When I first traveled to Brazil less than five years ago, I had a vastly different image of the country than I have today. I had been warned that Brazil was an extremely dangerous place where poverty and lawlessness ruled the day. And although many of these warnings came from people who had never even been to Brazil, I was nevertheless apprehensive when I first got off the plane in Vitória.
This trepidation quickly faded as I went about my business. I discovered that Brazil is not only a land of beauty, but it is also one with a very modern stoneworking industry. Walking through the fabrication plants, I saw the names of familiar Italian equipment manufacturers and workers using the latest processing techniques. In a sense, I felt “at home,†even though I was 5,000 miles away in a country where I had never set foot in my life.