Have dishcloths, will travel

Luckily I grabbed a snap of this mobile dishcloth store on my way to the gym today, because I haven't taken any photos since. The man peddling the bike stepped away and wouldn't let me include him in the picture - said he didn't like having his photo taken. I feel the same way, it's far better to be behind the camera.

Heading up to the hills this afternoon in fairly heavy traffic (we never leave early enough to avoid it), we saw the sky get ever darker, till eventually deep purple clouds tipped a dam load of water over us. Stopping at a petrol station, we thought we'd get a cup of coffee and wait till the rain eased off, but we'd have been drenched in two seconds, so we stayed in the car. By phone, our caretaker advised us to turn back, and we nearly did, but luckily decided to ring a friend who lives at the top of the Serra. She had the meteorological chart open on her computer and said that we were probably in the worst of it and it might not been too bad on the Serra (think landslides and rock falls). So on we went and she was dead right - and we dropped in for a cup of tea and a very pleasant interlude at her house. She's incredibly well-informed and has an encyclopedic knowledge of most aspects of Brazilian life, so her conversation is always entertaining.