Not what he seems

Not a storm trooper, not a gunman – just thawing out.
 
Ronaldo the handyman was back today and I stole him away from more urgent jobs to accompany me to the wilder fringes of Downtown to buy samba tickets for our next airbnb guests. A misleading sign led us into one wrong turn, involving many lanes of traffic cramming themselves into a short, narrow tunnel, but we eventually made it back to the right area. Parking was another challenge, but we managed that too and then faced the oven of the streets as we made our way to the sales point. Still, buying the tickets was a breeze – no queue to speak of and no problem with availability. Nice surprise.
 
Returning to the car, with me darting from one patch of shade to another, we came across the gent on the left, still as a statue and dressed for Antarctica. The strong smell of fish pervading the air gave a clue as to his occupation and I guess he was just thawing out after a spell in the cold room. His more raffish-looking colleagues were wary of the photographer and my efforts to get them in the frame meant I cut our polar explorer in half.
 
The contrast between the south zone of Rio and this end of the city is enormous. I was glad to have Ronaldo’s company – after all these years, I still look so foreign – but the area’s fascinating and I didn’t feel threatened. The people we did talk to were all friendly and helpful.