It´s rainy today. Actually, it´s been rainy for the past two days. The worst thing about the rain is the stink in the city. There is a distinct ´wet human´ smell that I can smell as it walks towards me, from 5 meters away. The thing is, on a regular day the 'poor unfortunate souls' spread out on the street, but when it starts to rain, they naturally take shelter. So then there are 5 super stinky people all standing together at the top of the metro, under the roof of the office building, or blocking the sidewalk, inside the elevator, and on the metro. I have started to anticipate when the stink starts and am able to inhale deeply right at the moment of contact, hold it, hold it, hold it and slowly exhale for a good 5 meters past the smell.
Yeah, so, it stinks is what I´m trying to say.
The other thing about the rain, which is pretty consistent with most cities (but maybe a little more here) is how the city slows down to HALF the normal slow speed. Why is there a completely stopped traffic jam at 10:30 in the morning on the way to Zona Sul? Because there is the threat of rain! I swear, these Carioca´s slow down because it´s a little windy out. Add to it the fact that I'm already late (all the time), so this stresses me out just a lil. Actually, the only ones who DON'T slow down (and coincidentally the only ones who probably should slow down during rain) are BUSES. Actually, buses probably speed up in the rain, taking their already alarming speed up to near death experience/could drive off the road and flip the entire bus speed.
Did I mention I saw a bus yesterday that had driven off the road? Yeah, it was definitely in the ditch. I saw this from the window of the bus I was on which was THE SAME ROUTE!
Anyway, enjoy the rain!
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I agree with the busses...on or off them, they terrify me. I was on one a couple of months ago that was driving to close to the people parking on the side of the street. A guy opened his door to get out (and thankfully didn't) but his door got taken off. And the front of our bus demolished. Good times, good times....
ReplyDeleteI was quite literally nearly killed by a speeding bus, if not for a friend who grabbed by shirt and yanked me out of its path. Crazy.
ReplyDeleteFor all the talk of the homeless in Rio I must say I don't see them in any significant number here in Niterói. Maybe it is just the neighborhoods I travel in. In San Francisco it was a daily reality to interact with folks living on the street. Here, no.
So the rain smells sweet over here. ;-)