In the past two weeks there were two holidays here in Quebec: Sain Jean Baptiste ( Fête Nationale du Quebec) and Canada Day. There were also two holidays in Bahia, my home state: São João and Bahia’s Independence Day . And the coincidences don’t stop there.  Which is good, since I was very much used to have two long weekends in june/july 🙂

São João vs. Saint Jean 

The saint is the same, basically, and the festivities have a lot in common. As Brasil and Quebec are both part of the Catholic culture, June 24th is a day to celebrate Jesus’ Annunciation, made by St. John six months before Christmas. (I’m gonna stop my religious explanations right here, ok? I wasn’t raised as a Catholic and it’s better to keep it simple before someone complains about it. And I also happen to know about St. John’s Day pagan origins…)

Fireworks, St. John’s fires…these are…