water drops, coffee and choque de ordem

an apartment in rio can be found in the newspaper. the sunday edition of o globo is the best newspaper for this purpose. like so many weekend editions of newspapers it comes with more than 10 sections - and somewhere in these sections (but why does it always have to be the last that you check?) are the ads for apartments for rent.
the boyfriend and i like to sit in a café to check out the ads. there are some factors to be considered: the price has to be right, the neighbourhood, number of rooms, the size of the apartment. this complex sudoku of wishes and what is offered narrows down the list to some 10 places we might like to see.
then comes the fun part. calling the phone number mentioned in the ad.
'yes, hello this is renate here. ah, the apartment! yes! please call back after 3 and ask for reinaldhino. he has the phone number of frança. she probably still has the key. i am not sure she works today though. or tomorrow. her mother is very ill, you know?'
'thank you, renate...'

in between the phone calls we sip large quantities of coffee. and as the boyfriend is making all the calls (so far his portuguese is still a little better than mine; also i think his patience with all the bullshit you have to put up with coming from the other end of the line will always be bigger than mine) i read the other sections of the newspaper. some international news, interviews with carnaval dancers, letters to the editor.

here´s an interesting letter. what you should know: recently rodrigo bethlem got elected as the new mayor of rio. his main agenda was the promise of ´choque de ordem´ - something like bringing law and order back to the city. this letter addresses an urgent problem that mr. bethlem needs to tackle.

'... for years now i have fought against the problem in my building of air conditioning dripping water onto the pavement. i have taken this serious problem up with my neighbours, but to no avail. with the election of the new mayor i have new hopes.´
thus spoke lydia de aguiar moraes correia.

funny, there´s even a word for the specific problem that lydia fights against so passionately: ´gotejamento´ - something like drop-forming.

here i was thinking that the choque de ordem was aimed at problems like the many many homeless people on the street. on the one hand they deserve housing. on the other hand they create a mess, they commit petty crimes, they piss and puke and shit on the streets and in the parks (well, if the street is your house, some part of that street is bound to be your bathroom, no?). mainly the children living on the street i think should urgently be taken care of: give them a home, schooling, health care.
or what about the littering of the city? people leave their rubbish where ever they desire. in small piles, medium size piles or in huge piles.
squatting: another problem that needs choque de ordem. beautiful mansions crumble in front of your eyes as they are turned into miniature favela´s.
ah, yes. then ofcourse there are the favela´s. large chunks of the city are run by drug gangs. not entirely lawless, but just, you know, with a law of their own...
don´t these problems need choque de ordem?
not according to lydia.

as i finish reading the letter and turn my attention to the boyfriend who has just ended another bizar phone call, he asks me if i want more coffee.
not here in this café, actually. coffee here is bad.
because contrary to what one might think, most of the coffee made in brasil is awful. once they even tried to serve us an instant cappuccino. brr.

so we up and leave. let´s go to that nice café in the bookshop? yes, but the airco does not work well there. and outside there is that terrible stench all the time.
so the quest for a good coffee place continues.

we have no house, no job, we live on our savings which will not last forever, i am not sure if i will get my visa. i do not speak the language. but what i worry about most right now is finding a decent café.

lydia is right after all. is it surprising that in a city with such huge problems, like unemployment, pollution, crime, homelessness, dirt, favela´s and drugs, you should worry about the small things?
perhaps if you can not manage the big problems in life, one should focus on the small problems.

´dear mr. rodrigo bethlem. we strongly agree with your agenda of choque de ordem in this city. the coffees served in most bars is APPALLING. this is unworthy of this beautiful country of BRASIL. where is the pride in serving good quality of our national drink? please deal with this problem URGENTLY.
furthermore, fix the airconditioning in the coffeeshop in the bookshop on praça floriano, get rid of the smell there. oh and is it too much to ask for the waitresses to smile every now and then.
this city has been in dire need of ordem for too long.
our hope now lies entirely in your hands. do not disappoint us.
sincerely yours, eric and the boyfriend´