocean side are usually closed off, when the event falls on a weekend, and a ´fun day´ is laid on for all comers (but specifically for kids from less wealthy families who cannot afford to make a splash at home) with clowns, games, activities etc.  Parents usually take their children out to eat at lunch time or in the evening and venues often put up decorations akin to Christmas or Sao Joao.  Toys are hugely expensive, here (along with just about everything else!), and even allowing for currency exchange may cost two or three times as much as in the USA, but that does not stop parents making Children´s Day into almost the same bonanza as Christmas and birthdays tend to be here.

Parents spend a lot on their next generation in Aracaju, much more than I am used to seeing in similar socio-economic groups in parts of Europe and North America.  External appearance is very important in Brazil, or in our City, as we shall discuss in a later post and, perhaps, one can find the root of the spending on toys and gifts for offspring in this....as kids talk to each other about what they were given for Christmas, birthday, Children's Day and invite friends to play with their toys.

Most of the above description of Children's Day assumes that you parents can afford to splash out and to drive you to this event of that restaurant.  All the major present buying events are torture for those parents who are unable to fund such celebrations and, in Brazil, with tens of millions classified as living in poverty or extreme poverty and even those who are in what Brazil defines as the middle class (see yesterday's post) having to struggle against exceptionally nigh prices for gifts many kids, and parents, probably find events such as Children's Day times of sadness and reflection.  One feels for them and hopes that this country, which has so much potential, can resolve its economic ills and once more grow national and individual wealth, raising more of its people out poverty....but for that to mean what it should, they also need to address the exceptionally high prices of goods and services.

Turning to the other end of the human lifespan, the elderly are afforded a special place in the community and, in 2003, the Elderly Statute was passed by the country´s politicians.  Law 10,741 enshrines in law very broad based protection and rights for those over 60; men and women.  Amongst the many benefits afforded to its senior citizens, Brazilian government offices, banks, shops etc will have separate queues and waiting lists for the elderly to ensure they are dealt with more speedily than the remainder of the population; there will be at least one special lane for them at supermarket check outs, for example.  If a shop does not have a special line for them, older customers are instructed to queue jump.  They also travel for free on public transport.  For those who still pay tax at that age, they are exempt various taxes and have priority for income tax refunds.  Medication for chronic illnesses that often dog old age, such as heart disease and blood pressure problems, is either free or enjoys considerable subsidy from the Government; and that pertains to all ages of patients for many chronic illnesses!  The Statute also makes any kind of discrimination on the grounds of age illegal and a serious crime.

More than that, I have often felt that the senior citizens in Brazilian society enjoy a position of greater respect than in some areas of Europe or North America.  Perhaps this grows from what I explained about the nature of the family in an earlier post this week, at least here in the NE where families are large; both in terms of numbers of children and in terms of what each member recognises as being his or her family, very much larger than the classic nuclear definition.  Grandmothers and Grandfathers are very much heads of the family, the matriarch or patriarch, and respected as such....younger people listen to and learn from their older relatives, who are acknowledged as having experienced more of life and having life lessons to impart.  You may recall I likened some aspects of NE Brazilian social circles to the Arab characteristic of wasta and, here too, one perhaps sees the place of the elderly in Brazilian life being more akin to that which one finds in most Arab societies.

The recognition of the special place for the older members of the community also goes beyond and the law and the family role.  We had only been here a year or so and my husband and I went to a public pre-Carnaval party in the grounds of a gorgeous old building owned by the City authority.  Along with the drink and dancing, a centre piece of the event was a beauty contest with young ladies walking a raised catwalk in the centre of the grounds to be judged by a celebrity panel.  Earlier in the day, there had been a contest for under 15 year olds because, as we discussed earlier in the week, girls/ladies are encouraged to chase the Holy Grail of magazine driven beauty standards from the youngest age.  During the night time competition, when the last of the young ladies had wound their seductive way along the catwalk and back there was thunderous applause, lights dimmed and I expected the audience to return to their own amusements....but no.  Everyone remained clustered around the catwalk and, some minutes later, the lights were turned up again, a spotlight hit the start of the catwalk and a lady who I would think was well into her 70s, dressed in her finest, began her proud perambulation.  We were watching the start of the beauty contest for the Third Age or Third Generation, as they call it here.  The senior generation is not hidden away during such festivals, nor do they feel that they are confined to the role of spectators.  No.  Having clearly taken every bit as much care and time in preparing themselves for their public, ladies from 60 years old to one who was just over 80 took to the catwalk.  There was no sense of this being tongue in cheek humour, not at all, the audience was fully engaged and far more vocal in support and in what I felt was genuine admiration for the Third Age/Generation competitors.  What could easily have appeared as in bad taste turned out to be the genuine highlight of the evening for people who were delighted to see ladies showing that the spark of life is not snuffed out at 60+.  The winner, in her 70s, drew the loudest cheer of the night and I was conscious of the fact that the senior age competition had raised spirits amongst the whole crowd and launched us on a hugely fun night.

So, ending the week on a different note, they were just a few observations of life in Aracaju for those at the opposite ends of our span on this earth.

I am confining the Blog posts to the 'working' week, so my next post will be on Monday with the usual daily review of Brazilian news each day of the week and a smattering of second posts looking at Brazil in the round and the NE in particular, the people, the place, the culture and the life experience of living here.

Thanks a million for joining me....no point in it all without you.

Stay safe.

Dave