Brazil: Work and Play

The week in Brazil seemed long and short at the same time.  Though only a few days, they were busy ones.  We traveled with quite the entourage.  Justin and us two from the States, José and Leandro from Precision Planting Argentina, and no less than 4 Monsanto Brazil employees.  Maybe that's why the week was so long, too many people!  All things considered, things went well.  We did one installation at a big farm in Bahía state.  This farm operation grows soybeans, corn, and interestingly enough, cotton.  We spent a good portion of the first day at the cotton gin. 

This is a modern-day cotton gin.

Forget Eli Whitney, this thing would blow him away!

And this, of all the cotton-pickin' things, is a cotton picker.

This is cotton in its raw form.

Some of the entourage.

There was a time crunch for this install since they were itching to get back to the field.  But, "many hands make light work" (shout-out to Grandpa Knapp!).  

My part of the harvest system to put together.

I can handle that phillips screwdriver like a pro 

and have those ram mounts put together in no time.

The climate in Bahía is almost tropical.  Don't worry.  No rain forests were harmed in the development of fields in this area.  It rains almost every day, and like they always say ("they" meaning Justin), rain makes grain.  We grabbed lunch during the daily downpour.

It was gloriously CVE-like.  

The farm employees are provided meals in a cafeteria, which reminded me of the good ole comedor in Mexico.  Not only that, what should they be serving but rice and beans.  Oh, how I miss rice and beans sometimes!  It was a little different, no tortillas for one, but it was delicious!  

Then, out to the field.  These ginormous farms in Brazil are so vast.  I can't describe what it's like to look out over a field of soybeans that stretches to the horizon, nothing to interrupt the flat expanse.  

Storm on the horizon. 

After just two days, it was back to Brasilia.  Our stay in Brazil's capital city was...interesting.  We had luxurious accommodations, especially compared to the two-night stay in the boon-docks.  Brasilia was built to be the capital.  Literally.  It didn't exist before some president had a brilliant idea in the 50s: design a state-of-the-art city full of modern architecture to be the new seat of the federal government.  It's the city that "developed 50 years in 5."  While it's lost is grandeur over the years, it's still a sight to behold.  That said, we weren't impressed with the quality of life and general depravity of inhabitants.  Two natives took us on a whirlwind tour to see the government sights before our plane left Saturday morning.  They related how Brazilians tend to distrust their own corrupt government and leaders.  Subtle signs of tight security testified of the state of things.  And my first real-life glimpse of blatant prostitution will always be in Brasilia, Brazil, to my horror.  I was struck by how such deliberate design and planning put into a city made by man cannot bring lasting hope and security to a hurting people.  

The architecture of Brasilia was wonderfully unique.  No white columns and tall domes here.  It sort of reminded me of the other-worldly kind of space fascination that's evident in the culture of the 70s.  

 Jonathan walking toward one of the official buildings.

 The symbolic flame and towering flag of Brazil.

 Executive office, complete with dressed-up guards.

 The Senate buildings, tall and skinny.  

The weird-shaped thing to the left is some modern art in the governmental plaza,

2 "shells", one facing up, the other, down, symbolize something,

not sure what.

 All South American towns have a cathedral in the central plaza.

Brasilia's is definitely unique.

After spending about an hour visiting another nation's capital--something about that is just kind of weird--we wound our way through the city streets to the airport.  Later that evening we touched down in Buenos Aires, another country's capital.  Strange.  

It felt so good to be back.  Strange how just a few weeks in one place can give it a level of comfort.  And I was quickly reminded that for all that's lacking in my Spanish skills, it's good to at least be able to make heads or tails out of what someone is saying!  Customs was a pain  --er--an adventure, but we made it out of the airport by ten, so glad to be staying nearby rather than attempting the 4 hour trek back to One-Eyed Deer.  We landed and decided to welcome the Sabbath and put away work.  It has been glorious!  I am reminded once again that God gave us a day of rest for a reason!  Relaxing and refocusing, we still found time to see some sights in Buenos Aires before hitting the road this evening.  

But, more on that next time...