Hot and Heavy

In an email Dennis Broughton said "have a good trip to Rio, things are getting hot and heavy down there." I figured I knew what he meant but I really had no idea.

Hot and heavy is the incredible heat even at 2am and the incredible weight of the air that clings to your clothes. It's the vendor carrying a grill with hot coals across the burning sand. It's the temperature generated by a crowd of thousands cramming in closer to hear the band. It's sitting in a slow moving car without AC as it wades past droves of singing revelers. It's standing like sardines in a way past capacity metro car. It's drumming and dancing for three hours in overhead sun in front of a truck emitting exhaust fumes. It's visiting a friend's home in a favela up the 165 steps they climb daily. It's standing next to the drummers at Portela's rehearsal in Madureira that first moment when the bateria fires up. It's dancing no matter how steamy the club and how much your feet sting.

It's been a hot and heavy trip!