At the triple border, the time zone is a more threatening enemy than drug dealers, killers, and gold prospectors
How I lived four days in the wrong time zone
In the midst of drug dealers, gold prospectors, land grabbers, and hired killers, something terrible happened to me at the triple border of Brazil, Peru, and Colombia. I lived four days in the wrong time zone.
I felt like a complete idiot when I found out. Today's post is a warning so that the same doesn't happen to you.
A series of unfortunate events led me to this situation. I went from GMT-3 in São Paulo to GMT-4 in Manaus, where I stayed for two days. Since my phone updates automatically with each time zone change, I didn't worry when it remained at GMT-4 in Tabatinga, at the triple border.
The days seemed even more normal when I crossed the border towards Leticia, Colombia, and my phone changed to GMT-5. Perfect, Tabatinga uses GMT-4. It was a non-issue.
The time zone in that Brazilian region, in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, is confusing —it was even more when Brazil adopted daylight saving time. So, I should have researched better before going there, but I trusted the technology.
My world began to crumble when I returned from a day use in a hotel in Leticia. When I went to get the key at the reception of my hotel in Tabatinga, the woman told me it was still one hour earlier than it should be.
"She's crazy", my friend said to me.
While he was taking a shower, I decided to search on Google. The results were conflicting. Google showed the time I thought it was (indeed, my phone is an Android).
Due to technological barriers, like the lack of antennas, the phone signal doesn't update automatically. The recepcionist was correct. Indeed, it is easier for the three cities being at the same time zone.
Since my notebook was in the original time zone of my work (to avoid confusion, I strongly recommend it to anyone in another time zone), I didn't risk getting the working hours wrong. But the daily time was a mess.
Being in the wrong time zone causes some confusion. I was in Tabatinga investigating a story for a book. My friend and I scheduled a meeting with a teenager at 5 pm. We arrived at 5 pm, but she was sleeping. We thought it was normal since she's a teenager and doesn't pay much attention to time. But we arrived at 4 pm.
Being in the wrong time zone also brings some reflections. Through laws and decrees, humans decide the time for a specific territory. They also decide that one kilometer to the left or right will be Brazil, or Peru, or Colombia. I envied the indigenous people in the Amazon rainforest, who don't have this concern.
In the last edition, I wrote about working remotely from remote places like the Amazon rainforest, and I forgot an important detail. Elon Musk's Starlink is gaining more and more penetration in such areas. These days, I spoke with a colleague who was in a very distant place in the Amazon rainforest, and her signal worked. In the coming years, we should face a real revolution in internet connectivity in remote locations.