Christmas celebration at Caminhos Language Centre

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year. It’s the hap-happiest season of all.”

It’s Christmas and Caminhos Language Centre had to celebrate the season with all the festivities it requires, after all, many of our students are away from home and won’t be able to celebrate the holidays with their loved ones. Here at Caminhos, we like to think we’re a big family – students, staff and portuguese teachers – so, this is a great time to gather everyone together and enjoy the Christmas spirit.

Celebrations at Caminhos Language Centre

Our celebration started on December 17^th, when we threw a party at the portuguese language school filled with food, drinks and fun. It was a rainy Saturday, but more than 30 people came to spend some time with us. We had delicious food and drinks in Room 1 and we could eat together and talk with each other in the lounge room while listening to the greatest Christmas songs in Portuguese.

After that, the kids from our social program, Mais Caminhos, presented a play they’ve been working on for weeks. The play was called Guilhermina – it was the story of a girl who fell and lost her memory, and how she fully recovered with the h elp and kindness of her friends. The kids of Mais Caminhos did a great job and everyone was very pleased with their performance.

What else is in store for Christmas?

So, we gathered in a room with a Christmas tree, ate a delicious meal and watched a meaningful kid’s play. What else did we need to make Christmas complete? Presents! The school arranged for everyone to get a small gift to represent the season, but first we had to play a game to find the presents. Everyone was divided in three groups and an envelope was given to each of them with the first clue of where our gifts were. From there, we were immersed in a scavenger hunt looking for more hidden clues until only one group could find all the presents hidden at the Caminhos’ director’s room. It was so much fun going through the clues and searching for them that in the end it didn’t matter if one group lost or won – the most important thing was to laugh and enjoy the day.

Our second celebration happened on December 23rd, after class. The teachers prepared a cultural day in which they explained to the students how Christmas is celebrated in Brazil. We had a room filled with traditional Christmas food and we were able to try rice with raisin, ‘tender’ (some kind of ham), ‘farofa’ and ‘panetone’. There was also an activity where we decorated Christmas ornaments, writing our favorite Portuguese words on them. In the end, students and staff played Secret Santa with each other and exchanged small gifts and Christmas cards.

Fun at the school

Activities like these at the school not only help our students to learn Portuguese in a fun environment, but also allow them to make new friends and experience and understand the life and culture of Rio de Janeiro as a true Brazilian.

Caminhos Language Centre would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We will see you guys next year and we hope to welcome even more ‘gringos’ who want to study Portuguese in Brazil with us!