Babble

—Malcolm S. Forbes

As I mentioned in the last entry, it began raining Wednesday night. The rain turned into an all-out storm late that night and the weather, combined with jet lag, not feeling great, Jen still not having any luggage, and likelihood of getting mugged and/or shot, was enough to keep us in for the rest of the evening. Our spirits were strangely high in spite of the disaster that the trip had become but we were excited for a leisurely fresh-fruit-filled breakfast the next morning followed by hours of wandering around Centro and Av. Paulista, purported to have great sights, shopping and culture. The trip had turned into a comedy of errors but things were bound to improve.

Waking up at 10:30 a.m. the next morning to pouring rain and still no luggage was a little much though. Since we had been getting up early we didn’t set an alarm to make the 6-10 a.m. breakfast, and our bodies chose the opportunity to try to return to CST, meaning no 5-star breaky for us. We also had to be out of the room by noon and the rain presented a serious deterrent for our walking tour of downtown Sao Paulo. To nail the lid on the coffin Jen decided to call American Airlines for the 25th time only to be told her baggage was now classified as missing long-term which involves paperwork she couldn’t even get access to that day because it was a Brazilian holiday.

We laughed, Jen almost cried, we ate fiber cookies and forged on.

Leaving our bag (singular) with the front desk we ventured out into the rain, cabbing to the nearest metro stop. I’m strangely fond of subway systems, and Jen had pretty much surrendered herself over to karma, so we purchased tickets and managed to get ourselves from Tatuape to Avenue Paulista (3 lines, 2 transfers) in easily half the time it would have taken a cab, and at a twentieth of the price. The subway was by far and away the cleanest, safest part of Sao Paulo we saw and it was very easy to use. Victory #1.

Once back in the rain though, we found Avenue Paulista to be full of banks (closed for the Brazilian holiday), construction and traffic. We were 25 blocks from the Banespa building—our intended destination for a 34th floor view of the city and our rain gear and umbrella made it hard to sight-see. (For great pics of the view we didn’t see, check out Thomas Locke Hobbs website.) Cold, wet and hungry, we stumbled upon MASP, San Paulo’s art museum, so we went in and sat down for lunch (cheese crepe & salad, salmon for Jen). As it turned out, finally, karma had smiled on us. Their modern art collection didn’t do much for me but their oil collection was incredible. They had multiple pieces from Monet, Manet, Delacroix, Rodin, Renoir, Picasso, Toulouse-Lautrec, Matisse, Ingres, Cézanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Botticelli, Bosch (!), Rubens, and dozens more. Paintings and sculpture I never thought I would have the opportunity to see in person! I was in awe and Jen seemed impressed as well. Victory #2.

We took the metro home, happy with our voyage, and sat in the hotel lobby bar waiting for our driver. Jen attempted to order hot tea since we were soaked and chilled, but the waiter didn’t appear to understand. Fifteen minutes later he arrived with two US$10 bloody-mary-esque drinks that Jen liked and I thought tasted like feet. We drank them anyway. He then brought us complimentary fried cheese (of course) so that was a nice surprise. Our driver soon appeared and took us to Congonhas Airport, the domestic airport south of Sao Paulo, where we found our first latte and happily said goodbye to the concrete jungle. Victory #3.

I’m writing from my hotel room in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to the sound of at least three carpenters banging away in the room directly above us, and the periodic scream of a rip saw from the construction site next-door. JenO is sitting on her smaller-than-twin-size bed awaiting a phone call from American Airlines, who lost her luggage last Saturday—5 days ago. We are both somewhat sick. Sleep was interrupted by the sounds of gun shots last night and it is a minor miracle that we haven’t been killed in a moving vehicle yet, be it airplane, taxi or bus. Crime and poverty are rampant here and the conditions are awe-inspiring, but mostly in a horrific kind of way. Did I mention I don’t know a single word of Portuguese? At least JenO knows five words, four of which translate to “I don’t know Portugese.”

The upsides? The plane ride was great. I had a small row with a window all to myself on a crowded plane, and slept for at least 8 of the 11.5 hour trip. I also finally saw SickO, which I’ve been meaning to see since it opened. Landing presented one of the most amazing views I’ve ever seen… even 10,000 feet up all I could see were the literally thousands of skyscrapers spread throughout the city that give it its nickname “the concrete jungle.”

Sao Paulo is ginormous. Recent figures cite a population of 20 million people, 12,500 restaurants, 80 museums, 72 shopping malls, 15 thousand bars and roughly 100,000 “events” per year. The population is one of the most diverse in the world—there is a huge Japanese population here, along with Italians, Spanish, Arabs, Germans and others. Not many people speak English, at least not the ones we’ve encountered. The upper class is fabulously wealthy (they take helicopters to malls) and the lower class is destitute.

They do have one of the best public transportation systems in the world, which I can vouch for. Mostly by accident I wound up on a city bus from GRU, the city’s international airport, to Tatuapé, for a grand total of R$2,60, which is about US$1.50 for a 50-minute adventure. The moments of weightlessness and sliding sideways were free.

They also have fabulous breakfasts, usually included with a hotel stay. Fresh fruit juices, mini cheese bread rolls, cheese, meats, yogurt… the list goes on. I could have spent all day eating breakfast.

The weather is also notably warmer than Wisconsin, and humid. Fortunately I like humidity, but if I didn’t, I think the cloudy rain-forest-esque weather might not be so appealing.

And I did get to go to Sao Judas Tadeus university today to watch Jen present to 130+ students who will be traveling and working in the U.S. soon. The information regarding visas, social security, housing, taxes, and of course employment was a lot to ingest, but Jen did a great job speaking clearly and slowly and the students seemed to follow along well.

Hours have past… the hammers and saws have died down, Jen is on the phone with American Airlines again and we are contemplating a dinner out at Garage Bier Kalt for good beer and fondue. Wish us luck.