Daily Life in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Lovely Weather

Though the last week or so has been a touch warmer than I'd love, this summer has been absolutely awesome for weather in my opinion. Warm enough to swim every day, not so hot that the canadoca is constantly burning her feet on tile flooring outside. Most days in the 30s, not so many in the 40s... NICE. Last summer was blisteringly hot. On days like these, life in Rio is pretty damn good!

A couple of notes on the floods

Though we have not been personally affected by the floods (didn't know any of the victims etc.) other than of course our heartfelt sympathies to those who lost loved ones, there are a few related items-about-town to mention.

There are donation bins and collections points set up virtually everywhere. They are asking for donations such as water and food, clothing, toiletries, candles - basically anything useful is welcome. Transportation of these items is reportedly a bit of a nightmare though and so therefore although Cariocas (along with the rest of the country) being known for their generousity of course, have opened their hearts and wallets, apparently not many of these goods have yet reached those in need.

There is/was a great need for blood donations. However, I have been unable to locate anywhere other than the blood bank in centro to make said donations. If anyone knows of other places to donate blood, please advise. That would be good info to have in any case.

At the grocery stores, the produce shelves are pretty barren in the legumes section. Many of our fruits and veg come from affected areas.

 

Unreal... flood images.

You must see it to believe it. Click here for the slideshow of the flooding north of Rio de Janeiro.

Crazy Packed Beaches

Check out this online gallery of how packed Rio's beaches were Sunday... can't blame everyone as the highest temperature I saw on the signs was 38 celsius. A lot of people have commented lately that the beach in Ipanema has been way more packed since the metro now goes there...

We were at the beach on Saturday but spent Sunday at the water park in Recreio. I'll tell you all about it later in the week...

Calgary: Today's 2nd Coldest Place on Earth. Where the cars wear blankets.

Since starting this blog I have made no secret of my plans to at least try to move somewhere other than Calgary when we leave Rio. Namely, Vancouver. This house made me think I could definitely move to Calgary anytime soon a couple weeks ago, (the one condition of course being that I would move into the house) but since then it has apparently been at least -20 C. It must be a sign I'm not supposed to return there. Don't mind me using the blog as a record of all the reasons not to move back there... you never know when I might need a list handy!

Even the cars are cold, apparently:

Today in Rio it was only about 25 degrees but it felt a lot warmer....

Weekend Weather

There's a bit of a phenomenon going on here in Rio - terrible weekend weather. We're not just imagining it. Makes me feel very sorry for the working folk like my hubby who has to drive the entire length of Leblon/Ipanema/Copacabana beaches on his way to work every day, watching everyone having fun, to end his 50+ hour work week (not counting the 10 or so hours he spends commuting) with.... cloudy skies. Bizarre how frequently this happens in Rio!

Little old ladies and storeclerks in Rio, this one's for you!

So... even upon arriving back in Rio, I was tsk tsk ed by a couple of old ladies for having the Canadoca in the refrigerator aisle... right. Um, did I mention we saw snow in Canada? Or that we took her on a zodiak boat in Patagonia when she was 4 months old?

Now - I will unleash my secret weapon in shutting these people up. A precious gift from my grandmother:

In Canada, we call this a toque. If you see a kid rocking out this one in the freezer section of a grocery store while being carried in a baby bjorn, chances are you've spotted me. Come say hi! Tell me she's cold, I dare you! ;)

BTW - you may be wondering what it will take for me to not be irritated by these "she's cold" people. Well, put it this way, once I stop seeing much bigger atrocities happening to children in Rio I might agree that people should make ensuring the Canadoca's temperature is stable a priority... these are the same people who turn a blind eye to kids selling stuff on the street, being mistreated, not having enough to eat, living in favelas, not getting adequate education, living on the streets.

Instead, my wish is that they would spend that energy doing something about those kids, please.

After the Rains...

a rainbow emerges. A friend took this last week, facing the two brothers from Leblon. Just gorgeous!

The Rain Has Stopped!

It is currently NOT raining. Mr. DRL headed to work this morning. The mayor has kept schools closed today again and asked people to avoid non-essential travel. Apparently it is essential that Mr. DRL go into work. As you can tell I'm *thrilled* about this... (Ok he just called me from the office and made it there really fast and said the roads had basically no water on them on the way there. Good news!)

Here is the full report on the situation for today.

According to OGlobo, the situation is still pretty bad around the lagoa and motorists are asked to avoid it. There have also been many cases of cars stuck in traffic being looted. Lovely.

This situation puts a spotlight on Rio's everyday issues such as homelessness, unsafe building in the favelas (many of these homes are now lost due to mudslides), terrible living conditions in the favelas, litter (because it hampers drainage and thus contributes to more flooding), traffic woes and overall organization and readiness to deal with situations that arise. 

An Update on the Floods of Rio de Janeiro

It is raining like CRAZY still and hasn't let up. The wind is also blowing pretty hard, all my windows are rattling right now...

According to OGlobo, there are at least 96 people who have died in the floods. There have been nearly 29 cm of precipitation in the past 24 hours. Governor Sergio Cabral has declared 3 days of official mourning.  Here in Leblon we still have power but according to the article, many bairros don't, including neighbouring Gavea, along with Laranjeiras, Sao Conrado, Santa Teresa, Jardim Botanico, etc.

The bridge to Niteroi is also closed. 

Stay safe everyone!

Flooding in Rio de Janeiro!

As you may have read on the news it's been storming in Rio, up to 30 people have died because of the flooding and mudslides - click here to read more.

Despite the mayor's warnings to stay indoors, I took my guests shopping in Ipanema today (The Canadoca stayed home with her Papai as he was home from work today, don't worry I didn't take her out in this!) and about half the stores were open for business. The streets were pretty quiet, and the canal looks like this:

Quick Tips from DRL - Traveling and just generally BEING in Brazil

Just trying to make your life easier here!

• Beware overcast days in Brazil. Twice recently we've gone out on an overcast day and come home burnt. Well, ok, mostly Mr. DRL has been burned. Without realizing it AT ALL when out. As in burned to the point of looking like he acquired a hairy red pair of gloves with matching boots. I think I tan MORE on the overcast days, so be careful, that sun is STRONG!
• As I mentioned a couple posts ago, bringing ID (Not just your passport,I'm talking every piece you own...) is important when traveling out of Brazil, but also WITHIN Brazil. Friends of ours traveled to Bahia last weekend with their 18 month old. Upon arriving at the hotel they were informed that they could not check in with their exhausted daughter until they saw all of her ID including birth certificate, etc. Which they then proceeded to photocopy, and it had tp be inspected by higher-ups. This traveling with the birth certificate AND passport thing is obviously a big deal here.

Happy to be in Brazil Because... It's NOT snowing

This is a new series I've been thinking of starting for awhile. Today seemed the perfect day to do so, because apparently it's snowing in Calgary. Or so facebook tells me. Here are some status updates of friends which all cracked me up (and, for the record, it not only snows in Calgary in March on an annual basis, it has also been known to snow there on occasion in May, June, July and August. Thus why I will have to be dragged back there kicking and screaming if Mr. DRL wants to live there again. My vote is for Vancouver)...

Back on topic, DRL! Here are the funny status updates:

From my friend who is coming to visit me in Rio who just booked her ticket:

• I see snowflakes!!!! NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
• to which my sister in law replied : Aaaahhhh!

From my friend who just moved TO Calgary from Rio:

• It is snowing. This morning I cleaned the car in flip-flops!

From others:

• So much for spring fever!! I was getting way ahead of myself! I forgot I live in Calgary!

• YAY snow!!! I love snow in March!! Calgary is the best :(

• Dear mother nature: Take back the snow!!!

To most of which I responded:

"I am guessing this is not a good time to mention my swim in a waterfall surrounded by butterflies this morning?"

So for those of you expecting my travel report, it will come later this week. This was too important and timely to wait! Besides, I have to collect my thoughts (and download photos from three different cameras). But the swimming with the butterflies part? Consider it a sneak peek!

Wicked Waves in Leblon

Really not sure if this has anything to do with the earthquake in Chile, but on Friday we experienced some CRAZY big waves here in Leblon - 2.5 meter waves, some of which came right up across the beachfront road (click here for an amazing photo of this).

Signs of Winter in Rio - II

I should also mention that I spotted someone rollerblading in ear muffs recently. To be fair, I believe that day it was a low of +22 (c) with windchill.

Last year around this time, I left Rio to go home to Canada for a few weeks. Mr. DRL joined me later in August, but told me that all of the leaves fell from the trees while I was gone, only to miraculously reappear before I returned. I have always joked with him that he must have been lying and that winter could not possibly have been so short but now the leaves sure seem to have turned and are falling from the trees at a quick pace!

Weird Weather

I feel terrible for a reader who emailed me a couple of weeks ago because they were heading to Rio and the forecast called for nothing but rain and everytime they had checked it in the past few days it had said it was constant rain in Rio (which at the time, was not the case). I emailed them back and confidently said I doubted that it could possibly rain the whole time they were in Rio.

But I think it did.

As you know I have had company from Canada for the past 6 weeks straight in addition to 2 sets of visitors each here for 10 days or more a few weeks before that.  This last group has had terrible weather with the exception of today (so far so good!), Monday and Tuesday.

I must say this though: the international weather reports and forecasts seem like they are off. Before one group came down they'd been checking the weather in Rio online and it was claiming a high temperature of 23 Celsius which was far from the truth (at the time 27 - 28 would have been more accurate).

Advice for visitors (this is what I always tell my own): you never know with the weather here and frequently a beautiful morning does not last the day, and ends at noon. Just as a cloudy morning can clear for a gorgeous afternoon and sunset. So get your beach time in when you can and find things to do when it socks in with clouds.  Plus: go and do the "views" (Sugarloaf, Corcovado, Vista Chinesa) at your first opportunity because you just never know...

Wild Weather

Perhaps this post will just prove that I don't make it out of my "zone" often enough, but I was in Botafogo this afternoon for an appointment and late in the afternoon the sky became dark and it started to rain. I had my driver take me to Flamengo from there to hit up a store I thought I'd check out while "in the neighbourhood" but by the time we arrived, the streets were so flooded with rain that the store had closed down for the day. Lovely. And by this time it's closer to rush hour and I'm further from home, no blackberry or cell phone - plus my inlaws are in town and I needed to get home to try and entertain them!

I actually really wish I'd had a camera. The streets in Flamengo & Botafogo were extremely flooded and people were really just making do.  Women in heels (some had taken them off) trodding calf-deep in brown water, kids up to their waists, hand in hand on their way home from school. And don't get me started on thinking about how contaminated some of that water would be, with some of Rio's er, "developing" sewage "systems"...

As we drove along the car kept being rocked by they "waves" being created by the buses rushing past us and I was concerned for the air intake on the car as I had an experience with driving in too deep of water in a flash flood back home (car died for like 24 hrs and I had to be rescued!), but the driver seemed unconcerned and said this happened frequently.

By the time we pulled into Leblon, the sun was shining and the waves were crashing powerfully against the beach, there were signs of rain but nothing like what I'd seen just a few miles away - is it always like this????

Rain Rain Go Away

My visitors don't want to see just a rainy Rio!

What I forgot to mention about my summer vacation..

...is that we experienced every weather system imaginable.
Yes, it SNOWED.  On the last Sunday we were there (the day we had a wedding to attend. An outdoor wedding without a backup plan I might add! Which still was just the most amazing wedding ever but I digress).

When this happens at an unseasonable time in Canada, the radio announcers think that it is hysterical to play Christmas music.

It also rained the entire time I was at the lake :) haha.

So again, to reiterate, yes it is muito friio in Canada.  Don't I know it now...

Muito Friio

Whenever people in Brazil ask me where I am from I ask them where they THINK I am from.  Most frequently they ask if I am Americano or Italiana... no neither I say. Sometimes they think I am French, Argentinian or even Portuguese (which as I found out is not as much of a compliment on my language skills as you'd think, as Portugual-Portuguese and Brazilian-Portuguese are different and people barely understand one another...)

No one ever guesses Canadian, but when I tell them that that is where I am from the reaction is generally the same: "Canada... Muito Friio!" (Very cold).  To which I always reply, yes in the winter it is but in the summer it is warm just like in Brazil.

But, as I am finding out while experiencing a Canadian summer, I have been lying to the Brazilians by telling them this. I'm not afraid to admit that I am wrong, and apologize to anyone I may have mislead! 

I feel sorry for people vacationing in Canada for the first time in the summer - who would know what to pack? Since I've been home I have experienced almost every type of weather except for snow (knock wood. It's not too late.) and my attire has ranged from bikinis to woolies with slippers.  It seems a constant battle to either warm a house up or cool it down, not helped by the fact that the weather is sure to turn the next day... (in other words, do not turn the heat on).

Although Rio is a "climate" of extremes in almost every other way, it's nice to know that you can at least count on the weather... at least compared to here.

Not that I am complaining - I had longed to jump into a cold Canadian lake, and am enjoying the brisk mountain air on my face while it lasts. 

Winter

Nothing says winter like a "festa de sopa" or Festival of Soup...

Bring on the "winter"

I must comment on how amazing the weather has been the past two weeks... sunny warm mild beach weather in the daytime, cools off a bit at night (to about 18 degrees).  Just loving it! Especially for "winter".... yes I'm Canadian, any winter above zero sounds good to me.   But this is seriously amazing!

When it Rains in Rio

We just had some visitors in last week and it rained almost the entire time they were here... I am not much of an expert on what to do when it rains in Rio but there are some other bloggers out there with great ideas.

Since it looks like it is about to start pouring any minute now, I figured why not post this today.

Piratas de Ipanema's fantastic recommendations for a rainy Rio day - including a tour of Lapa,

What it feels like for one blogging backpacker when it rains in Rio...

Rain Rain Go Away

So it's raining in Rio, has been since Saturday night, on and off.  We are officially in southern winter aka the rainy season.  If you are planning to come here, be prepared for temperatures around 20 degrees, which feels a lot colder than it sounds with the humidity.  I have actually quite enjoyed this rainy week so far, as it has given me a lot of time and motivation to get things done!

Weird Weather

So it's supposed to be winter here, but it was a whopping 36 degrees celsius when I was biking home from class today... (and we get a good sea breeze here in our neighbourhood).

To contrast, I hear there is currently a snowfall warning in the passes back home. It's June, right?

18 degrees has started to feel cool to us, but I'm quite confident that 36 will never feel like winter.

So it's supposed to be winter here, but it was a whopping 36 degrees celsius when I was biking home from class today... (and we get a good sea breeze here in our neighbourhood).

To contrast, I hear there is currently a snowfall warning in the passes back home. It's June, right?

18 degrees has started to feel cool to us, but I'm quite confident that 36 will never feel like winter.

Weather

Hot hot hot today in Rio... I get a lot of people accessing the site via queries about the weather in Rio - today it was 30 degrees Celsius with a beautiful breeze... gotta love it.

When is the Best Time to Go to Rio? The Weather Report

When should we come? What time of year is the best weather in Rio?
Questions we hear a lot. Obviously the "best weather" is relative to what you are looking for.

Rio's annual daytime highs range from 25 to 30 degrees Celsius, nighttime lows range from 18 to 24 degrees.

February has the most hours of bright sunshine with 207 hours, it averages between 137 and 196 hours in other months.

Relative humidity ranges from 77 to 80% annually, while between 103 and 169 millimetres of rain are recorded per month from December to April. Tropical storms and hurricanes are rare in Rio de Janeiro.

December - Jan - Feb - March are the hottest months with the average daytime high near 30 degrees.

The coolest month is July with average highs of 25 and average lows of 18.  The "rainiest" months are not in the North American summer as we previously thought but rather in December, January and April.  December and January are also among the hottest months.

We watched an absolutely fantastic thunderstorm in the far distance on the boat at sunset on Saturday, just gorgeous. And although we have had a few rainy days it is still very warm and pleasant and there is a lot to do in this city.

So I don't think there is really any "bad" time to come, weather-wise!

March 14 - Rainy Day

Today was a good glimpse into what the rainy season is like in Rio.  Apparently it is supposed to rain this weekend too.  But who knows (inaccurate forecasts are apparently a global issue).

If this weather keeps up I'm going to need to go shoe shopping...

I will have you all know - despite buying a lot of shoes when I visited Brazil last year, I have restrained myself from buying any shoes thus far.

Today was a good glimpse into what the rainy season is like in Rio.  Apparently it is supposed to rain this weekend too.  But who knows (inaccurate forecasts are apparently a global issue).

If this weather keeps up I'm going to need to go shoe shopping...

I will have you all know - despite buying a lot of shoes when I visited Brazil last year, I have restrained myself from buying any shoes thus far.