It's one of several recommended tactics to preserve water--Sao Paulo's most valuable, and fastest-disappearing, asset. We'll collect the sudsy shower water today and then use it to flush our toilet tomorrow. Why? Because tomorrow they're turning our water off.
I'm not sure of the reason. In the case of our building, I think it has something to do with plumbing maintenance. Probably just a short term thing. Either way, water turn offs are a fact of life in this city. Some neighborhoods go days without a drop. I've been to a restaurant that got cut off. Dani's had it happen at work.
The New York Times wrote a great article about it in February and pointed out that in times of a natural disaster--like a hurricane or tornado--people band together. But when resources run out, people will do anything to survive.
We still don't know how the city's water crisis will affect us. The daily 20-minute monsoons of the rainy season are beginning to subside. The sun is coming out for longer periods. Temperatures are cooling off as Autumn sets in. Soon, we'll get rain once a week or less. The tap is slowly twisting close.
On Friday, Dani will head over to the Policia Federal. If you've been reading this blog for a year, you'll remember this as the mall-sized DMV kind of place where everyone goes to have their paper pushed around. She's going to get her passport renewed because if worst comes to worst, we want to be ready to go.
(Fun fact: Brazilian passports are only valid for five years. Why? Because here, fill out these forms and wait in this line).
Do we really think it'll come to that? Probably not. Brazil always has some type of crisis looming on the horizon and things still kind of work out in the end. Remember all the reports saying those new stadiums wouldn't be ready in time for the World Cup? That turned out fine. You'll hear plenty of similar stories soon about next year's Olympics in Rio. Trust me, you'll get your gymnastics.
Still, it's funny to have to sit down with your boss, as I did a month ago, and say, "So, I should probably make you aware that at some point in time this year I may have to flee my home, in which case I'll just kind of...sort of...show up here."
It makes me laugh, but tomorrow I doubt I'll crack as many smiles. Having no gas sucks. No electricity can change your plans. But only no water can make you truly suffer.
As one guy recently put it to me, "If I tied you to a chair and put a bottle of water in front of you and told you I'd sell it to you for $10, you would laugh at me. If I waited a day and told you I'd sell it for $100, you would laugh at me. If I waited a week, you would give me your house for it."
First, it's Brazil. Then California.
Water falls from the sky. It washes up on our beaches. It courses through our veins. This is supposed to happen. Turning on the sink in your house and getting as much as you want? That's a modern miracle.
All of us are on the clock.
Water falls from the sky. It washes up on our beaches. It courses through our veins. This is supposed to happen. Turning on the sink in your house and getting as much as you want? That's a modern miracle.
All of us are on the clock.
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