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Published: February 16th 2009
So here we go again!
A week has passed and I am now located a few thousand miles more south. In the city of Sao Paulo. One of the biggest cities in the world with close to 20 million people and skyscrapers everywhere. A big change from Salvador with "only" 3 mill. people and a lot bigger than anything we have in Europe. The culture is also very different here. They say that Brazil consists of 5 big cultures; the African-inspired one, the European, the Indian (from amazons), the Japanese and some other one. In Salvador 85% of the people where from an African decent (after the slave time...), while here I Sao Paulo you have a mix of all of them. So coming here was like coming to a new country.
Our last days in Salvador where pretty normal. Our surf-teacher didn't show up, so no surfing on that Sunday. The next days we tried to spend on the beach and soak in some culture. We visited a "holy" church belonging to the saint Senhor Bonfim. The church was f.ex. the only church the pope visited when he was in Brazil and it was a place people prayed for miracles. In one room people had put of pictures of "ugly" children parents hoped would become more beautiful, a little weird in my eyes... In the same room prosthetics were hanging in the roof, not sure if it was to pray for a new leg or if they already had gotten a new one.
Wednesday morning we left for Sao Paulo. We had a few problems finding our Pousada(almost same as hostel/motel), but managed to find it after a while. It turned out to be one of the worst places I have ever stayed. Actually had to bring out the sleeping bag since the sheets where so nasty. The same day was also the first day we met some of the other exchange students. A pizza-dinner was on the menu, and it turned out to be a very good one too. At the pizza place I had the pleasure to try pizza with chocolate, one of the many sweet pizza's they offered. Of course we ended up going out after this, but we took it pretty easy this night.
Thursday morning we enjoyed a tour of the city, visiting the stock market, a huge food market and some other historical sites. In the evening we had an integration game at school and went out to a bar called Bar Brahma(Brahma is the name of a Brazilian beer brand) and to a New Zealand club called Maori after that. A great night out!
Friday we "slept" out and tried to find an apartment with the help of Kristian's "Buddy" Daniel. Not an easy task. Called a few companies and visited a couple of flats, but no luck. In the evening it was time for "information day". After sitting through 2 hours of an emergency Portuguese course, we were introduced to the student body, sports activities and the international relations office. The whole meeting finished of with a great Capoeira show, where Kristian and I volunteered to join. Not easy having to do something you have never done before in front of 100 people. But a fun experience for sure! After the show we had a few drinks at school, went to a local bar and continued to a fancy lounge place called SkyBar. This club/lounge/bar was on top of a huge building and we could here enjoy the view, looking over great parts of Sao Paulo. What we also could enjoy was the view of the football player Ronaldo, who was getting in shape. In his speed we might see him back on the pitch in about 10 years....
Saturday we finally moved out of our terrible pousada. After going to bed early in the morning 3 nights in a row and waking up to construction work every morning at 7 we needed to find a nice and quiet hotel which also was clean. After driving around Sao Paulo in a taxi we found a decent one and checked in there. Nice to have a warm shower f.ex.! After checking in we went out for lunch with my buddy Marina, who has overall been a great help down here. Thanks to her!!!
We continued our search for an apartment, but still with no luck. This evening we once again went to a bar(called Cortez), before going out to a club. If people thought Brazil was cheap they are wrong. The entrance fee at this club, Pascha, was 100 R$(reals) over 300 kr. The DJ Cascada(Kaskade) was playing and we enjoyed old classics as "Truly Madly Deply" and "How do you do". A great night that wasn't finished until 8 o'clock.
The best night of sleep in weeks was experienced between Sunday morning. We slept till 17 o'clock and haven't done much since. Soon we are joining my buddy Marina to the movie "the curious case of Benjamin button". Hopefully it will be in English!!!
I wish I had pictures to publish, but carrying a camera around in Sao Paulo is not recommended! Safety first!!!
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Lesa
non-member comment
Brazil
this sounds so cool, im going to Sao Paolo soon as well! :)