Brazilian Family Lunch
I have always wanted to be invited to a Brazilian family lunch for a multitude of reasons. I miss my family and it would be nice to be in a family setting. I like to eat and am usually hungry, and I just want to be there for the spectacle.
I see it as a spectacle because that is the way it has been presented to me. Through reading various other blogs and hearing some Brazilian friends talk about it, it seems like the Brazilian family lunch is a big deal, something to take seriously, and something not to miss.
It also seems like a sacred space, one in which outsiders have to be welcomed into. So when I met my friend at his house during his family’s Brazilian lunch I felt super awkward. I wasn’t even eating. I was simply going there so that we could walk somewhere else to eat. I didn’t expect that I would have to go up to his apartment. He usually meets me down in the lobby, but I was told to go upstairs by the doorman. The maid opened the door and told me to go into his room. After awkwardly insisting through body language that she walk me to the dining room (I think I wanted to be presented or something so that I just didn’t barge into the family lunch). I muttered a low “hello, how are you.” Everything just seemed so official. Worlds more official than my Sunday family dinners. I think it had something to do with the fact that the maid had cooked and served them. So there I am, feeling super awkward because I came into this sacred space and wasn’t exactly invited. I don’t know if what I am saying is objectively true, I was obviously more paranoid than I needed to be. So paranoid that I stepped on the dog. It was like a movie: Person feels awkward in new situation and then steps on dog. And then the long strap on my purse got stuck on the chair. Could I have been less graceful? In conclusion, I have developed a fear of Brazilian family lunches.
