Sao Paulo (Brazil)

I returned to Brazil in the beginning of April. To be more precise, April 1st. My parents traveled to Japan. They returned on April 4th (because they wanted to see sakura). Can you see that something is off?

Perfect occasion to fulfill a promise made to a friend and visit him. I've done this before in Florianopolis before I left to Kyoto and in Sorocaba when I returned to Brazil during my round the world trip. Time to pay them another visit - this time in Sao Paulo.

Am I the only one who noticed they are always living in a different city when I decide to visit?

So I got a ride from the airport, and since it was close to lunch, we decided that my first meal in Brazil should be in a barbeque restaurant (churrascaria) close to my friend's house with him and his spouse. After eating like there's no tomorrow, we strolled around the neighborhood. Unusually calm neighborhood for Sao Paulo... they got a really nice place.

After strolling, we thought we should exercise a bit at a park (I actually forgot its name, although I think it was the Ibirapuera). Unfortunately, we saw another "attraction" instead: Sao Paulo's famous traffic jams. After being stuck for half an hour (where we advanced not more than 2km), we decided to abort and return to their house... avoiding the main roads.

In the end, we just chilled out for the rest of the day, playing some video games like Street Fighter 4 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (both highly recommended).

Next day, Holy Friday. Three-day weekend. Good sign for those in Sao Paulo: way less traffic and crowds around. Still, we decided not to take any chances and go by subway to Luz (where Luz Station - Estação da Luz - is a touristic spot itself) see the Museum of the Portuguese Language (Museu da Língua Portuguesa).

The museum educates without being boring. Origins of the language; influences from other (from indigenous to immigrant) languages; main differences between Brazilian Portuguese and Portugal Portuguese... Some of the interesting features are a panel where one can listen to various accents from different regions in Brazil and an alley full of grammar mistakes and other interesting "word games" that only make sense in Portuguese.

Lunch time. So we walked to Mercado Municipal (literally translated as "city market") to eat some "pasteis". Actually, the market is famous for products like cheese and ham offered at special prices (and also yummy as far as I've heard). As a last surprise, we saw a celebrity there - Sérgio Reis - probably doing his shopping for the Holy Friday and Easter. Too bad he couldn't walk ten meters without being stopped by someone asking for a picture...

The rest of the day went smoothly until night. As it was a Holy Friday, bacalhau is mandatory. Why? Well, according to Christianism it is not allowed to eat meat on a Holy Friday in respect for Christ's death. And Portuguese influence in Brazil made this dish the most popular - not to say traditional - for Holy Friday in Brazil (especially around the Southeast region).

But the day wasn't over yet. About midnight we left to a shopping mall watch a stand-up comedy show. Unfortunately I don't remember the title anymore, but it was very good. And a opportunity for me to readapt to Brazil: stages this late at night are not something that happens in Japan as fas as I know; and the kind of humor is also very different.

April 3rd. After two intensive days, the third one was slower. Between chilling out, talking and playing video game we watched El Secreto de sus Ojos (a.k.a. The Secret in Their Eyes) at the movie theater. Interesting movie with a nice story, although I thought it was a bit slow to put things in motion.

And finally on April 4th my parents arrived. We met at the airport, ate a pizza all together and then returned to Londrina.

This start of a new journey was very pleasant. Now on to the next challenge...