Directly translated it means Day of the Woman. This is a holiday that I had never heard of before moving to Portugal. Here women use it at an excuse to celebrate and do something for themselves. Entrangeiros (foreigners) always notice that kids are welcome everywhere in Portugal. This is ABSOLUTELY the case. But what that means is that the mother is usually always out and about with said child or children.

Three years ago my village threw the first annual dinner fr the Dia da Mulher. The men in our village already had their own dinners, but surprisingly the women did not. My friends and I organized it, but I made the rule that you had to be 18-108 years of age to attend. Kids were not invited. Yes, I will admit I wanted us to be able to discuss anything and everything without worrying that an 8 year old might understand. But the other reason was that these ladies needed a night out.

It was a tremendous success. From 18-80+ all the ladies loved it.

Last year, my friend Nisa, you can also call her Wonder Woman, went a step beyond and created an annual dance. The evening still starts with a dinner. One room is ladies only, the other is mixed. But the night ends with dancing. Normally i would be working the event, but this year I invited my city friends to join us. And join us they did.

You never know how two communities will interact. Especially when language is a little bit of a barrier (my gringo city friends who are American & English can all speak some Portuguese). But the people in my village are all so gorgeously warm and friendly and of course I would only be friends with great people, so we ALL had a BLAST. Just another party night in my village.