March 07

I saw an old man eating a banana today with such relish. He was one of the men who push great handcarts around the city, collecting paper and cardboard and metal. He was seated in the shade by the side of the road, his legs bent up and a look of pure delight as he sucked the last bit of goopy banana out of a brown studded peel. It was as if he was alone in the Garden of Eden, sampling food never before touched by human hands. His toothy pleasure in that tiny breakfast cheered my heart and tugged at my guilt strings, remembering the whole meal I’d thrown out in my trash that morning because the refrigerator had died and I feared eating the bacon, cheese, and other assorted odds and ends that had been unrefrigerated for days.

We had a birthday party on the streets on Monday. J-, M-, and I all celebrated within a week of each other. Chocolate cake mix with American style frosting was a success...one of the boys practically licked the pan when all the cake was gone!

I’ve been experimenting with taking pictures on the streets that are a) creative and b) internet-appropriate. I don’t want to take pictures that demean the people we love, or put them (or us) in any collisions with the law, Brazilian or otherwise. My criteria include not publishing easily identifiable pictures of children or adults, as well as minimizing anything that would make the subjects (or me) embarrassed to have shown to the world. Here are some of the winners from the last roll:



This girl has such gorgeous features and a radiant smile. I tried to make this as silhouett-y as possible, then played with the colors in iPhoto and liked the result.



This little boy was looking at everything through his magnifying glass...



The classic occupation of teenage boys on the streets: shoe shining. Here's the trio: the shoeshine box for carrying supplies and supporting the foot, a brush, and a can of Coke-drink the soda, then pour your drugs into the container for hours of a mild high.



These two little boys were watching their older siblings and friends dive off the docks into the waters of the bay...