Sounds like a dream day, eh? I feel cool just typing the title.

Except that… well, this is why I’m not on Instagram—I just don’t have this kind of perfect life.

We walked along Copacabana beach in the afternoon but it was raining, then I walked along Ipanema beach in the evening but a thunderstorm broke out, unleashing much heavier rain and flooding the streets.

My life just isn’t Instagramable. Trust me, the best AI-powered filter couldn’t have turned the sky blue or made me look dry.

I took shelter under a store canopy somewhere on Rua Visconde de Pirajá, Ipanema’s main street, when lightening turned the sky purple. I was already wet but I wasn’t prepared for this kind of torrential downpour.

We were three or four people waiting for it to pass, exchanging typical pleasantries about the weather:

“É apenas uma tempestade.”

“Isso vai passar.”

“Água não mata.”

But despite these words of wisdom, it didn’t pass and even though as stated above “water doesn’t kill,” I was a soaked mess when I got back to the hotel. Streets were flooded and storm drains had turned into geysers.

“Merry Christmas!” shouted a cyclist without an ounce of irony.

I laughed.

It was a pretty good Christmas day, actually.