I returned to the condo and she was still on the phone. I plopped on the couch and the clouds rolled in. No kidding!  A drenching rain lasting about 20 minutes came in and upped the humidity to somewhere around 190%.

Brazil's electrical grid is powered approximately 90% by hydroelectricity. Brazil has been suffering through light rainy seasons the past few years and as a result, its reservoirs are too low. They instituted rationing in June which required everyone to cut their usage by about 20%. I received a letter in the mail yesterday from the Brazilian Department of Energy. Below is an excerpt.

"The people of the nation of Brasil (notice that they spell the name differently than we do) thank you for your visit of 13/12 to 26/12/2001 (notice also that they mix up how dates are written). We experienced eight days of meaningful precipitation as a direct result of your stay in our country. Thanks to your efforts, we are confident that our reservoirs will return to their normal levels soon. We hope you enjoyed your stay in Brasil and look forward to your next visit."

It rained a lot (primarily in the early evenings) and was consistently overcast. As you continue in this travelogue, you'll see the effect that the weather had on my trip. We had to get creative. This included taking several scenic car rides and looking at the sites. It didn't bother me at all as many of the things we did would have been things where I'd have gotten off the bus, taken a picture, and gotten right back on anyway. Cecilia's family, particularly her brother-in-law Gerson, logged many miles (kilograms? what is it in Metric anyway?) taking me around and I greatly appreciate everything they did.

I don't want to give the wrong impression here. The sun was there when we needed it. And given that I am a walking sweat factory, I appreciated the breaks from the sunshine and the humidity.

As I mentioned earlier, Cecilia had no luggage and thus needed clothes. So it was off to the mall we went. I will now give you the single most important piece of advice I can give to you as a prospective tourist in Brazil: LOOK DOWN!

Brazilian sidewalks are not like those in the U.S. While we have become accustomed to square sheets of concrete, they have black and white rocks that have been carved and sanded and arranged in pleasing patterns. These rocks frequently come loose and can cause a hazard. Little dips and bumps are part of the landscape as well. When it rains, these little things get slippery.  The rocks aren't your only problem. There's also the issue of animal waste. I am sure there are laws on the books about poop disposal, but it appears that nobody takes them seriously since the military government left power. I had a wonderful shot of a pile of dog poop on the sidewalk, but it was the last on the roll and didn't come out.