Que calor!

An American coming to Rio has to get used to the Celsius temperature scale. There are giant digital clocks posted all over the city that alternate the time and tempeature, and quickly you realize that temps in the 30's (roughly 85-100F) are fairly normal, but 40 (104F) is when you really start to wilt. When the beachside temperature clocks start showing "40" for the temperature reading, everybody suddenly feels justified in complaining about it. "Que calor!" (What heat!) (And, oddly, the Brazilians seem to complain just as much, often even more, than the Americans.) (Perhaps because they have to actually live and work full-time in this heat, whereas we gringos are usually on vacation and can go swimming at the beach whenever we want.)

I am usually fine in the heat, but two days ago I noticed I was starting to wilt. I would take a cool shower, step out of the shower, and discover that I couldn't bear the sensation of wrapping a towel around my body. It seemed like the towel was made of 3" thick insulated wool. So I'd just rub the towel over my body to dry off. Then I'd look in the mirror and watched in amazement as huge beads of sweat appeared all over my body within seconds of having toweled dry. Then I, and everybody else in Rio, noticed this:



Okay, so 50C is ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-TWO DEGREES FAHRENHEIT. Jeepers. Even the Brazilians are shocked. I would write more about this but I think I need to drink a gallon of water now (which I have been doing about every 15 minutes)