Take a breath

A couple of hours ago, sitting in an open-window office several storeys above Paulista Avenue, I felt my mouth and throat go dry. Then drier. Then positively arid. Later, pushing my poor son home along the same central Sao Paulo thoroughfare, I felt a runny nose and headache set in, accompanied by a general feeling of unhealthy unease. Once again we were forced to inhale the endless automotive effluent of this city, and by extension of all South America. To think how much people pay to live here, in this fume-choked, particulate-drenched atmosphere ! When having any kind of panic attack, the advice is usually to take big deep breaths and slowly exhale. Perhaps better advice under these circumstances would be simply to hold your breath for as long as humanly possible and pray that the torrential rains return muito rapido. Sao Paulo, I promise never again to curse your biblical flooding and undrained roads !