By Bernard Morris
August 28, 2007
A Brazilian friend of ours, who knows much about construction in Brazil, once told me that Brazilians have a "creative" approach to electrical hook ups. He was renovating his condo apartment in São José dos Campos at the time and bemoaned the difficulties he was having with the wiring. He said that standards are either not set or not adhered to when it comes to electrical connections. Since my wife and I had never had a problem with connecting our electronic devices to plugs in Brazil, I was more intrigued than concerned. He was adamant, however, that problems occur, inevitably, because of the apparently poorly regulated system of electrical connections in his home country. Once on a shopping errand with me in his hometown, in fact, he pointed out an example of the problem, and having my camera handy, I photographed an example of Brazilian connectivity.
 Mingling vines and electrical wiring shows a taste for the artistic, I must say. After hearing my friend's impromptu lesson in Brazilian public works, I began to take note of the connections wherever I went, and, sure enough, I began to see other examples of creative wiring and began as well to wonder at the marvelous facility Brazilians have in making things work that seem unworkable. Back in Jarinú, for example, the connections appeared to be slightly better than those in Sao José dos Campos (see picture left).
 I wondered how the great city of São Paulo fared by comparison, and when we were there soon after our jaunt in Jarinú, I had a chance to see. Here is a typical sky view of the city (see picture right). The wiring on these poles is somewhat less entangled than in the smaller towns, but the skies of São Paulo could stand some clearing up as well. If these few areas are typical of the rest of Brazil's cities and towns, the country is amazing, with some emphasis on the "maze" part of that word.
 After pointing out the reticulated artistry of his native country, Brazil, my friend took a trip to Mexico and was reminded of the complaints he had made to me about Brazilian connections when his eye caught sight of this phenomenon in Encinada, Mexico (see picture left). Perhaps this glimpse of Mexico's advanced technology made my friend feel somewhat better about his native country's technical achievements. I myself have wondered why some consider Brazil a third-world country. On each of my visits there, I found evidence of its technical sophistication. It is a tremendous country, both in size and population, and it takes tremendous skill, labor, and technical knowledge to keep it functioning as well as it does. Although some streets in Jarinú are also either unpaved or are filled with potholes, similar conditions exist in the USA. Whenever I have encountered, or have heard about, examples of Brazil's unrefined or "backward" ways, I remind myself that even such a "modern" country as the United States is in many areas less than modern. I must say, however, that Brazilian electricians do show remarkable creativity when it comes to hooking up wires to telephone poles.
I have yet to find a food server in the USA take my order using an electronic hand-held device, but I have seen them used often in Brazil's restaurants. If one measures a country by how well it functions, Brazil wins high grades, in my book. Even the notorious Brazilian bureaucracy has its benefits - my wife believes identity theft in Brazil is more difficult than it is where the bureaucracy is less entangled. And speaking of entanglements, the traffic in São Paulo does not seem any worse than that of other major cities worldwide.
In the end, however, I find it unproductive to go about comparing countries, especially because one usually travels away from home in order to discover, and appreciate, differences. Homogeneity, uniformity, similarity-these defeat discovery, diminish its delights. A horse-drawn carriage parked at the entrance to the Vatican is an eyesore (and the associated odors offensive), but the horse-and-cart I sometimes see parked outside a market in Jarinú is a quaint reminder of the town's rural history and is a visual treat. Much can be learned, and enjoyed, if one accepts what one sees with a positive attitude, if one tries to understand, rather than promptly criticize, dismiss as not "correct" or "sensible," or reject as "not the way to do things"-meaning, "not the way WE do things." The delights that can be found in differences remind me of the joke about the French minister who, upon hearing a colleague remark that men and women are different, promptly rose and shouted, "Vive la difference!".
Biography: Born July 25, 1935, in San Antonio, Texas. U. S. Marine Corps, 1954-58, Attended the University of California, Berkeley, 1958 to 1973. Ph.D. in English literature. College English teacher at U. C. Berkeley, 1965-1972, and in Modesto, CA, from 1972 to 2003. Publications: Salem Press has used dozens of my essays on the works of Shakespeare, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Emerson, Denise Levertov, and Louis Simpson. More than fifty literary journals and magazines have published my poetry. Harvard Review has also carried many of my literary reviews. My critical study of the poetry and prose of X. J. Kennedy, Taking Measure, was published in January, 2003, by Susquehanna University Press. You can contact Bernard at spbmorris@pacbell.net.
Previous articles by Bernard:
Dining in Brazil
Brazil: Walking the Walk
Brazil: Walking in São Paulo
Brazil Underfoot
Further Impressions of Brazil
Brazil: Walking in São Paulo
Reflections on Brazil Part 4
Reflections on Brazil Part 3
Reflections on Brazil Part 3
Reflections on Brazil Part 2
Reflections on Brazil Part 1
|
