a few words on sao paolo

erica and lili, my brasilian amigas back home, did not recommend sao paolo even though they are from here.

but i have enjoyed my little bit of time here. my ideas of things have definately been shaken up and stirred.

first of all the icy cold weather challenges the ideas i had about south america which had been synonmous with HOT. it's like forty freakin' degrees here. whew! i have seen photos of the ice-capped mountains and people in furs, but somehow i did not did not include these in my understanding of this continent.

so when i arrived here on monday evening i was shocked (and frost-bitten) to say the least. ok. i am exagerrating but the 40 degree weather is hurtin a sister.

nonetheless, i openly accepted the coolness as it seems appropriate in this very concrete-made city. to my knowledge sao paolo is a city's city. there is not a tourist element to it at all. all the guide books (lonely planet, fodor's, etc) say "why would you ever go to sao paolo." jk. they don't say that but they don't provide much help at all in finding things to do here.

paulostinos are very handsome. again, though, my ideas of south america (well, brasil) and its inhabitants, were challenged. here you see much more fair skin, dark brown hair (and some red and blonde hair). there are lots of tall people including women. like really tall (i have seen women 6'1 or more). this is not to say that i think most people from south america are short. i know that i, at 5'11, am pretty much a giant anywhere i go on this planet. it was just odd for me to be in a place where the average height is more than 5'4. maybe like 5'7 or 5'8 which is a big difference.

it was also interesting to see so many asians who were clearly brasilian identified. a couple of years ago i saw a movie about a group of people living in japan who were descendents of japanese who had moved to brasil for work but later returned "home." hard to explain. but the point is i knew there was big population of japanese and other asians here in brasil, especially sao paolo. but actually being here experiencing their presence so to speak made me actually consider that the US is not the only "melting pot" in the world. in fact, we are not nearly as diverse as many other places.

i feel like the paulostinos are friendly- on the whole. most descriptions from erica, lili, the guidebooks say that these people are cold and unaffected. but i have had many people greet me with a smile or even a bit of conversation. the only coldness i felt besides the brisk winds was on the metro where the masses move like somber heards of cattle. this is like the 3rd largest city in the world.

a couple of hours before we were to leave i went out on my own to do some last minute guilt shopping. i happened upon this tiny jewelry store, luna accessories. totally my type of jewelry, eclectic and cheap!

the curly redhead was very cool. she let me try on everything and was cool when i bought like 1/8th of it (still a lot) . she was sad that i was leaving. in portuguese she said to me, "why did you come so late and leave so soon? you must return to sao paolo so we can go dancing. here's my card."

how can you not love this place!?!