Braving the Storm

We are originally from an area in the US that is considered part of the Midwest so we are used to some pretty major thunderstorms. Storms range from lightening, thunder, hail, and almost every storm that comes through carries at least a Tornado Watch with it. I’ve always been glad that my family has a basement in our house. There is nothing like the comfort and safety of a basement when the weather acts up.

We’ve been experiencing some pretty intense storms here in Maringá lately, the worst of which occurred yesterday. I was in Portuguese class and was very happy that I was with other people. Experiencing storms in a high rise apartment in the middle of a city by yourself can rattle the nerves a bit. Storms seem to vary here. On Tuesday we experienced one that had a lot of lightening, yesterday it was all wind. I find the city to be very scary during the slightest bit of wind. I’m not sure if it is the structure of the types of trees here, or a lack of pruning dead limbs by the city, but even a small storm produces tons of debris all over the streets. I never want to be out walking or driving in a storm here. As I walked home, I saw limbs twice my size lying all over the roads. I walked past one house that had a mango tree in the yard. There were unripe mangos strewn all over the place. I’d hate to get hit in the head with one of those during a big wind storm.

When a storm blows in here, the sky is so interesting. Clouds form that look a lot like our wall clouds in the US, however, we are lucky that no funnel clouds drop from them. They simply blow in and bring a lot of rain.

Despite how much the wind scares me here, I love the rain (chuva). The main reason is because it brings with it cooler air. As good as sunlight is for the soul, a person can only take so much sunshine, especially when that sunshine is so hot that you can get a vacation tan by walking from here to the next block.

I love how people react to the rain here too. It is no big deal. I walked from the grocery store back to the apartment yesterday and was completely drenched. The rain actually felt pretty good. Some people pull out umbrellas, but most just make their way trying to stay under building canopies. In the US, people typically scramble to open their umbrellas to walk two feet into the store from that close parking spot they spent 20 minutes circling to find. Of course, you know from previous posts that I wouldn’t be one to care about getting my hair wet. Considering how hot it is when that sun is out, a nice cool shower is the best thing around. So rain, I don’t mind, but give me a safe place when that wind starts.