Electricity

One of the first things I noticed when I got here to Brazil was the lack of air conditioners. At first, I chalked it up to my student budget one room apartment, but after visiting many people's houses I realized it is very uncommon to have one. First of all, after import costs an air conditioning unit is extremely expensive. And if you do have the money to buy one, it is rarely turned on due to cost of electricity. Some apartments that are not built as open as the Brazilian houses have started to get air conditioners.

Now, imagining 80 and 90 degree weather without air conditioning seems like torture at first!However, Brazilian homes are built much more open, with the outer walls consisting mostly of windows allowing the breeze to do a pretty good job of keeping you at a non boiling temperature. Houses here are also generally enclosed by a wall/gate all the way around, allowing for the outside area of the house to be covered and used as additional living space (chairs, hammocks, maybe a bar) on extremely hot days ( January and February get insanely hot!).

And another energy waster I had to get used to living without was a clothes dryer. They are extremely uncommon here. Even in well above middle class households, a clothes dryer is seen as an expensive and unnecessary waste. And laundromats only have washing machines. Houses and apartments have hanging clothes racks that can be lowered to hang clothes on, or on especially sunny days they can be line dried. In the sunnier afternoon, all except a thicker pair of jeans dried just as quick as they would have in a dryer AND it didn't cost a dime.

However, in the rainy season, it's a gamble to line dry outside. 15 minutes after this photo was taken it rained so hard there was practically a river in the street! I got my clothes down in time though...aguas de março! The waters of march.