Well, I am in Brazil now for 10 days and a lot has happened so far...
I moved my location from the hotel to a "Predio de apartamentos", where I stay with a very nice girl from AIESEC, her mother and sometimes their sympathic maid, who comes 2 times a week for cooking, washing, ironing and doing the necessary shoppings for the family.
The neigborhood is called Moema, which is characterized by fresh air (that's rare in Sao Paulo), rich people, a lot of bars which serve great food but not necessarily the best beer. Last but not least you see there apartment-blocks with big fences, barred windows (even on the 12th floor) and security personal who works 24/7.
However, it is peaceful here. Only the airplanes which seem to start and land approximatley all 30 minutes more or less directly above our apartment disrupt the sound of silence. But that's Sao Paulo... it's loud here and Brazilians like that. The louder the better. Meanwhile I have the most peaceful sleep of all times, because I got used to noise.
Each morning then I get up at around 7 o'clock and after the everyday routine take a walk to the company. It takes me around 40 minutes and is always an adventure. Since I am in Sao Paulo, I know why all major car companies have offices in this area of Brazil. Because there are cars everywhere... in front of you, in the back, beside and even under you, at least when you are on one of these endless bridges. You have to take care in Sao Paulo.. the streets here have special rules and if you want to avoid to get run over by a car, which could happen here everywhere and all the time, you better look twice..
By walking through the city one can observe a lot of things.. Sao Paulo is not one city, it is many cities. The first kilometer from Moema downwards you think you are in a typical neigborhood in middle Europe because it is green, it is safe and there are nearly no cars compared to the rest of the city. Only the always friendly security guys and the big fences all around are blurring this image...
Then you are on the "Avenida Jose Diniz", which is actually full of cars, buses and motorbikes. An endless stream of traffic, which never ends. Maybe on sundays for a few hours, but that's it.
When you are on a bigger freeway bridge, the sun is shining and there is no wind (luckily it's nearly always a little bit windy), you can feel the smog in your nostrils and throat. However a look from the bridge to the horizon, where you can see the impressive skyline of Sao Paulo and the giant flow of traffic beyond you, recover all bad feelings. You think you are in New York or Chicago...
The last part of my walk leads through a poorer neigbourhood of the city. You can see a lot of garbage on the street (not typical for Sao Paulo actually), which is in some way used by these people who partly sleep on the street.
Although you can find poor people like in Sao Paulo in all developing or semi-developed countries, the fascinating and scaring thing is that 40 metres away of this poor neighboorhoud and homeless people, there is a big white house with fence and security personal... It is the office of a lawyer....
I could write 50 more pages about my impressions so far, but I will them concentrate around some topics... Reading becomes easier then.. writing also...
In the next section, I will write something about the nightlife and food of Sao Paulo... :D Stay tuned...
Montag, 21. Juni 2010
Samstag, 12. Juni 2010
Day 1
After waiting 2 months for my visa, I could finally fly to Sao Paulo....
The fly was really okay and in the end not as long as I expected it to be...
I can recommend everybody to visit the airports of Frankfurt and Zurich.. Especially Zurich is impressive as it has an own airport-subway, which drives you from the airport to the gates... During the ride you will hear typical Swiss noises in the background like moos and yodellers... simply awesome
After arriving in Sao Paulo, I went from one queue to the next... The reason for these queues remains a mystery for me because in the end there was no logical reason, why they had existed :D... I waited 2 hours for a promised taxi, which never came... and then decided to take the next taxi... I had the longest taxi ride of my live (approx. 2 hours).
The city as such is huge and there is a constant stream of traffic, whether day or night going through the city.... I will not mention hear how cars behave in this traffic system and how crazy bikers act.... If you have visited bigger cities in China, India or even southern Europe, you will know what I mean...
On the way I have got a first impression of the city... especially the skyscrapers with regard to amount and scale are very impressive... Looks like in New York. There is also a quarter here called "Brooklyn". Although I had known that there is often no space between skyscrapers and favelas, which means rich and poor people, it still has been very depressing to observe these huge gaps with my own eyes.
After arriving at the hotel, where I will stay for the next 3 days, I was faced with western prices but "enjoy" western quality standards.. The view out of room on the 8th floor would fit for many cities in the USA... most likley New York or Chicago.
The weather also fits, as Sao Paulo at this time of the year is very cloudy, but it is not cold at all, although it is actually winter.
In the afternoon of my first day, I visited "Shopping Center Morumbi", which is also huge, like everything in Sao Paulo... A big collection of stores, which sell brands you know at western prices or even higher. The second floor was filled with restaurants. Some highlights were the "German Biergarten" with all kind of German beers and sausages like the "Australian Steakhouse", which offered grilled kangaroo. But also typical Japanese, French and Italian food was available.
In the end I tried Brazilian food: a steak with salat, rice and "Guarana Antarctica"... it was really good.. especially Guarana is a beverage that I will drink more often ;-)
At the end of this day I would like to tell you two curiosities, which I could observe in Sao Paulo...
1.) The cashier system at the supermarket:
In the supermarket you stand in a queue.. that's pretty normal.. but then you come to a monitor which announces the number of a free cashier, where you are supposed to go to... So you have a queue, the monitor and around 11 cashiers, which are organized in two lines opposite to each other and serve customers...
2.) A very special sign...
In the Shopping Center, a BANK announced to close 2 hours before and reopen 2 hours after each game of the Brazilian National Soccer Team during the World Cup...
Okay that's the news of DAY ONE...
More to come....
The fly was really okay and in the end not as long as I expected it to be...
I can recommend everybody to visit the airports of Frankfurt and Zurich.. Especially Zurich is impressive as it has an own airport-subway, which drives you from the airport to the gates... During the ride you will hear typical Swiss noises in the background like moos and yodellers... simply awesome
After arriving in Sao Paulo, I went from one queue to the next... The reason for these queues remains a mystery for me because in the end there was no logical reason, why they had existed :D... I waited 2 hours for a promised taxi, which never came... and then decided to take the next taxi... I had the longest taxi ride of my live (approx. 2 hours).
The city as such is huge and there is a constant stream of traffic, whether day or night going through the city.... I will not mention hear how cars behave in this traffic system and how crazy bikers act.... If you have visited bigger cities in China, India or even southern Europe, you will know what I mean...
On the way I have got a first impression of the city... especially the skyscrapers with regard to amount and scale are very impressive... Looks like in New York. There is also a quarter here called "Brooklyn". Although I had known that there is often no space between skyscrapers and favelas, which means rich and poor people, it still has been very depressing to observe these huge gaps with my own eyes.
After arriving at the hotel, where I will stay for the next 3 days, I was faced with western prices but "enjoy" western quality standards.. The view out of room on the 8th floor would fit for many cities in the USA... most likley New York or Chicago.
The weather also fits, as Sao Paulo at this time of the year is very cloudy, but it is not cold at all, although it is actually winter.
In the afternoon of my first day, I visited "Shopping Center Morumbi", which is also huge, like everything in Sao Paulo... A big collection of stores, which sell brands you know at western prices or even higher. The second floor was filled with restaurants. Some highlights were the "German Biergarten" with all kind of German beers and sausages like the "Australian Steakhouse", which offered grilled kangaroo. But also typical Japanese, French and Italian food was available.
In the end I tried Brazilian food: a steak with salat, rice and "Guarana Antarctica"... it was really good.. especially Guarana is a beverage that I will drink more often ;-)
At the end of this day I would like to tell you two curiosities, which I could observe in Sao Paulo...
1.) The cashier system at the supermarket:
In the supermarket you stand in a queue.. that's pretty normal.. but then you come to a monitor which announces the number of a free cashier, where you are supposed to go to... So you have a queue, the monitor and around 11 cashiers, which are organized in two lines opposite to each other and serve customers...
2.) A very special sign...
In the Shopping Center, a BANK announced to close 2 hours before and reopen 2 hours after each game of the Brazilian National Soccer Team during the World Cup...
Okay that's the news of DAY ONE...
More to come....
Abonnieren
Posts (Atom)