What would a nanny do in her down-time in the UK or US, or indeed anywhere ? I'm asking because our second nanny, a grandmother who started this week, shares the same trait as her predecessor.
Which is to say, they both sit there, staring into space. No reading material, not even a glossy mag, nothing to keep their minds active, apart from I suppose thinking. Perhaps if we had a TV they would be watching that ? There is the occasional phone call.
Of course, this might sound absurdly intrusive of me to want to investigate their quiet, vegging moments. I'm only asking, in a pub-psychology, amateur-anthropology way because it seems symptomatic of the education deficit in Brazil.
Its that famous Brazilian insularity again. People from poorer backgrounds such as these two women - one younger, one older - seem caught in a culture without curiosity. When I try to engage with them about the wider world, albeit using my comically curtailed linguistic abilities, I sense they are not very interested in this gringo and his weird ways. But maybe they are like most people around the world, still living in blissful ignorance of funny foreigners ?
Arguably, it's none of my business how they spend their down-time. But I'm a nosey, inquisitive bugger and I would like to think there is more to life than just staring into space. Also, to be honest I find it slightly discomfiting, as if I need to compensate for their apparent lack of stimulation.
Once back with the baby, however, Maria suddenly becomes very animated: firm but warm, singing and talking away.
Update: Actually, she's great with Sam, so my gringo musings can go back in their box for now. She can sit and stare into the middle distance as long as she wants. I'll try not to take it personally.
Update: Just remembered it's a Latin thing, preferring to talk rather than read. Recall a Spanish friend's culture shock on coming to London and seeing everyone sitting reading on the tube; she was freaked out by the library-like quiet compared to the voluminous gabbling on her native metro.
When I first lived in Brazil, I used to leave notes to the maid to iron things etc and she ignored them all for weeks. When I asked her why she ignored my notes, I discovered that she couldn't actually read. Very common amongst the Brazilian lower classes. Note the difference on the SP metro from London - almost no one is reading. You'll also notice a gap in the market. Whereas the British working classes at least read the Sun or the Star, in SP there appears to be no daily fix they get, and as a consequence they know almost nothing about anything, whether in Brazil or not.
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