Thursday, May 01, 2008

Difficult access, continued

Getting splashed on, by the way, is not a humorous event, but Áurea and I still laugh when recollecting an episode from a trip to Serra do Navio in the State of Amapá, where we had gone to research a new tour route that would include that beautiful mining town. The mayor put us up at the official guest house and showed us around for the two days. Needless to say, we felt privileged that the mayor, himself, could take time away from his busy schedule for this purpose, and that he had a nice pick-up truck in which to take us. Right away we perceived that this man was a much respected authority in the region, not just because of the office he held, but also because he is an accomplished political leader, a man who had risen from the ranks of the working class at the ICOMI manganese mine. We soon got used to the out-pouring of homage paid to him wherever we went, so we were quite astonished one day to hear a young boy walking along the side of the road call him a filho da puta. Inadvertently the mayor had driven through a mud hole and had splashed muddy water on the pants of the unlucky young man. It happens all the time, but we still find this particular incident amusing because of the kid's spontaneity towards the unintentional act, and to whom it was being directed. I should add that getting a bath of mud and water is not restricted to pedestrians. A vehicle hitting a pothole in a paved street can splatter the contents of the puddle right up into adjacent cars. A smart driver knows exactly when to roll up the windows - and fast. Source: Santarém - Riverboat Town

2 comments:

Sandpiper (Lin) said...

I started from the bottom and read up. What a great story! It's amazing what we take for granted in the States. When we complain about potholes, we have no idea what the word means elsewhere. I remember being on a so-called "road" in St. Lucia, West Indies, and I was amazed that a vehicle could even be driven on it. By the time I got to Soufrière, I thought I was going to be sick.
That's a lot of water on your road. I'm glad you didn't get hurt in your fall.

Sandpiper (Lin) said...

Oh, I meant to say thank you for the very nice note you left on my blog. Very kind of you.