Sunday in São Paulo

June 16^th

Today Miguel, Allison, Justin and I decided to make plans to meet up with the rest of our group that is living in Perdizes. We ate a typical Brazilian breakfast of bread, cold cuts, cake and fruit with our host mom Alessandra. Afterwards we sent out a Facebook message telling everyone that we would meet at the corner of the university to go get lunch and cell phones. My roommates and I decided that we would test walking to the university (since traffic is so legendarily bad here). It was supposed to be a simple walk with only two turns, and that would have been true if the actual roads all looked like they did on the map. The walk to Perdizes was not that bad, we passed two really cool large cemeteries, a flower market and many stores and offices, however, once we got into the neighborhood the hills began. It was straight up and down the rest of the way into the university and we got turned around a few times… In all it took about an hour and a half to walk to the university. Needless to say we decided to try the bus on Monday.

We arrived at the university and met up with about half of our program. We walked around the university but we couldn’t go in because it is closed on Sunday. It turns out that most of Sao Paulo is closed on Sunday, particularly in the Perdizes area because it is so residential. We couldn’t find anywhere close that was open, except for a Brazilian Arab fast food chain called Habibs. They actually have a surprisingly wide variety of food and it was very nice for a fast food place. We were seated by a host and given menus and they waited on us. Another way they differed from an American fast food restaurant is that they served beer, several people at the table took advantage of that and ordered the special; two beers and a plate of fries for 5.50! I got a sort of Arab-ish mini pizzas (cheese and chicken) fries and fresh mango juice. It was all really good, and they even had vegetarian options for Angelika! The hard part of lunch came at the end of the meal when we had to do some fun math to get everyone’s large cash bills to fit the one check. Typically here most restaurants only do one check per-table which makes it fun for everyone to scrounge up exact change…

After lunch we all to a bus back to our neighborhood to look for an open shopping center to get cell phones. The bus ride back to our stop, with no traffic, was only about 10 min. After we got off, four of us girls decided to check out the weekly antique and flea market under the modern art museum (the museum is elevated), while the other half of the group walked on to the puppy bar. The market had lots of really interesting items, silver, clothing, collectables, figurines, jewelry and more! I know that mom and GG would love this place. The four of us, Jenike, Angelika, Molly and I also walked to the back of the museum where there is an open patio (where the free pass movement held its protest the other day…) and had a great view on to the lower level apartment buildings, mine included. Afterwards, we walked a few blocks to meet the others at Puppy Bar only to find that it was closed and that they had been waiting for us! Luckily it had not been too long and we were able to walk on to the bars collectively called the “Praia Paulista” or Paulista Beach. We went to a different one than yesterday and all were able to share some drinks and get to know each other. Everyone seemed really cool and I’m looking forward to spending more time with them!

After drinks we parted ways, my roommates and I walking home while the others took a bus back to Perdizes. Once we got home we had a snack with Alessandra and talked about our days. We also got to hear some of her ideas on Brazil and how the country has changed politically and socially which was fascinating! She also talked about some challenges that remain like the issue of race, poverty and corruption. Tonight we are all going to bed early since we have to be at school at 8:30 for our language placements and we are not sure how traffic will be! 

Flower market on the way to school

the Sao Paulo art museum near my apartment. This is also the location of the market and the student meeting center for the movements in Brazil currently.