NEW YORK TIMES - 29.05.2005
By JOSHUA KURLANTZICK
As the heavy rain pelted the windows of the taxi, Julio, my regular driver in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, hardly seemed worried. He calmly piloted the cab through the flooding streets, as water rose above sidewalks and spilled onto people's front lawns.
Approaching my hotel, near the beach in a low-lying area of the city, the rain picked up, and soon I felt my feet getting wet. I looked down, and saw rain coming through the bottom of the taxi, like a boat taking on water. Still, Julio wasn't concerned. "No problem, no problem," he said, and continued chatting on his mobile phone while driving.
At that moment, the car stalled, leaving us stuck in the middle of a waterlogged street. "No problem," Julio said again. And he was right. Within five minutes, a group of men had emerged out of nowhere to help us push the car to the side of the road. They expertly tipped the cab on its side, letting the water run out the bottom like a child's toy. Julio smiled and shrugged, opened a big bottle of fruit juice, and lay down in his car until the rain stopped.
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