Calm Before the Storm

What better way to commence than to fulfil a stereotype? Like a true Brit I will open up by discussing the weather. I am becoming more accustomed to the typical weather patterns of a Rio summer. At the moment we stand on the edge of another storm, though I forecast that it will not reach the grandiose scale of the last downpour. The pattern is thus: 6-8 days of uninterrupted blue sky sunny days, followed by 3-4 days of hot, but increasingly cloudy days, followed by 2 days of heavy rain and 2 days of grey cloud. It’s a cleverly self-regulating system, whereby the cloud, then the rain arrives in the nick of time to cool you down after the searing heat. The worst days are those immediately before the storm when the atmosphere is heavy with hot air, but the storm soon releases us from this pressure cooker to bring sweet fresh air.

Much to Niko’s chagrin I’m sure, there is actually another reason for today’s title that is only a metaphorical meteorological reference. Allow me to explain…

This week has been quiet – very quiet. Yesterday I was so bored that after exhausting all the activities available to me, I resorted to eating a large slice of watermelon specifically to see how precise my pip-spitting is. I got 14 out of 23 pips into the target zone. Not bad. Don’t be alarmed by my inactivity as there is a reason. The reason is simple, that from this coming Saturday for about 3 weeks things will get considerably busier, and I am therefore taking advantage of the present calm to save a bit of cash and build up my reserves of energy.

On Saturday, the first people arrive in Rio for our long-planned Carnaval trip. At that point I will officially be jointly responsible for the welfare of several gringos in this mad city. It’s a big responsibility and if I wasn’t in on this with a streetwise local (Alex) I’d be very nervous. Therefore, it is with characteristic Carioca calm that we enter into our first foray into the tour guide business.

The program of events starts officially on Wednesday and over two weeks will take in masterclass workshops in capoeira and percussion rythms, trips to tropical forest regions, beautiful beaches away from the tourist trail, a day in our local favela community and the musical lunacy that is the Rio carnival. I’m very excited and I’m optimistic that our guests will have the experience of a lifetime, as I did last year (its just occurred to me that I’ve sort of done a “I loved the product so much, I bought the business”). We certainly have an eclectic bunch joining us for our trip, which is sure to add to the fun. There’s Michael, a retired West Coast Yank looking for authentic Brazilian culture and lithe young ladies; Charlotte a forty-something single mum from Denmark who’s super-fit and a samba freak; Rajesh, an Aussie-Indian fusion with in insatiable appetite for poetic conversation and chatting up ladies (the latter usually being unsuccessful); Ugochi, a incredibly talented Afro-queen from Chicago who is rapidly becoming a pretty famous soul/hip hop singer; last but not least, Rory, a short, balding bespectacled Londoner who’s apparently never left England, but has recently become obsessed with capoeira. As is this crew wasn’t random enough, we can also throw the king of random himself, none other than our own Satpal, into the mix. He’s joining us out here in a couple of weeks. Can you see now why I’m keeping my head down this week? I’m forecasting a storm of craziness will burst all over Santa Teresa. Can’t wait for the stories to unfold.
Adios.

As a little ‘ps’ here’s some photos of my new house, which I moved into on Monday and will stay in for the next 3 weeks. It’s a little unusual…



There’s more photies on my flickr site.