São Paulo

12 million people and me.

I landed in São Paulo and immediately went to Feira Benedito Calixto, a Saturday market within walking distance from my hostel. It was charming. I listened to some Brazilian dinosaurs play music, walked around and saw all the antiques, and ate a pastel (Brazilian fried hot pocket sold on the streets) and more brigadeiro. 

It was drizzling out, so I went to Ibirapuera and did the 6K loop around the park. Ibirapuera is said to be the Central Park of São Paulo. Despite the rain, there were kids skateboarding, couples walking hand in hand, and dads going for a jog. The park was quiet, damp, and peaceful.

I splurged on the hostel ($22 per night!) I felt a little guilty, even though it was really nice. My rent is $45 per night in the city, so as long as I stay under that price, I'm saving money while traveling. 

At the hostel I met a real life Brazilian named Rafael. I absolutely butchered the Portuguese pronunciation of his name. Rafael is a civil engineer, and I met him right after he took his English exam for a post-graduate program. He told me he wished I came earlier, because after three days of us chatting, he said his English is better. He said he was so nervous he spelled "future" like "fewture." English is hard!

Rafael is a project manager for the construction of movie theatres in malls. He said he can't stand watching movies in the theatres he builds, because he sees and hears everything that went wrong or could be improved. His dad was in the Brazilian Air Force and now flies for Azul. His mom works for the government. Rafael is 27 but already has purchased a condo that will eventually be built. He told me about a time he got bad food poisoning and was throwing up all night. He waited until he was better to tell his mother about it, because he knew she would worry and lose sleep. It was sweet. 

He asked about my family and of course, about Trump. He taught me a lot about Brazilian politics, and he was impressed of how much I knew. Thanks, NPR! He had questions American nationionalism - he asked what part of our culture makes Americans want to fight for our country and when it is engrained in us. He told me about how he loved his country, but that he didn't agree with the high taxes and therefore would not go to war for Brazil. He explained about how his life in Brazil was affected after 9/11 and looked at me in disbelief remembering where he was and how he heard about it. 

And then, a miracle happened. Somehow, somewhere, sometime in the middle of the night, uber downloaded on my phone. I deleted the app after the uber controversy, but forgot to upload it again before I left America. Uber is safer than taxis and it's nice because you can tell where the driver is going. And it's so much cheaper. Bless.