Brazil....The First Ten Days

I wasn't sure what to expect from Brazil when I left the states. In some ways, I was excited about seeing it, but I had also heard some unflattering things about the city we are staying in, Sao Paulo. Among things I had heard is it's just "any other big city", and in some instances, that is somewhat true, but it also has it's own individualism, beauty and things you won't see in the states.

Our "day" started at 2:30 in the morning (local time). We left our hotel in Beunos Aires to get to the airport by the recommended time of three hours in advance for international flights. After difficulties with customs leaving Argentina and again when upon arriving in Brazil, we made the drive from the airport to the eastern outskirts of Sao Paulo, where are hotel is located. An impending storm was making it's way toward the city, making the sky increasingly dark. Even with the impending rain on the horizon, the countryside's lush vegetation was evident. Everything is green, and remember, this is the fall season down here right now. The closer we got to the city, the more we started seeing some of the dwellings and buildings. My coworker mentions the fact that there used to be a large shanty town in a place where it was bare now. There are some rough looking areas, but nothing shocking. The drive was pleasant to our hotel, although we are tired and in a bit of a foul mood.

The city is very green, with lots of vegetation occupying any non concrete covered land, at least in my area. Tall grasses, palm trees, primitive looking ferns, and coastal forest type of trees that remind me of the inner Oregon coast for the most part (think Corvallis). It's a far cry from our concrete jungle that we were surrounded by in Buenos Aires. I have a clear view to the city skyline from my hotel balcony and can watch the sun go down.

The weather has been everything from warm (usually in the mid seventies), to downright cold and we've even seen a fairly good down pour. Our first Tuesday during our first full week, Sidney and I went for our nightly walk and my light jacket I brought from the states wasn't cutting it. It was downright cold.

As I mentioned, we are kind of situated on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, the far eastern edge. The neighborhood is a fairly upper middle class (for Brazil) area, with some fancy high rise apartment buildings. There is a nice part right across the street and some restaurants and bars within walking distance. A fairly upscale mall is a quarter of a mile from the hotel. We've been eating lunch there often. Also inside the mall is a large supermarket, I'm talking 40+ check out lanes. It's kind of crazy in there, with some of the employees wearing roller skates to get from one end to the other, helping the checkout clerks.


We've had a good time eating at a little restaurant/bar not too far from the hotel. They serve up some mean Codfish balls (Bolinhos de bacalhau is the local name....I think), which is Portuguese in origin. They bread up cod and parsley and being the fish lover that I am, I love the things. They also have fried Yucca root (aka “mandioca frita”) , which kind of takes the place of french fries and is pretty good, with enough ketchup. There is another bar/restaurant about a half mile beyond that has fairly cheap beer. The beer here is good, but it all tastes fairly similar, which isn't a bad thing necessarily.

It's a couple miles to the nearest metro aka subway station. Our first Sunday, Sidney and I walked to it. It takes you through some questionable neighborhoods. Going through one of these neighborhoods, a man approached us speaking Portuguese. He was dressed fairly well, so I wasn't too worried, but he warned us that "someone" (he didn't elaborate who) was checking "stamps". I'm assuming they were checking passports or something, we never did run into whatever it was.


Downtown is more modern than I expected. We were hanging around the Rua Agusta/Avenida Paulista area. Avenida Paulista is sort of the Sao Paulo Wall Street, that houses a lot of the financial institutions. This particular Sunday afternoon has people out and about, riding skate boards, shopping in some of the malls that are located along the main street, just people enjoying the sunny weather. It's kind of fun to just sit and people watch from time to time. People are in all shapes, sizes, clothing, sexuality, it's all there. A far cry from some of the earlier Sao Paulo stories I had heard of people being stuck up in broad daylight. It's nothing like that, people with purses, iPods and dressed fancy are all out and about.

So far so good in Sao Brazil....(to be continued)