Directional rant

I have always taken pride in the fact that I have a strong sense of direction. This is, of course, absurd. It’s like being proud of having blue eyes or being bilingual simply because you grew up in a household with parents of different ethnicity. A strong sense of direction is one of those things that you are just born with; something you have very little, if any control over. So, to be proud of this skill is silly. Yet, here I am proud nonetheless. Proud and annoyed…

Since moving to Sao Paulo, Brazil, my sense of direction has become slightly skewed, and I am utterly annoyed by this fact. I’m not quite sure if it is just one reason or if it is a compellation of many. My street, for instance, neither runs north-south or east-west. Rather it moves one way in a southwesterly direction. Therefore, I don’t have a direct N,S,E,W reference point; at least not one as easily identifiable as a street. Then, to make matters more complicated, none of the streets seem to follow the logical grid pattern that I am used to. They seem to tangle and collide at random points of intersection. Any the one ways… that’s enough to confuse the hell out of even the most competent of navigators. There is no rhyme or reason to the pattern of one ways here. You might think that every other block would be a logical layout, but no, the civil engineers of Sao Paulo prefer to wreak havoc on the would be drivers. There are even a number of streets that switch direction from one way to another with little other than a sign and the sight of oncoming traffic charging toward you to act as warning. Surprise!

Perhaps the buildings are to blame for the bulk of my confusion. In every other area where I have lived, I could always count on the sun traveling across the sky in its predictable east-west pattern. Yes, I know you book worms and astronomy geeks; it’s not directly east-west as it shifts slightly with the seasons, but you get the picture. Of course it does the same here in Sao Paulo, however, the sea of skyscrapers stretching from one end of the horizon to the next make trying to find the sun more like a game of hide-and-seek or peek-a-boo!

To sum it up, I guess I’ll just have to be more patient, and learn to trust the GPS. Thank God for Garmin!