Bandeiras Monument, Sao Paulo
Well, I have been here over a week now and my bike should be showing up soon, very soon.
As I have been here so long I thought I would share with you some of my impressions of Brazil, and Sao Paulo.
Skyline at night, Sao Paulo
First, the Paulistas have a serious siege mentality, at least judging by they way they barricade the places where they live and how they act around "suspicious" characters (mainly myself). The largest occupation in Sao Paulo as far as I can tell, must be being a security guard. Followed by security gate/camera maintenance people. Based on what I keep reading everywhere it might be justified, but certainly not by what I have seen or experienced. So maybe it is just preventative? Every house, apartment, building, lot, whatever, has a guard and camera. You have to be buzzed into every building you wish to enter. Including for example the offices of Argentinean Airlines which I had to see about a refund recently. Ok, they were in a business tower, but still. Once inside, they take your personal details before allowing you to enter, so always carry your passport. In some building I got to be so well known that they just let me pass after the first 4 or 5 times I needed to get in (customs building in Santos, or the Allink office complex.. see below for more details).
Municipal Theater, Sao Paulo
The other thing that tipped me off, was every store I entered I was followed by at least one guard, on occasion two. Very, inconspicuous of course! Maybe it is the long hair. But come on guys, it is a supermarket, I just want to get some yogurt... After the first time I noticed it, I started to have fun with it, specially when they tried being inconspicuous about it. Ie. looking at something else in an empty isle with just me and them..(two of them...) So I would go up and ask in spinglish (half spanish half english, no portuguese) where the microwave popcorn is? Well, they worked here right, might as well give them something productive to do!
Ibirapuera park, Sao Paulo
Second, the Paulistas, have a very nice city, with some great subways and some really interesting neighborhoods, beautiful parks, and friendly people (even the security people). What more could you want. I have walked at least 50 kilometers around various parts of town and have have only seen a little bit, this place is huge. I have taken various metros (subways) to random stations or end to end and then walked around the area or back to where I started. The center of town has a lot of pedestrian zones, some nice parks where there always seem to be something going on.
Football (soccer), Sao Paulo
The last couple of weeks in the park down from the Theater there has been shows and amusement park for children, with music and dance. Last weekend I also saw an interesting Arts/Crafts show in the center of town. Or walking around, just stumbled into a weekend farmers market setup by blocking a street at either end. The market area downtown is a huge hustle and bustle with people choking off any traffic on the various streets leading up and away from it.
Street near central market, Sao Paulo
Also, last week I spent two days taking care of the customs clearance paperwork, with the help of the shipping agents, and while at it got a chance to spend some time in Santos. First the customs and shipping. Instead of re-writing here what I have already written check out the second half of this document suffice it say that it was surprisingly "easy".
Centro Portugues, Santos
Now to Santos, it is one of the largest ports in Latin America, but also a very nice town, with great parks and beautiful beaches, and more of those ever present friendly Brazilians. It is just great. In order to get to Santos I walk 500 meters to the metro station, take the green line for two stops, switch to the blue line and go to the end. At the end of the is the bus station for buses to Santos and the coast, there are two companies and they both run busses every 15 minutes. The ride costs 14.50Brl (around 7$), the buses are very nice, the ride is comfortable and quick (and hour). The old part of town has some great buildings and some very impressive architecture as well as plenty of "charm". This being a port town there are plenty of prostitutes, in this area, and in the park in front of the cathedral!, but it is quite charming nevertheless.
Cathedral, Santos
On the other side there are some great beaches and a beautiful beach front park which stretches for kilometers. They also have this great tram, which must have come straight from Lisbon, 50 years ago!
Tram, Santos
Again, plenty of things going on. During a lunch break from my customs adventure, I caught a cultural show, consisting of some samba dancers, alternating between samba rhythms and traditional? dance. Afterwards there was a demonstration of Capoeira (a type ritualized fighting) accompanied by singing and music performed on what can only be described as a archery bow, and accompanied by a tamborine and a large drum. The acrobatics involved was amazing, not to mention the speed and agility required.
Capoeira demonstration, Santos
The bike is still not here, but I am waiting patiently for news of its arrival. I can track the comings and goings of the ships in port, and have seen that my boat was two days late docking, and as I write this is being unloaded. So I assume that tomorrow or the following day I should be able to get my bike.
More soon...
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