Saturday, November 28, 2009

Luiz in the heartland



A couple weeks ago Luiz joined a crew of researchers to interview drivers along the road between Brasília and Barra do Garças. It was a 10 day adventure with a nice salary to boot. He was invited to participate by a friend of ours who works for the Department of Transportation.

As with anything, the trip included bad moments and good moments. Chief among the bad moments were the very long drives in a crowded car to and from central Goiás state, where the research took place – more than 24 hours in each direction.


Standing on his feet under the punishing sun all day took a close second in the negative category.

On the other hand, the trip afforded some tourist time in Brasília, the nation’s capital. While being a city with a rather dreary reputation, the architecture is world famous as a central achievement in Oscar Niemeyer’s long and groundbreaking career.


Being in the middle of nowhere had the advantage of being habitat for exotic (although locally common) birds. He saw rare blue macaws, toucans, lots of parrots and the more common yellow, green and red macaws, plus eagles and an owl. They saw ant eaters, capivaras, snakes and vast expanses of cattle and horses.


Always a favorite for Luiz, their travels included some time at a spectacular multi-level waterfall.


The days were long and the sun never let up. But you know our Luiz: always staying on the brighter side of things.

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