Tim and Derrick´s Adventures with Apoorva in Sao Paulo

Derrick and Tim arrived in Sao Paulo on Friday evening after a 6 hour bus ride. The trip was comfortable, although the monitors overhead were showing an odd selection of American movies with Portugese dubbing and subtitles (What Dreams May Come and the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants). At the bus station, they spotted their friend Apoorva, a fellow Rice graduate who has been living in Sao Paulo for the past several months. After a ride on Sao Paulo´s expansive subway system, they checked in the hostel and Apoorva brought them to a secret nearby hole-in-the-wall restaurant. It was hidden in the back of a community bar and stuffed the four with Brazilian fare for the fantastic price of 14 reals per person.

A well recognized modern architect, Oscar Niemeyer, designed the building where the next event of the evening unfolded. It contained a modern stage within its modern frame. The audience sat on two sides of the stage, thus viewing the side of an orchestra accompanied by a choir of 200+ school children who sang bubbly feel-good songs in Portugese, English and Spanish. Among the performers was a guitarist friend of Apoorva´s. Outside afterwards this friend was hilarious; he spoke good English but with a Portuguese twang and sentence structuring. It was a delightful introduction to the city. This friend then loaded all into his car and gave a tour of Sao Paulo´s nightspots (and more). As a musician and frequent performer he knew the streets and land with precision and depth, unloading one funny bit after another. After driving around and seeing a seemingly impossible number of sights, the gang went to bar. The guitarist knew the performers and managers and hence got the gang one hell of a bargain.

The following day got off to a most peculiar start. While waiting for a bus on the streets near the hostel, Derrick, Tim and Apoorva noticed a small crowd was building up 30 feet away. Upon the glass window were posted many signs advertising the appearance of Ronnie Coleman, the world´s best bodybuilder (this guy has been on countless weightlifting magazines and has won Mr. Olympia more times than Arnold). Minutes later an impressive hummer/tank/limo looking celerity wagon vehicle pulled up with police escort in tow and out came Mr. Coleman (he was rather short, which must help the illusion of his impossible muscularity to limb length ratio). Inside was a free event.

Later that Sunday the boys wandered about to see the the sights of the city: Colossal marketplaces, gorgeous parks, the Brazilian equivalent of Wall Street, a monetary museum, a 9th floor view, and the modern Art museum of Sao Paulo. All this walking about bore a grand appetite and they ventured to the Japanese district of Sao Paulo, Liberdade. Little Japan was utterly packed with vendors of the strangest of things. An all-you-can-eat Japanese Sushi buffet proved all too enticing and quite the steal.

Now, with the group´s bellies full, Apoorva recalled a soccer match that was scheduled for just an hour later. ´Why not´ was the collective response, so they boarded the metro once again off to another corner of the 18 million person metropolis. The stands were full of only the most ardent fans. From the moment the whistle blews the fans were engaged, swearing at every bad call or pass they didnt approve off. In spite of the crowd´s tenacity they did have a strange fear of rain. Nearly everyone in the stands bought an overpriced plastic bag poncho and it never even rained during the game. The people had a definite fear of cold and water. The drumming and cursing lasted for all of 90 minutes except for the celebration of a goal in the 65th minute. Everyone rejoiced, hugged and couples kissed. The gringos clapped and let out a hey.

After the game Apoorva showed that the Sao Pauloan equivalent to the beaches of Rio are the malls of the city, where the locals hang out every weekend. The group walked through one. American products are very pricey here and financing, which is new to Brazil, is a hit. The price of anything significantly high will have the installment price featured more prominently than the total price. Apoorva recalled how, just a few years ago, financing was not available for any purchase in Brazil and all houses had to be bought with cash, making houses a sign of only the very wealthy.

Sao Paulo is immense and daunting and lacks the tourist attractions of a city like Rio. The transportation system is overwhelmed by the sheer number of people. Fortunately, the Sunday traffic is far lighter. In a strange way Sao Paulo reminds one of Houston, another sprawling city with the troubles of congestion, a eclectic mix of people and a suffering, but not necessarily deserved, reputation. Both cities possess charms that are not broadcasted, but must be discovered. Thanks to the aid of Apoorva and his friend the charm was found right away. The city still has evidence of the jungle it replaced. In the few spots where buildings haven´t been erected stand massive tropical trees. Graffiti art is common and, since these gringos don´t know the words, it gives the city a sense of non-vulgar personality and character beyond the endless maze of buildings and pastel (pastry) shops.

Due to poor thinking everyone forgot to bring a camera along on Sunday´s excursion. So instead a description is used here to describe the best image of the day: the essence of Sao Paulo. The shot would have been taken from the top seats of the soccer stadium. Outward from the seats, in the foreground were the raucous fans, then a wide gap separating fans from the field (a security mechanism no doubt), then of course the field itself. Past the stadium was a thick dense area of tall trees, and beyond that miles away rose the skyline of countless skyscrapers. Contained in this shot would have seen the spirit and people, then the reality of the dangers of the city, then the object of the passion of the people, then the jungle that still has a pulse but is now replaced by a booming metropolis that looms overhead, impressive yet seemingly mocking your insignificance.

On Monday, Derrick and Tim set off for the best sights from the previous day with camera in hand, traveling as well to some destinations that Apoorva recommended. We´ll take time to post those photos later, but for now we have to get ready for a 16-hour bus ride to the Brazilian city of Foz de Iguacu, where we will rendezvous with the rest of the group.