Near death experiences
Just as Brasil is widely associated with beautiful beaches and girls in Ipanema, preconceptions of Brasil also include favelas, drug lords and street violence. I have now traveled throughout Brazil, including Sao Paulo and Rio several times, as well Salvador and Fortaleza, often by myself. While many people warned me to be extremely cautious, I have not experienced any of the dangers related to the “darker side” of Brazil in 8 months. Rather, the most dangerous situations I’ve encountered have been completely random, often my own fault, and sometimes even humorous. It’s my pleasure to present to you my three near-death experiences up until now:
Death by shower: Upon moving in to my apartment, there was no hot water in the shower. I talked to the maintenance man of the building, who messed with some of the wires… five minutes later we were blessed with hot water. The next day I was taking my first hot shower in about two weeks… Right away I noticed a weird chemical smell, but figured it was the cleaning products the maid had used in the bathroom a day earlier. There was also a lot of steam, which to me added to the ambience of a nice, relaxing, hot shower. About ten minutes in I realize that the chemical smell is actually giving me a headache and it’s REALLY getting steamy and then all of a sudden a crackling noise, sparks flying, fire, sparks, electricity and
more fire!!! There was a short-circuit in the wires connecting the showerhead, the wires are now on fire and I’m about to be electrocuted in the shower! I try to get out and I can’t, the door gets caught, and it’s honestly like a scene out of Final Destination. I manage to get out just as the fire is starting to settle… shaking and gasping for air I realize all the steam was actually smoke, the chemical smell was the wires burning. Since then the wires have (hopefully) been fixed for good, but I still get uneasy looking up at that showerhead.
Death by wave: My friends and I were swimming at a beautiful beach in Niteroi, one of Rio’s neighbor cities. The waves weren’t exactly rolling gently into shore but rather crashing against the sand with rhythmic force. As I was getting out of the water I was distracted about something…. All of a sudden there’s a huge pull… my back is to the ocean and my instincts tell me to run, so I try, but get no where. I t
urn to see the colossal wave, and sadly realize I should have dove into it instead of run away. It crashes down on me, and I’m literally thrown into the sand. At that point my body seems so tiny in comparrison to this large force of water and it seems like my back could just snap… yet somehow I emerge from the sand (bikini top at knees), entirely shaken but unharmed.
Death by Leandro Linhares: SJC isn’t always the most exciting of cities, which often results in spur-of-the-moment dance parties to keep us entertained at night. With Linha’s encouragement I decided to try a dance move that involved grabbing onto a towel and sliding underneath his legs. Towel in hand with Linha on the other end I launch the dive, but instead of an easy slide end up falling and slamming my head onto the hard wood floor.
I feel quite nauseous and have a great urge to fall asleep, in which case I’m almost sure I won’t be waking up very soon. The look of extreme concern on my friends' faces scared me enough into keeping my eyes open. My head (and later neck and upper shoulders) hurt for about a week later, to the point where it hurt to sleep in any position but on my back. But the pain eventually went away and I didn’t suffer a concussion… careful when dancing with this man!! (rsrs)
Death by shower: Upon moving in to my apartment, there was no hot water in the shower. I talked to the maintenance man of the building, who messed with some of the wires… five minutes later we were blessed with hot water. The next day I was taking my first hot shower in about two weeks… Right away I noticed a weird chemical smell, but figured it was the cleaning products the maid had used in the bathroom a day earlier. There was also a lot of steam, which to me added to the ambience of a nice, relaxing, hot shower. About ten minutes in I realize that the chemical smell is actually giving me a headache and it’s REALLY getting steamy and then all of a sudden a crackling noise, sparks flying, fire, sparks, electricity and
more fire!!! There was a short-circuit in the wires connecting the showerhead, the wires are now on fire and I’m about to be electrocuted in the shower! I try to get out and I can’t, the door gets caught, and it’s honestly like a scene out of Final Destination. I manage to get out just as the fire is starting to settle… shaking and gasping for air I realize all the steam was actually smoke, the chemical smell was the wires burning. Since then the wires have (hopefully) been fixed for good, but I still get uneasy looking up at that showerhead.Death by wave: My friends and I were swimming at a beautiful beach in Niteroi, one of Rio’s neighbor cities. The waves weren’t exactly rolling gently into shore but rather crashing against the sand with rhythmic force. As I was getting out of the water I was distracted about something…. All of a sudden there’s a huge pull… my back is to the ocean and my instincts tell me to run, so I try, but get no where. I t
urn to see the colossal wave, and sadly realize I should have dove into it instead of run away. It crashes down on me, and I’m literally thrown into the sand. At that point my body seems so tiny in comparrison to this large force of water and it seems like my back could just snap… yet somehow I emerge from the sand (bikini top at knees), entirely shaken but unharmed.Death by Leandro Linhares: SJC isn’t always the most exciting of cities, which often results in spur-of-the-moment dance parties to keep us entertained at night. With Linha’s encouragement I decided to try a dance move that involved grabbing onto a towel and sliding underneath his legs. Towel in hand with Linha on the other end I launch the dive, but instead of an easy slide end up falling and slamming my head onto the hard wood floor.
I feel quite nauseous and have a great urge to fall asleep, in which case I’m almost sure I won’t be waking up very soon. The look of extreme concern on my friends' faces scared me enough into keeping my eyes open. My head (and later neck and upper shoulders) hurt for about a week later, to the point where it hurt to sleep in any position but on my back. But the pain eventually went away and I didn’t suffer a concussion… careful when dancing with this man!! (rsrs)
