Sampa

I have forgotten where I left off! The last few days in Sao Paulo the weather has been amazing, and that includes today. Friday I was lazy and decided to just stay by the pool all day and tan. This is the life! It was very very hot though and I put on loads of sun cream as a precaution. Still managed to get a pretty decent tan. I went out for lunch which was an expensive one on Friday, but definitely worth it. By expensive I mean 18R$ so about 9euros or less. It was steak with beans and rice and lettuce: yum!!! I had been craving some proper meaty meal for a while as I haven't really been eating in huge portions here. Not very hungry most of the time and also the lanchonete (snack style restaurants) are cheap. Friday evening I went back to capoeira, took a bus which took forever and was stuck in traffic for ages! It took an hour and a half to get there but on the other hand I got a pretty full tour of Sao Paulo, or so it felt. By the time I reached capoeira I realised I may have spent a bit too much time in the sun because I was feeling hot and tired so I didn't really perform my best at the class but it was ok because the class was small and laid back anyway. Kibe is really nice! Some guy with a fifth belt told me I was playing quite well which made me happy. There are loads of fifth belts here! I know they are a bit of a rarity in Europe but here it's just about the same as the number of third belts there are in London. LOL!

A couple of people have also told me that I'm speaking portuguese well, which makes me happy because it's not that easy and also it's just reassuring to think that I'm managing to communicate. After capoeira I left the academy with a woman who had been at the class and as we walked towards the metro the square was full of people sitting outside eating, drinking and being merry, and on the square there was a band playing pagode (a type of samba music). That was awesome and made me so happy. We stayed there and chatted for a bit and then a capoeira group turned up. When the band had finished playing they started a street roda. That was even better. Everyone joined in and started clapping and singing and for once everyone knew the words well, I mean everyone in the public not just the capoeiristas. Anyone can join in too. They played sooo fast it was mental. I wouldn't have ventured in there, I would have gotten my head chopped off. But it was fun to watch. At that moment I really felt that this was the reason why I had come to Brazil, to experience moments like those, and was really happy to be here. Incidentally the woman I was with has found me a new capoeira nickname: ET! We were talking about the nicknames and I told her I didn't like mine because I feel it isn't me. Then she came up with ET coz she noticed that I don't like saying where I'm from which is soooooooooo true! Even in Europe it's the same story. I'm sure some of you will testify to this. LOL! So I actually think ET is quite good. We'll see...

Saturday Margaret was absolutely lovely and offered to take me round Sao Paulo. We set out in the blazing sun and started at Praça da Se, it's the old part of town as it were. Then we walked to the first house ever built in Sao Paulo which is also a museum and stopped off there for lunch and a visit of the museum. As a student this cost me R$2.50, about one euro! Then we continued to walk around the city to many more places. We walked through a street market which was absolute mayhem: people everywhere: on the pavement, on the street, walking by the cars or in the middle of the road. Street vendors on the road, people pulling carts. It was almost reminiscent of the Middle Eastern mayhem. I have no idea how the cars managed to get by in this mess but they did and people were selling stuff everywhere and shouting and of course people like us walking by and shopping. It was crazy but fun! And there are guys in the street selling CDs who have sound systems and are blaring out music. It adds to the madness and also to the fun. Then we reached the more traditional market which was in a hall and was gigantic but filled with the most amazing looking stalls: fruit, meat, spices, everything! It was really impressive and it looked quite nice too. Then we walked around a bit more until going home where there was still time to use the pool! :-)

In the evening we went for a brief tour of the local shopping mall, and then out for a pizza. Apprently this is the most traditional Sao Paulo dish and they are very good here. Margaret was lovely to take me out and do all of this with me! I am actually beginning to like Sao Paulo now and get a bit of a feel for it. It is a bit too big of course and still too many buildings but it's not so bad. I think I might leave to Foz de Iguaçu in a couple of days. Some more pictures after this. That's all for now!