Cold front

A Midwest-style storm blew in yesterday, pummeling the city. Earlier in the evening, I had accepted a friend's offer to attend a birthday party in Leblon and forgot to grab my umbrella. Five minutes into the ride and the rain started coming down...we must have stayed in the car a good half an hour in front of the restaurant just waiting for the rain to subside enough not to completely soak us. I really liked this bar. A Starbucks kind of atmosphere, with couches and poufs to sit on, one rich orange wall, black and white photography and books everywhere, and a textured wall made of lots of stone blocks splashed at jaunty angles; a bit like the Brazilian sidewalks, uneven and organic. The juice was good too. My caffeine and alcohol days were numbered a long time ago...too bad, because I ended up paying more than the people buying beers.

A fifty-some year old woman leaned over towards me, gesturing to my green, frothy drink:
- What kind of exotic cocktail is that?
I had to smile as I whispered, as if I was divulging a lurid secret:
It's dangerous. Mint and...pineapple juice.

Now that the rain has slowed to a kind of Irish drizzle, I'm enjoying the cold but not feeling particularly cheery. Last night I had a surge of energy and stayed up until 2 am researching the Brazilian pasta industry, looking at general consumption figures and competitors' websites for the group project we have to present at the end of the year. Fascinating stuff, I'm sure, for someone. I finally tired and went to bed...waking up at 10:00 in the morning to a phone call that jolted me out of a dream involving a ski slope/miniature golf range in the nearby mall and a frantic search for the women's bathroom, which was taken over by a group of frat boys drinking amarula out of jam jars...it was a good thing I woke up. But I'm still really, really tired and it doesn't have anything to do with sleep or the lack of it. I don't have dengue. If my left arm wasn't purple from a nurse's incompetency at hitting the vein, I'd go back and get a mono test. But first, I have to figure out how to ask for it in Portuguese.

Maybe I won't be going to class tonight.