It's Raining in Recife
That's not newsworthy, I know. But Recife (and Olinda and Jaboatão) have a strange reaction to rain. Nobody goes out. At all.
I have gotten used to it, but I don't understand it and I don't like it. If it rains on a Friday night, everybody I know stays home. For some reason, rain outside is a reason not to go to a club, where you stay inside. Rain is a reason not to go to a nice bar with a functional ceiling that keeps the tables and chairs nice and dry. And if it rains the next night as well, then nobody in Recife goes out all weekend.
One of my students (who is from Rio, and thus has no fear of rain) told me that his wife teaches yoga classes, and that only very rarely do any students show up for class when it's raining. How strange is that? These people have already paid for the class, and when it rains they decide that they don't need to get their money's worth. The same thing happens with organized pick-up soccer games (peladas), but those are outside. The yoga class is, again, in a building with functional walls, windows, and ceiling.
It took me a long time to get used to this peculiarity. Should I make plans for almost anything at all, they will fall through if the weather does not cooperate. An ex-girlfriend knew someone who married a Russian woman from near Chernobyl, and she and her friends told stories about this Russian woman's fear of rain. According to the stories, she trusted no umbrella to protect her, and panicked if even one drop touched her. Well, living near Chernobyl probably changes your attitude toward a lot of things. What excuse do the Pernambucanos have?
I have gotten used to it, but I don't understand it and I don't like it. If it rains on a Friday night, everybody I know stays home. For some reason, rain outside is a reason not to go to a club, where you stay inside. Rain is a reason not to go to a nice bar with a functional ceiling that keeps the tables and chairs nice and dry. And if it rains the next night as well, then nobody in Recife goes out all weekend.
One of my students (who is from Rio, and thus has no fear of rain) told me that his wife teaches yoga classes, and that only very rarely do any students show up for class when it's raining. How strange is that? These people have already paid for the class, and when it rains they decide that they don't need to get their money's worth. The same thing happens with organized pick-up soccer games (peladas), but those are outside. The yoga class is, again, in a building with functional walls, windows, and ceiling.
It took me a long time to get used to this peculiarity. Should I make plans for almost anything at all, they will fall through if the weather does not cooperate. An ex-girlfriend knew someone who married a Russian woman from near Chernobyl, and she and her friends told stories about this Russian woman's fear of rain. According to the stories, she trusted no umbrella to protect her, and panicked if even one drop touched her. Well, living near Chernobyl probably changes your attitude toward a lot of things. What excuse do the Pernambucanos have?
posted by Venha Futuro at 4:41 PM
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