When it rains, it pours

Last Wednesday somebody said to me, "Man, it hasn't rained for 3 weeks now. This is not normal." They were right. All the time I'd been here I'd seen nothing but blue sky and felt nothing but extreme heat. Not normal apparently for this time of year.

I think you know where this is going. That Wednesday night, we saw the first thunder storm for 3 weeks. A pretty spectacular event as lightening bolts lit up the evening sky and thunder claps drummed around the valley. The strange thing was that it didn't rain much. About 30 mins of somewhat unspectacular rain and that was that. We were left with an unbearably heavy, humid atmosphere that night. There was clearly more to come.

The following 2 nights had a pretty similar pattern. The skies threatened for most of the day, but only delivered a little rain. The wind was getting up all the time and the thunder and lightening battles were becoming ever more menacing. Then on Friday and Saturday it happened. The deluge was unleashed, big time. I can't recall the stats off-hand but it was A LOT OF RAIN! The first main downpour brought around 45mm of rain in under 10 mins and it continued at a steady rate for the best part of 48 hours. Rio was awash and it didn't pass without incident. A big part of the central downtown area was quickly overwhelmed and disappeared under several feet of water. The TV news showed scenes of chaos as cars and vans floated down the street. We learned later that day that 12 poor souls were drowned when an underground carpark they were in was flooded. The TV news didn't report this, but I'm told that these floods always cause terrible slides in the most poorly contructed favelas, taking houses, possessions and people away with them. A stark reminder of the force of Mother Nature and the precarious equilibrium that exists in less developed countries.

Thankfully for me, I had taken the decision to go to Sao Paulo this weekend, so missed the worst of the weather completely. Rio's mountainous, coastal landscape leaves it vulnerable to erratic weather, while Sao Paulo is further inland so escaped with a relatively mild shower.

I'd gone to Sao Paulo to visit Annika (another York basketball alumnus) who has been in Brasil and Argentina since September conducting fieldwork for her PHd. She's a clever girl, Annika, not least because she chose to specialise in International Relations and Economics in the aforementioned countries, and of course you have to do fieldwork out there don't you (all expenses paid)? I wish I'd thought of that. I'm probably doing her a disservice with that comment. She is a supremely talented academic and obtained all manner of scholarships to fund her fieldwork, so deserves every centavo.

Anyhoo, Annika was due to return to London very soon, so urged me to jump on the bus and get over to Sao Paulo for a chinwag over a choppe (draft beer). How could I resist? I have to admit to being a little tentative as to date I've barely ventured beyond my local area. This was a major adventure, but I was looking for some excitment, so decided to go for it. It turned out to be much easier than expected to transition from city to city - testament to the excellent long distance bus services that exist here. Its really amazing sometimes to see how far advanced so called '2nd World' countries can be in certain areas. National Express should be ashamed of themselves at what they offer in comparison to Brazilian buses.

So before I knew it, I was standing in another world. Sao Paulo is VERY different to Rio. Consider the facts - 10 million people live in central Sao Paulo (equivalent to inner London area, or Manhattan). The total population of Greater Sao Paulo is 18 million and rising, yet in 1900 there was a little over 100,000 people there. Thats what you call rapid growth. Also Sao Paulo does not possess the outstanding natural setting that Rio has. It is much more of a functional setting. As a result it could be considered the archetypal example of 'urban sprawl'. A vast conurbation that has grown exponentially to accomodate a surge of economic migrants, with minimal consideration for aesthetic qualities. The best analogy I could think of for Sao Paulo is that its a poor man's Tokyo. Not flattering, I admit, but the size and scale are on a par with Tokyo, there's just less shiny buildings and much more muck.

The contrast between Rio and Sao Paulo continues onto its inhabitants. Paulistas, in their urban jungle, centre of South American finance and (self-professed) intellectual capital of Brasil, are hard-working, practical people who enjoy mocking their beach-loving, laid back Carioca counterparts. I was never quite sure whether they truly resented Rio's people for lazing in the sun all day while the Paulistas are busy keeping Brasil's economy running. I'd like to think (as a trainee Carioca) that it was all tongue in cheek.

The other noticable thing about Paulistas is that they really don't look like Brazilians. For a start they clearly don't see the sun as much and, frankly made me look like a sun-worshipper when I was amongst them. Secondly, there's been so much immigration from overseas to the city that half the world is represented on each Metro train. The sizable Japanese community (the biggest outside Japan) is widely known about, but I saw so many Italians, Germans, Arabs and more that I had to keep reminding myself where I was. In this respect it is very similar to London so I instantly felt more at home.

So that was Sao Paulo. I'm gonna cut things short here as I'm being bombarded by mozzies. The little bastards are after my feet again. Just chance to say a big thankyou to Annika for hosting me in Sao Paulo and good luck readjusting to London! I hope the weather eases you in with some sunshine.

tchau for now.