Festa Junina or Festa de São João
Translating literally, June Festivities or Saint John's Festivals is a celebration on the months of June and July in Brazil. It originated from European midsummer celebrations and includes some similar traditions like a large bonfire (that seems to make a lot more sense in the southern hemisphere because it happens during winter months) and also a dance derived from palatial European court balls, modified and redefined with new meaning, related to popular and rural themes and paired with brazillian "forró" or country music.
Dressing up and dances
Traditionally everyone wears plaid shirts/dresses, straw hats, painted on gap tooths, very blatant blush on cheeks and lots of painted freckles, girls wear their hairs in pigtails and boys paint on moustaches and beards. This is the stereotypical exaggerated rural look, and is more common for kids to dress this way, while in parties with mostly adults it's more common to just wear plaid shirts, a straw hat and do some make-up.
The dances are choreographed but very standard between places, with someone announcing vocal cues for specific dance steps, switching partners, doing coordinated group moves and sometimes ending in a mock wedding.
Traditional food
Now, the best part of it all, my favorite thing from this time of the year, THE FOOD!
The traditional foods are super delicious and mostly made out of corn, like corn cakes, cural, pamonha, but there's also peanuts, specially sweetened peanuts, popcorn, sweet or salted, caramelized apples, quentão, which is a warm spiced drink, that may or may not be alcoholic and is one of my favorite things.
I'll try to update the thread with some recipes later or maybe just talk more about food, but I can't promise I actually will.
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Even having had maybe the worst setback I could possibly imagine in my transition that costs years of time to fix, I wouldn't change being trans. I feel peace with who I am and comfort in my identity. Just want to add to the responses saying it doesn't definitively suck.
I know you had a huge setback... It is really hard for me to understand why you wouldn't, but I'm glad for you.
I feel like I get comfort from being a woman too, but discomfort from being trans.
I feel like I've seen the way you talk about yourself shift a bit as you progress in your transition, though. Do you feel like your outlook on transitioning has shifted at all?
I mean yea, it has a bit. Last night was especially bad for me tbh but in general I've been feeling better lately.
I don't know. I have been really happy seeing my boobs come in. But I'm still very pessimistic about voice training (both possibility for me as well as results I'll be able to achieve), Surgery seems like something I need to do (for me) but is still really intimidating, I still really care about passing in general. I feel more optimistic I won't just be stuck looking like a man. Overall I think I might feel better about it? Only because of how bad I used to feel about it.
I am still mostly dreading being out full time. Mostly because of family and work. Outside of those its quite exciting.
Tell me if any of this makes sense.
edit: oh, I'd like to add that lately, after showing someone some pics, I'm definitely feeling better about a few traits I was worried about. Hairline, shoulders, etc. Which does have me feeling a bit more optimistic.
Feel free to respond whenever you want/come back, if you want