Brazil #2: TRABALHO (work)

One of the pleasures of being on vacation is that it often means taking a break from work. Although Marcos and I did not do much work while we were in Brazil, I found myself interested in people's daily existence, and what they do professionally to support their families. In these next photos, I've included just a few shots of what work is to a hand full of people in Sorocaba, Brazil. You'll notice that I left out pictures of people sitting at desks. Truthfully, I didn't take any, because it wasn't a stretch of the imagination from what I was used to seeing here.

Pai (Marcos' dad) is a lock smith, and for many days of our vacation Danny (Marcos' brother who was visiting from Utah) went to work with him at the shop. One of the first days of the trip, our cousin Giselle taught Danny and I how to reproduce keys! The process was really quite straight-forward, but learning how to do it gave me one of those "I feel useful" kind of feelings.

For some women (and presumably men) work happens at home, and often in the kitchen. After a Sunday evening event at church, we gathered at Tio Gilson's home (our uncle) with cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandma for a late family meal. Tia Claudete and our cousin Claudia had made the most delicious baked rolled sandwiches and cake. I love how Tia Claudete is ruling the kitchen in this photo.

Police men in downtown Sorocaba. Most of the time Police men drive little cars, but I thought the horses coupled with those caps were a nice touch.

It is quite common to see people on the streets who make a living from collecting recycling from garbage bins, and taking it to the recycling centers to trade their collection in for money. It is nice to think that so much waste is being recycled, but isn't it a privilege that most of us can make a living engaging in other work? On one occasion a little child was perched on top of the heap of garbage.


At a Churrascaria, the famous Brazilian bar-b-que all-you-can-eat restaurants. Waiters come from the kitchen with steaming hot meats on a skewer, and slice as much as you desire right onto your plate. And there are so many different kinds of meats! Beefs and porks, and sausages, and chicken wrapped in bacon, and even grilled pinapple and baked cheese... There are little spinning dials on the table, and when you are stuffed, you roll the dial from the green "yes please" to the red "no, thank you" and the waiters know that you are finished.

Marcos talking with the workers at the juice bar. Thankfully, they gave us the recipe for"Swiss Lemonade", my new favorite beverage: whole lemons, peeled and cut into 8ths, ice, and sweetened condensed milk to taste blended in a blender and poured through a strainer to catch the lemon pulp and seeds! ONOlicious!