First Day at Sea

On our first day at sea, I awoke at 4:30 and went for a stroll around the ship [no jogging]. It was humid, about 75 degrees and windy. It had rained and was going to again. It is now very overcast but I suspect we’ll have some sun later. I didn’t bring enough quarters to do my laundry! It takes 8. I’ll have to find the cashier; there must be one up in the casino. We just passed an enormous oilrig out here with no land in sight. I remember reading that they had discovered an oil-rich area here very recently and this is maybe the result. It looks brand spanking new!
I will use this relatively event-less time to reflect on a few subjects of interest to some of my faithful followers [Messianic complex, anyone?]
Cars: Brazil has an unusual automotive presence. The first thing I noticed was Renault, Fiat and Peugeot. I had all but forgotten they even existed. Can you still buy one in the States? They are everywhere in Brazil, especially as rentals. Most taxis were Fiats. I saw quite a few VWs, less, but plenty of Hondas and Toyotas [not a single Prius]. The major American car was Chevy, small generic looking ones and some similarly undistinguished Fords. Seat [Spain], Opel and Dascia were also common. Trucks and Busses were predominantly Mercedes and Volvo. There were many small elegant looking shiny black cars which are apparently “private cars” used by companies like H. Stern [Jewelers] to ferry their guests to demonstrations, seminars etc. The American popularity of silver and champagne and light bronze and even white does not play here. Black is king… and in this heat! Go figure.
Dogs: The cocker spaniel is everywhere and generally the largest dog you see in Copacabana and Ipanema. There are lots of smaller [poodles, yorkies, biches etc.] breeds. I saw a couple of “walkers” with 5 or 6 dogs in tow. Since everyone seems to go out for a stroll or run at some time during the day their dogs accompany them. No droppings… anywhere! And no one carrying little plastic bags! I don’t know how they do it but the streets and sidewalks appear free of canine “gifts.”
About every two blocks on the beach are stairways that lead to large, clean restrooms. They are well maintained by the beachfront merchants. What is it about out cities that we find it so hard to achieve this level of civic pride? Every morning you’ll see each merchant out front washing down the pavement, even scrubbing it, watering their planters, sweeping up the leaves and fruits that fell over night.
What I have been able to upload can be viewed at a site provided by my new computer: http://gallery.mac.com/myquay