São Paulo

In planning my trip around the world, I did not shy away from places that I thought were off the beaten path or have a reputation for being dangerous. I didn’t avoid famous tourist sites or places that I cannot speak the language. Upon further consideration some of those may need to be considered—on my second circumnavigation.

My first few days in São Paulo have forced me to recall the difficulties in travel. While traveling can be very glamorous, people never highlight in their photo albums the buses missed or the tired hours after long flights. Now, I know, I can never complain about traveling and studying for 10 weeks this summer but it can also be trying. I believe this is why traveling, like life, is so rewarding; it is the challenges that make the rewards worthwhile.

First off, Portuguese—the answer to the MEAP test’s question on Brazil’s national language and my newest nemesis. Not closely related to Arabic or Hindi (both of which I have studied at college), Portuguese has been a bit of a challenge. After landing in São Paulo and a long flight behind me, I found my way to the bus station to get into town. I got a map and butchered the location of where I thought I wanted to go. Finally I made it to the bus station and into town.

THE word that I cannot hear or understand in Brazilian Portuguese is probably the most important word: reais, the currency of Brazil. I recently discovered that R’s in Portuguese actually sound like H’s, but even still, the sound I imagine in my head does not match the spelling on the bills or the sounds coming out of cashiers’ mouths. Every time I go to buy something I wait for a rapid fire of words to fly out—one of which I know has to be ‘reais’ but to no avail. I must trust the cashiers completely and fake that I knew that I was suppose to give him 20 reais more than I actually did.

My first day in Brazil I ate more food than a human stomach should hold. I was not a victim of gluttony, rather Brazilian hospitality and generosity. Fresh off my airport bus, I wondered downtown São Paulo looking for something interesting. At one point, I realized either my big backpack or the exhausted expression on my face was drawing attention from others on the street. So, I ducked into the nearest restaurant to have an early lunch (it was 10:30 in the morning).

The restaurant was an interesting ‘self-serve’ lunch (also known as an all you can eat buffet) of traditional Brazilian foods. I met the owner, because I was the only person in the restaurant, who told me he was actually from Paraguay. No one in the restaurant spoke English, but we got by guessing what each other were saying. The food was delicious and I got my first cup of super-strong Brazilian coffee. Close behind the owner was an enthusiastic waiter who really wanted to share something. After a bit of pointing and pantomiming, I had ordered a round of BBQ meats. He came out with a long spike with several pieces of meat on it and slid a couple onto my plate. I ate it politely thinking it was a bonus round of lunch. Oh had I been mistaken—three more rounds of various types of meat and varying ways of barbequing were presented and consumed. And to finish it: dessert of flan.

Next time I will be more cautious about ordering absurd amounts of food and also overly—yet, genuinely—excited waiters.














I continued my foray into the city by walking down the shopping district toward the center square and to the beautiful cathedral there. I explored inside and found a service in progress. There were a dozen or so people in the front of the grand cathedral and only a few in the back. Close by, several older grandmother-like women had lifted up the ropes blocking the pews and sat down. I wanted to watch a little while longer so I did the same. But as soon as I sat down a man came over and told me I was in the wrong spot. The ropes were to show where not to go. I guess I can’t always trust grandmothers to follow the rules.

I talked with the man for a while and had an excellent conversation about Brazil and Brazilian people. Mario, the man who saved me from sin, was actually from Chile but had lived most of his life in Brazil. He goes back to Chile every year to visit his family and is a real estate agent in São Paulo. After walking around the city center more, Mario showed me his apartment and introduced me to his roommate, JoMa (short for Joan Mario), who is an art student at the University of São Paulo. They cooked a typical Brazilian meal for me and we talked a long while about Brazil and the U.S.

The meal was rice and beans (eaten at almost every meal) and some sort of meat. When they were preparing the meat it looked like they were pealing apart a heart but I don’t want to be held to that. The meat was tougher than leather and tasted like beef.

My new Brazilian friends showed me to the subway and how to get to my hostel in the southern part of the city. We arranged to meet the next day for lunch before I met my translator that afternoon.



I need to reassure my grandparents now how good I am at directions. I have not been lost once yet in São Paulo. I have been able to find my way to city centers and suburbs—almost every corner of city—using subways, buses, taxis, and my good-old feet and all of this in the second largest city in the world. Someday I will master the expressway to my grandparent’s house.

I had arranged the hostel before hand online and found it in the back streets of a good neighborhood just off a subway stop. It is a typical hostel: stylish to attract a younger crowd, the obligatory computer with Internet, eight beds to a room, and, of course, cold showers. That aside, the hostel is cheap and has a locker that I can lock all of my valuables in during the day while I venture out into the city.

I am now traveling during the day even smaller than my backpack: I have downgraded to a plastic grocery bag. All I need is a map, my guidebook, my camera, sound recorder, and interview questions and I’m set for the day. The benefit is I don’t have a gigantic pack on my back and I don’t look as much like a tourist. I also feel safer without my laptop and wardrobe on my back.

I arranged to meet Sara, my translator, at the cathedral because needed a central location. I sat on the steps and watched the square throb with people. In front of the cathedral is a large squared filled with people selling trinkets, suits walking to work, and police meandering by. There was an evangelical pacing in front of a crowd with ‘Jesus’ written in chalk; he was shouting at the top of his voice.

As I sat waiting, a white college aged girl walked up and looked cautiously around. Sara and I did not know each other before I arrived. I had a contact with a study abroad program in Sao Paulo and Sarah responded to the email I sent out. We had forgotten to arrange a sign or exact place to meet and were both stuck looking around. The problem is that Brazil is so diverse that you can’t assume a Caucasian is not Brazilian. Finally, Sara made a back-and-forth pointing gesture and we got on our way to my first interview.

Brazil has been very welcoming my first few days here. After the initial adjustment to traveling alone and getting to know the city and people, São Paulo has grown on me even with rain today.

Tomorrow I will post about my research and interviews thus far.

More pictures:






Catedral da Sé de São Paulo at the heart of the city






























































































My BBQ man... he just wouldn't stop serving