On a Bluer Ocean: São João Hits the Town

Nine years ago Natanhela was born with a life-threatening condition. Juninha, her grandmother, prayed to São João, begging him to present her petitions to God for the health of the little girl. If the baby were spared, Juninha promised that after 9 years she and the child would demonstrate their gratitude to the saint by accompanying the statue of São João on its 27 km journey from the chapel of Ribeira das Patas to the city of Porto Novo where hundreds of people would participate in a special mass in the saint’s honor, as they do each June 24th.

Thankfully, Natanhela survived and is now a healthy, beautiful little girl. She is also 9 years old, meaning that the time had come for Juninha and Natanhela to make good on the promise to honor São João.

São João (pronounced: Soan Jwown, Saint John) is the patron saint of the Municipality of Porto Novo, which includes our community of Agua das Caldeiras. This year, in addition to the regular festivities surrounding the Saint’s Day, São João took the show on the road, doing a goodwill tour of rural communities. Our town was one of the lucky few to play host to the famous statue that is considered equal to the holy man himself. Juninha and many others were excited to make their acquaintance with the figure, caressing it and thanking Sao Joao for the good deeds that have been done at their pleading.

Our local festivities took place a couple of weeks ago when a crowd of people traveled with the saint from house to house through neighboring towns. Men dusted off their goat-hide drums to provide the beat while the rest of the community danced, whistled, hooted and chanted, accompanying Sao Joao on his rounds.

The caravan made a stop at our house as well, and a crowd of neighbors entered, drums and all, dancing the coladeira and offering a blessing on our family. Since living here has begun to feel very normal, it was nice to have a religious mamba line and deafening drumming in the living room as a reminder to appreciate the experiences that are unique to Cape Verde.

On Saturday Juninha, Natanhela, Scott and I met up with São João once more as we participated in the cross-island procession. For days Juninha had been excited and a little nervous about the event, which made the occasion even more fun. We prepared banana leaf-wrapped pastries and donuts to carry with us along the route, but when we met up to start the journey Juninha revealed that her family had already eaten all of the pastries. Alas, we were left with a bag of donuts to sustain us through the 27 km, 7 hour dance-a-thon/trek. (I was reminded of the “Tour de Donut” bike ride that Scott and I had done with friends near St. Louis. Turns out that donuts are, in fact, a powerhouse of energy.) Natanhela was a trooper and competed the hike along the cobblestone road in her flip-flops without a single complaint.

The holiday of São João, in addition to being a religious occasion, is a time when the community takes pride in its heritage and traditions. Besides all that, it’s simply a lot of fun. We are grateful to be part of a close-knit community with good friends who were eager for us share in their traditions.

During the local celebration Scott and I were hosting his parents, Pam and Larry, and were pleased to get to show them the tradition that is unique to our island. As they waited for São João to arrive in our community, the Benton’s became quick friends with some of our neighbors – including Nyo Frank, who was so overjoyed to meet Scott’s parents that he couldn’t stop speaking to them in what he firmly believes is English but sounds a lot like a spontaneously invented language resembling a blend of Chinese and German. (He’s especially fluent in “English” when he’s had a couple of drinks.)