Upon Arrival

Upon our arrival in Manaus, I was struck by how cool it was in the airport, until I realized that it was air-conditioned. As soon as we stepped outside, I could feel the air was heavy with humidity, although, it was what one would expect looking at the sky where it was obvious that a storm was looming.
Our van was waiting for us at the curb and we put in our luggage and piled in. As we drove, I looked at the rainclouds and saw they weren't just gray, they were almost pitch-black; you can somewhat see this in the lower, left-hand section of the picture. The rain gradually began to pour down and I couldn't help but notice there were a number of motorcycle drivers on the road, seemingly unperturbed by the deluge.
After less than 30 minutes, we pulled up to our hotel. We quickly checked in, were shown our rooms, and then in about 3 minutes--in which I brushed my teeth, shaved and changed clothes--we were back in the van and heading to our office. It was already late afternoon so we didn't spend much time there, but I met a few of the people we'd be working with, found my desk and got set up on the wireless network.
At 5 o' clock we left and headed back to the hotel. A couple of my colleagues, who were here earlier this year, showed me where the grocery store was (practically across the street) and I bought some bottled water, a loaf of bread, some ham, cheese and mayo, as well as some soap and shampoo (it'd been ages since I've seen Pert Plus! on the shelves).
Around 7, I headed to a nearby restaurant with outdoor seating with one of my colleagues and we ordered a few Bohemia beers and a platter of grilled fish, plantains, potato salad and a garden salad. The meal came with some dishes of fresh salsa and large slices of tangy lime to dress the fish, along with the sweet, lightly-fried plantains. Below is a picture of me along with my new hat for the Amazon. :)