Not really all that shocking

Came across this online. Much more shocking things happen in traffic here everyday, but this at least is something that people outside the country can connect to and understand on some level. Makes a heck of a lot more sense than the whole "turning left from the right hand lane without signaling" thing...

Threats of chaos

Some time ago, maybe a year or more, there was a short bus strike. The companies wanted to raise the price of a ride on one of our many city buses some thing like another R$1 or so and when the talks weren't going well (or at all, I can't quite remember), the drivers took a one day strike that threw the city in to absolute chaos. Nannies couldn't get to their charges, doormen couldn't get to work, security guards were stuck at home, people who normally took buses had to brave the streets in their cars... I remember distinctly that there was a lot of traffic on the roads that day, and that several people were still waiting at bus stops in hopes of a bus coming by anyway, or that one of the opportunists would stop and give them a ride to where they needed to go for a small fee if it were on the way or a larger one if it wasn't. The city stops with out buses. We have no other transportation (save the monorail that has been under construction for 10+ years now) and those who are too poor to have a car but have a job and mouths to feed are the ones who get screwed the most. Some employers expect the employees to find there way to work on their own. Others will go pick them up or arrange other transportation. The traffic becomes ridiculous (when it already was before).



The buses are about to go on strike again. The drivers only make a little more than R$600 a month. If no agreement is reached for a pay raise, they will strike on Tuesday, as was announced on the news this morning. Lets all cross our fingers...

Acarajé passing

I have looked all over my computer and try as I might, I cannot find a photo to accompany this entry. I was informed that Dinha, the Bahia de Acarajé based in Rio Vermelho and one of the more well known ones in Salvador has died of a heart attack late this week. Some of my fondest memories are of eating near her street stand and drinking beer from our "home" bar there in the square. I never had the pleasure of meeting her (although my partner in all things Bahia did), but her acarajé and abará accompanied some of the most memorable first nights and experiences I had here in this wonder of a city. She will be missed, but her memory lives on in the form of tasty dendê foods.

Rain Rain, go away....

Yeah, so this is an old picture. But the stretch of road looks about the same right now, so I don't feel too bad posting it. Between being gripada again and all this lovely weather we are having lately, I haven't felt too inspired to go out taking pictures of new things. Not that there haven't been some interesting things happening here lately - an accident involving a SKOL truck and some cases of beer falling off onto the cars behind it blocking the entire Orla in the Itapua bound direction comes to mind - I just haven't felt like dragging around my camera.