shamrockfest

e viva o saint patrick`s day, que apesar de ser uma data comemorativa na irlanda, invade a america! e nos proporciona diversao. antes de ler sobre quem era o senhor patrick e o porque da comemoracao (em ingles, abaixo), a impressao que da eh que ele inventou a cerveja, pois so se ve cerveja aqui, e que ele so vestia verde, eh so prestar atencao nesta fotinho:



e como podem ver, meu patriotismo aqui foi alto e tive a cara-de-pau de ir com uma camiseta com a nossa bandeirinha estampada. confesso que achei que iria ser zuada, mas acho que o povo bebado nem reparou.

o festival comecou as 12pm, mas eu so cheguei as 4pm. e chegar foi facil, fui de metro e em todos os lugares havia alguem de camiseta verde, com algum enfeite, ou seja, todos indo para o mesmo lugar. quando cheguei na estacao stadium-armory, pronto, uma invasao de gente vestida de tudo quanto eh jeito, e todos de verde. achei muito divertido.

ja no festival, encontrei a camiss, a luize e a lucy, au pairs brasileiras e conheci as au pairs alexandra, da austria e a melaine, da alemanha. ficamos curtindo as bandas de rock da regiao de maryland, virginia e dc. algumas boas, outras nem tanto. mas o tempo todo foi divertido. inclusive a fila do banheiro quimico - este nao era bem divertido, mas... faz parte de festival.

camiss

alexandra, irish e eu

comi cachorro quente e bebi limonada, acho que fui uma das poucas, ou a unica, que nao bebeu cerveja. ate fiquei curiosa com a cerveja verde, mas deve ser so a cor mesmo a diferenca.

vi muita gente bebada dando vexame e outros engracadissimos. tambem vi americanos fazendo o famoso sinal L de loser para algum amigo.

pouco depois das 7pm decidimos ir embora e foi divertido o metro. muita gente! parecia a seh em rush. e, como tudo acontece comigo, na porta que eu escolhi tinha um cara que trabalhava na limpeza com uma lata de lixo enorme esperando para desembarcar bem naquela estacao. imaginem como foi a cena dele me esmagando contra as outras desesperadas pessoas. mas foi engracado, eu e as meninas rimos muito!

no vagao dois americanos comecaram a conversar conosco e, como eramos estrangeiras, pronto! viramos a atracao. muitas perguntas sobre tudo.

uma coisa bem brasileira aconteceu, o famoso grito "ole, ole ole ole... ole... ole..." era cantado toda hora, inclusive, em nosso vagao com a multidao de verdinhos.

***

by wikipedia:

quem eh saint patrick?

Saint Patrick (Latin: Patricius, Irish: Naomh Pádraig) was a Christian missionary and is the patron saint of Ireland along with Brigid of Kildare and Columba. Patrick was born in Roman Britain. When he was about sixteen he was captured by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Ireland, where he lived for six years before escaping and returning to his family. He entered the church, as his father and grandfather had before him, becoming a deacon and a bishop. He later returned to Ireland as a missionary, working in the north and west of the island, but little is known about the places where he actually worked and no link can be made with Patrick and any church. By the eighth century he had become the patron saint of Ireland. The Irish monastery system evolved after the time of Patrick and the Irish church did not develop the diocesan model that Patrick and the other early missionaries had tried to establish.

The available body of evidence does not allow the dates of Patrick's life to be fixed with certainty, but it appears that he was active as a missionary in Ireland during the second half of the
fifth century. Two letters from him survive, along with later hagiographies from the seventh century onwards. Many of these works cannot be taken as authentic traditions. Uncritical acceptance of the Annals of Ulster (see below) would imply that he lived from 378 to 493, and ministered in modern day northern Ireland from 433 onwards.

sobre a comemoracao

March 17, popularly known as St. Patrick's Day, is believed to be his death date and is the date celebrated as his feast day. The day became a feast day in the universal church due to the influence of the Waterford-born Franciscan scholar Luke Wadding, as a member of the commission for the reform of the Breviary in the early part of the 17th century.
For most of Christianity's first thousand years, canonisations were done on the diocesan or regional level. Relatively soon after the death of people considered to be very holy people, the local Church affirmed that they could be liturgically celebrated as saints. As a result, St. Patrick has never been formally canonised by a Pope; nevertheless, various Christian churches declare that he is a Saint in Heaven (he is in the List of Saints). He is still widely venerated in Ireland and elsewhere today.

St. Patrick is also venerated in the Orthodox Church, especially among English-speaking Orthodox Christians living in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland and in North America. There are Orthodox icons dedicated to him.

a shamrock

The shamrock is a symbol of Ireland and a registered trademark of the Republic of Ireland,is a three-leafed old white clover, sometimes (rarely nowadays) Trifolium repens (white clover, known in Irish as seamair bhán) but more usually today Trifolium dubium (lesser clover, Irish: seamair bhuí). The diminutive version of the Irish word for "clover" ("seamair") is "seamaróg", which was anglicised as "shamrock", representing a close approximation of the original Irish pronunciation. However, other three-leafed plants — such as black medic (Medicago lupulina), red clover (Trifolium pratense), and Common wood sorrel (genus Oxalis) — are sometimes designated as shamrocks. The shamrock was traditionally used for its medical properties and was a popular motif in Victorian times. It is also a common way to represent St. Patrick's Day. Shamrocks are said to bring good luck.