although surprising to those who come from colder climates, cariocas truly believe that they know what it is to be cold, and they are not particularly fond of it - when their winters reach temperatures just below 20 degrees celsius, they are liable to experience tremendous coldness.

many cariocas have not travelled outside of rio, while others have only been to a neighboring state, with perhaps an even hotter climate - their weather is the only one they have knowledge of, just as brazil is the only culture they have known - the only axes on which they can compare their winter chill is their summer warmth, and by those standards it certainly is 'cold'.

their aversion to the colder climate is linked in large part to a concurrent distaste for rain - cariocas are reluctant to leave the house when it is raining and their ingenious methods of avoiding getting wet.