Blogs from São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, South America - page 28

So, KLM lost my fucking bodyboard. The fucking fucks. They said they'd send it out the next day, but did they? No. Fucking fucks. Landed in SP and immediately got introduced to the thrills of driving in Brazil. As far as I can make out, it's kinda like a computer game. Imagine that you get points for driving as fast as possible, and then braking as hard as possible in order to bring yourself to a stop. Points are awarded for changing direction at will without using the indicators, and also the horn is to be used liberally, especially in association with chronic impatience. If you are a taxi, double or even triple your points by overcharging your customers by the aforementioned multiples. Sao Paulo is an intense experience - you get told the horror stories ... read more

Today we went and visited an encampment of the MST or Movimento Sem Terra (“landless movement”). The site we visited was located in the Sao Paulo state an hour outside of downtown Sao Paulo (the largest city in all of Latin America). Just an hour out of downtown and you are in the hills that were deforested and reforested with eucalyptus for export in a cycle that began nearly 500 years ago with the settling of the Portuguese. It is in these hills that an area the size of 120 regulation futebol fields that had been unproductive for over thirty years was occupied by a group of former favella residents over five years ago. Twenty five families currently live in homes fashioned out of timber, plastic tarps, and other waterproof oddities. These families farm the land, ... read more

While pretending to do post-grad work in Coimbra, Portugal over thirteen years ago, I shared a ramshackle room on the Largo de Sé Velha. It was decorated with grainy floorboards that warped and creaked with every carefully placed footstep. His name was Martin Reiger. My German companion lacked the linguistic acumen I hoped to latch onto in order to maximize my time away from the barren and cavernous classrooms of the University of Coimbra. One of my most vivid memories of this period were the countless hours Martin would put forth to learning Portuguese; his was practically non-existent. He relentlessly attacked grammar books and his vocabulary lists like, well, a German would. Over time Martin warmed up to me and our friendship continues today. My fascination with Portugal has never subsided. I often frequent local Portuguese ... read more

Hey iedereen! Ik ben gister na een lange reis veilig aangekomen in São Paulo. We hadden t vliegtuig om half 1 ´s nachts en kwamen hier rond 4 uur in de nacht aan. Toen moesten we op de airport wachten tot de bus naar Campinas vertrok om 7.30 uur. In Campinas aangekomen moesten we tot ongeveer 12 uur wachten voor we de hotelkamer binnen mochten. Dit was echter geen probleem aangezien we in t meest luxe hotel zitten wat je je voor kan stellen. 4 sterren hotel met alles erop en eraan, zelfs een freaking bios. In de tussentijd gingen we ons vermaken in the gameroom. Tafelvoetbal...tafeltennis en poolen. Toen ff chillen by the pool en het TE grote complex verkennen waar zelfs een voetbalveld bij hoort en een helicopter op het dak staat. http://www.theroyal.com.br/plaza_ing.htm Wat ... read more

We said that there wouldn´t be another blog until we leave, but considering that we´ve got nothing else to do, we decided to share with everyone what we were up to at the end of year festivities. Christmas was great! We had an awsome lunch, so much food - good food, prepared by my Mum and delicious Caipirinhas prepared by Tom. He even got a Caipirinha shirt for Xmas, with the recipe written on it in english! For New Years we went to Sao Paulo and stayed with my 'little' sister Anaïs. We got there on Friday and went have dinner at an all you can eat japanese restaurant - yummy, but a bit complicated for someone who doesn´t like fish! Saturday Anaïs took us to visit the old centre of the city, which we hadn´t ... read more