Eu Adoro a Cidade Brasileira

Together with my friend's mother, we walked from one end of the long Avenida Paulista to the other, starting at Brigadeiro metro. I loved taking photos of the strange architecture, the tiny house that once was the only building surrounded by forest and which now wallows in comparison to the skyscrapers, and how the random trees now look so out of place in this urban jungle. We visited bookstores and sunglasses shops, ate white cheese empanadas in one of the cafés and generally just had a fabulous time aimlessly walking around. Once back at home, my friend and I made pisco sour for my friend’s mother to try for the first time (I had brought the pisco from Chile).

She also took to me to see their old apartment in Bairro Santa Monica, way across town in the west. It took 2 buses and one hour to get there. It was a real insight into the socio-economic structure of São Paulo. We passed the stadium where carnival takes place each year in late February as well as the storage centre of the all the carnival decorations, including giant lions and other such parade carts. Once in the west, I noticed all the young children wandering the streets selling food and other knickknacks, completely void of parental supervision. We took another omnibus to Bairro Lapa to eat (queso, carne, pizza) pastel at my friend’s mother’s childhood favourite restaurant. I also tried bolinhos de bacalhau (codfish croquettes) and esfiha de camarão (a brazilian snack food with middle eastern origins and also member of the ‘flatbread pizza’ family).

I was also pleased to get the opportunity to visit the lovely Brazilians that hosted me last time I was in Brazil. They invited me to their place one evening and we had a grand time catching up on what we had been doing the past four years. The next evening, I spent with the son and his friends, eating Dominos Pizza and listening to them talking about the ‘magic’ card game, ipads and other technology in Portuguese. Not your typical adventurous, tourist evening in São Paulo.

My last evening, after having wandered around the shopping mall with my friend, drinking coffee and trying different chocolates, I ended up in the hospital where his mother works. My friend was having minor heart problems so I followed him from x-ray to doctor to electrical-wire testing. Apparently his heart muscle is growing too big because of all the intense exercise and supplements he takes. It was a very strange last night in a country I am very fond of.

PS. Everyone in Brazil seems to have braces on their teeth, from children to adults. It’s so weird! I guess Brazil is renowned for its plastic surgery so straightening the teeth to look better ties in with that...