Weather

When Papai made his first trip to Joinville in September the weather was absolutely perfect.  It was spring and the temperature was in the 70s with little humidity.  That wasn't the Brazil that I knew, but 13 years ago I was in Sao Paulo in June (wintertime there) and it did get pretty cold because it was a humid cold.  I had a thick furry blanket to sleep with and I needed it since there aren't heaters there that I know of.  Still, it was hard for me to believe the weather could be so comfortable in Brazil.

Well, we arrived in Joinville in November, still in Spring, and it was NOT comfortable!  Supposedly it doesn't get much higher than 87 here but with the humidity it is just really, really hot.  The first weekend here we walked to the nearby zoo and walked around there for a couple of hours from about 4-6pm.  We were positively drenched in sweat--literally dripping--and not just a drop or two.   At least the Brazilians were complaining, too.  That made me feel a little better.  Later that week Papai looked up the temperature and it was 93 degrees that day.  With the humidity, the local weather place claimed it felt like 116 degrees.  YIKES!!!  

The next day my companion, Dani (short for Daniele) and her family came to visit.  We had the air conditioning on but my companion asked that we turn it off because her baby wasn't used to being so cold.  Whew.  That seems to be a general thing here. The temperature drops just low enough to start being comfortable to us and the Brazilians complain that it's cold. They are just used to the heat. The week we stayed at Dani's family's beach house there was no air conditioning.  So when we arrived at the local chapel for church and discovered it had air conditioning we were in HEAVEN!!!  But not the Brazilians--we heard several of them comment on how cold the chapel was (mostly women--I imagine the men appreciate it in their long sleeve suits and socks and shoes).  

Here's another example of how hot it is. As a rule, for my own personal reasons, I put on make-up every single day without fail and I never ever, ever wear shorts.  I don't even own a single pair.  At home, on vacation, camping, even backpacking (just ask my dad) I adhere to my rules.  However, with heat at the beach house, without air conditioning, make-up melted off my face as I was putting it on the first day and I didn't bother with it again the rest of the time at the beach house.  Also, I didn't care what I (or my legs) looked like, I had my pants rolled up to my knees the whole time.  My hair was up in a messy knot on my head. It was survival mode for us!  Thank goodness for showers, the ocean, and the church's air conditioning.  Those were our few moments of respite.

So we are living in weather a bit warmer than we bargained for but bit by bit we are getting used to it.  We like to play a game when we get up in the morning called, "Let's-See-How-Long-We-Can-Last-Without-the-Air-Conditioner."  It's a very short game most days--like 10-15 minutes short. Thankfully, we have air conditioning.  It only cools the two front rooms but thank goodness we have that much. It does cool off a bit at night but we still need the overhead fans and we sleep with our windows open to get a breeze since the air conditioning doesn't reach the bedrooms well.  We just turn it off at night. The fan in master bedroom doesn't work so we ended up buying a fan and life and sleep is much better now.

I remember this kind of heat and humidity in Recife.  Recife is only 8 degrees south of the border so it was pretty much hot all the time, all year.  I remember flying from Sao Paulo to Recife in August (nearing the end of winter) and as I walked off the air conditioned plane and towards the airport it was like walking into a dishwasher.  People with glasses will understand.  You know how it is when you open the dishwasher door right after it's finished?  There's just this heavy, tangible wave of heat and steam that makes it hard to breathe?  That was Recife--IN THE WINTER, and that's what it's like here on most days.  I hear it's at least somewhat cooler and less humid in the winter here at least.

Update:  When I started this post over a month ago, any time we commented to a Brazilian how hot is was, they'd say, "This is just the beginning.  It gets WAAAAY hotter here."  Then they'd tell us about last summer and how it got so hot for so long, they thought it was the end of the world.  Literally. Or that the devil had taken up residence in Joinville. Now that we're smack dab in the middle of their summer I can attest--it has only gotten hotter.   I didn't think it was possible but wow, it is HOT.  Here are a few examples to illustrate just how hot and humid it is:

1. It isn't even refreshing to go swimming in our apartment's pool in the afternoon because the temperature is not regulated so the water is almost too hot to swim in in the afternoon.
2. I pretty much can't get my kids to go out of the house anywhere during the day because after even just 5 minutes of walking outside we all need showers because we are wet with sweat
3. We close off all the doors in our apartment so that our air conditioner only cools the family room and even then it's still not always comfortable.  Definitely better but still not always in the comfortable, sweat-free zone.
4. Papai's co-worker admitted to taking FIVE showers this weekend--just to help stay cool.
5. The grocery store is less than a mile from our house but it is seriously a race to get home before our frozen foods thaw.
6. Chocolate must be kept in the fridge or becomes semi-melted.
7. Even with a fan blowing on us all night, wet hair, minimal pajamas, and no covers it's tough to sleep.  Last night I gave up and slept on the couch with the air conditioning on.

That being said, we have now spend several weekends in the Curtitiba area and while it still gets pretty darn hot there as well, it is a little more bearable there and even cools off slightly at night.   

The other big thing about the weather here is the rain.  Joinville is also known as Chuvaville or Rainville.  I think it has rained at least every other day if not almost every day we have been here. You get a warning sprinkle to start with and when you do, you know to move AND FAST cause the downpour is on it's way.  WOW-does it pour--more like a bucket dumping!  Streets become flowing rivers sometimes.  When you are driving the highest wiper speed often still does not cut through the rain on your windshield.  It's amazing.  Often thunder and lighting accompany the rain.  We have seen some AMAZING lighting storms here.  Sometimes its like someone is flicking a lightswitch on and off in the sky--just huge general light all over and other times we see ragged zig zags that rip the sky and zap the hills.  Sometimes the thunder rattles the apartment and other times it claps it's own beat in the background of the storm.  Yesterday the lightning and thunder pounded out on top of each other so that even I was a bit nervous.  Our kids are slowly getting used to it.  They have headphones and play games and listen to their music.  The Boss doesn't even need his headphones any more.  A lot of times the rain is over almost as quickly as it starts, sometimes it may last for several hours but I have never seen it last all day here.  Usually it's loud, and powerful, and throws it's tantrum in one big burst and then it's over and done and we're back to sunny skies and more heat and humidity.