Oi!!!
Oi from Brazil!!!
...after 15 hours of flying! When we had to get off the airplane, it felt awkward to be walking again. Anyhow, I arrived in Sao Paulo (a state in the southern region of Brazil) on Saturday and was met by my godmother, Elisa, and her boyfriend, Ericson. From the car ride on the highway, Sao Paulo is quite a developed city - there are high rise buildings everywhere; movie theatres; banks; museums; shopping centres; etc. No doubt why they say it´s actually the third largest city in the world (Next to New York and another city I can´t recall at the moment) because they have everything we would have in Toronto. They took me downtown to the center of Sao Paulo, the heart of their city. If you think that downtown Toronto is crazy, I think it´s 10x more chaotic here. There are no lines to divide the road, the lanes are so small, so the driving is just insane. At least in Toronto, people respect the idea of walking across the street when the traffic light is red, but here, it´s so crowded and people walk into cars as if we would stop for them. Nuts! Anyhow, after much trouble, Elisa and Ericson took me to Mercado Municipal (literally, the Municipal Market for the public) built in 1933. It´s huge market where you can get a variety of foods, especially meat of any kind, and fruits and vegetables. At the market I tried their new Acai fruit drink that´s really popular in Sao Paulo. Acai is a brazilian berry, tastes almost like black current, but not really. I also tried a tried that literally means Count Fruit in English, Brazilian coffee, Mortadelo sandwhich (Really popular), coconut water, and more. Then we went to Elisa´s apartment, and then we left to go to Bruna´s house, which is where I´m staying for the rest of the month.
Bruna is my hostess. She is 22 years old and is in 3rd year medical school (It is a six year program). She has two sisters (one is 2 years old, Fernandas, and the other is 21) and a younger brother, Michel. The father is an architecturer but is also an amazing cook. And the mother (minha mamae) stays at home but she is so nice (bacada) and funny (engracada). She tells me she thinks of me as her little daughter! Within two days, I have also met the whole family - grandparents from both sides of the family, uncles and aunts, cousins. It´s like what you sometimes see in the movies when families just show up! I can´t express how everyone is so welcoming and friendly here. They say I am part of their "familia". Everyone here greets and leaves each other with hugs and kisses, even me, a stranger. They are so affectionate and they tell me that they are glad to know me. The food here is also awesome. The Jalbut family is Lebanese so I get a mix of both Lebanese and Brazilian food. I am slowly learning more portuguese words and the family here are learning to speak english. I never knew how difficult it was to communicate especially when we don´t really speak the same language. It reminds me of the time my cousin, who knew very litte English, flew from Hong Kong and I was his tourguide for the day, but that´s another story.
I don´t know where I put the plug that download pictures onto the computer, so that will have to wait. In the meantime, I hope everyone at home is well - I miss you guys so much!
Tchau!
...after 15 hours of flying! When we had to get off the airplane, it felt awkward to be walking again. Anyhow, I arrived in Sao Paulo (a state in the southern region of Brazil) on Saturday and was met by my godmother, Elisa, and her boyfriend, Ericson. From the car ride on the highway, Sao Paulo is quite a developed city - there are high rise buildings everywhere; movie theatres; banks; museums; shopping centres; etc. No doubt why they say it´s actually the third largest city in the world (Next to New York and another city I can´t recall at the moment) because they have everything we would have in Toronto. They took me downtown to the center of Sao Paulo, the heart of their city. If you think that downtown Toronto is crazy, I think it´s 10x more chaotic here. There are no lines to divide the road, the lanes are so small, so the driving is just insane. At least in Toronto, people respect the idea of walking across the street when the traffic light is red, but here, it´s so crowded and people walk into cars as if we would stop for them. Nuts! Anyhow, after much trouble, Elisa and Ericson took me to Mercado Municipal (literally, the Municipal Market for the public) built in 1933. It´s huge market where you can get a variety of foods, especially meat of any kind, and fruits and vegetables. At the market I tried their new Acai fruit drink that´s really popular in Sao Paulo. Acai is a brazilian berry, tastes almost like black current, but not really. I also tried a tried that literally means Count Fruit in English, Brazilian coffee, Mortadelo sandwhich (Really popular), coconut water, and more. Then we went to Elisa´s apartment, and then we left to go to Bruna´s house, which is where I´m staying for the rest of the month.
Bruna is my hostess. She is 22 years old and is in 3rd year medical school (It is a six year program). She has two sisters (one is 2 years old, Fernandas, and the other is 21) and a younger brother, Michel. The father is an architecturer but is also an amazing cook. And the mother (minha mamae) stays at home but she is so nice (bacada) and funny (engracada). She tells me she thinks of me as her little daughter! Within two days, I have also met the whole family - grandparents from both sides of the family, uncles and aunts, cousins. It´s like what you sometimes see in the movies when families just show up! I can´t express how everyone is so welcoming and friendly here. They say I am part of their "familia". Everyone here greets and leaves each other with hugs and kisses, even me, a stranger. They are so affectionate and they tell me that they are glad to know me. The food here is also awesome. The Jalbut family is Lebanese so I get a mix of both Lebanese and Brazilian food. I am slowly learning more portuguese words and the family here are learning to speak english. I never knew how difficult it was to communicate especially when we don´t really speak the same language. It reminds me of the time my cousin, who knew very litte English, flew from Hong Kong and I was his tourguide for the day, but that´s another story.
I don´t know where I put the plug that download pictures onto the computer, so that will have to wait. In the meantime, I hope everyone at home is well - I miss you guys so much!
Tchau!
posted by miss.chip @ 16:04
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