These "calça gaúcha" were hand made for me 35 years ago in the southern most state of Brazil: Rio Grande do Sul--the Pampas region, where the South American cowboy lives (os gaúchos).

The cowboy culture of the Pampas region includes Southern Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. The Pampas is cattle and horse country; grass lands, flat with plenty of water.

As in the United States, cowboy/cowgirl culture prides itself on self-reliance, loyalty to tradition and fierce independence to a way of life.

I remember sitting around a fire at night, looking at the stars and sipping on a chimarrão--a traditional South American beverage, particularly popular in southern Brazil, made from yerba mate leaves steeped in hot water and served in a gourd, typically sipped through a metal straw (bombilla)

"The Brazilian Gaucho lives in the southern states of Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul, and all have roots in Europe due to the large numbers of immigrants who arrived in the 18th & 19th centuries, pioneers mostly from Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Holland, and Belgium.

The word 'gaucho' comes originally from the Spanish and Portuguese language and describes the cattle herders in South America. It is most likely to be associated with Argentina. But this culture is also found in Paraguay, Uruguay and Rio Grande do Sul. It is omnipresent in daily life, in tourism, and at festivals and events. The term Gaucho is difficult to define. Deeply rooted in the history of South America, it stands for a population group that has been shaped by a wide variety of influences. Indigenous inhabitants as well as Spanish and Portuguese settlers have left their footprint.

Typical in the everyday life of Brazilian cowboys is the mate tea, also known as chimarrao. A drink that is omnipresent in Rio Grande do Sul. Everyone drinks it, always and everywhere. Be it on the street, at the market, in stores, or at sunset on Rio Guaiba in Porto Alegre, a popular meeting place for young and old. The hot green tea is enjoyed from a hollowed-out piece of a gourd and through a metal tube with a sieve at the bottom. The vessel is filled with mate and then infused with hot water. It is customary and part of the good education to drink it completely until a sucking sound is heard.