It's so easy to have a wonderful time in São Paulo. Everyone is so nice. I can't go a few minutes without someone saying hello, what's up, let's chat in Português and then saying hi in English after they hear my accent. There are surprisingly large number of English speakers in this area and they are all friendly.
On Thursday night I went to a high class dance club that was packed until after 6:30am when we left. It was playing drum and bass and was very interesting. I now also know that shorts are not allowed at such places unless there are significant mitigating factors. Guess how I know?
I finally got to see Capoeira. Right on the street a block from the hostel they were singing, playing authentic instruments, and dancing. Amazing. One guy did a backflip right in the middle of it.
Read more »As planned I made my way to a hostel near Paulista. Unplanned was how I got there, who I met on the way, and a sunburn covering my face, head, ears, and probably neck. Despite being untouched the previous two days, the sun came out in full force today. I did not use any sunscreen which I will remedy in the future. While my sunburn heals I have a plan to learn the rest of Portuguese in less than 2 days. Rather than explain it in detail, I will explain what led me here, show you a preview of my new method and move on.
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Today I started walking early in the morning and ended at 2PM after a great lunch. Certainly until my cast is off, I will not be able to walk as much as I did today. I overdid it and I'm expecting awful problems to start to occur tomorrow with my arm. Generally walking and a cast do not mix. I will have no problem covering more territory by metro in the coming month though. It has now come to my attention that I am in way over my head as far as Portuguese goes. Every time I have attempted to listen or to speak it has been a train wreck. If someone with an automatic weapon were to shout an order or a question at me, I would be toast. Luckily those sort of people have no questions or orders for me.
Since I have now learned that Portuguese is more difficult than I thought, I am putting mouseover text which should translate a few interesting things for you. Look for italic green text like this and put your mouse over it for a few seconds. If you think of a better way to display this, let me know.
Looking to the left from the top of the hostel:
Looking straight from the top of the hostel:
Looking right from the top of the hostel:
An easy photo opportunity at Santa Cecilia Station:
Near Santa Cecilia Station:
Across from Santa Cecilia Station:
Easiest landmark ever:
