First Days in Brazil

We spent most of our first Sunday in Sao Paulo comatose in our apartment, before finally venturing out to find dinner at a local restaurant. One thing we quickly discovered was that the area we are staying in is VERY high end - finding a cheap meal is not easy! But eventually we found a reasonable place on Ave. Paulista, our major local thoroughfare, and had some delicious Brazilian cuisine.

My opinion of Brazilian cuisine so far - I love it. It's not particularly complex - usually just a cut of meat that is salted and then grilled or barbecued to perfection. Add beans, rice and occasionally some vegetables and you're done. If complex spices and sauces are your thing then you might find the food a little bland, but personally I am really happy!

Anyway, Monday came around and despite having a week before classes started we figured we should get registration at FGV (our University) out of the way. We walked the ~1.5km to the school without too many wrong turns and eventually convinced the receptionist at the front of the building to let us in, despite a major language barrier! Having overcome the entrance obstacle, we found that the international office was very well organised and the friendly English-speaking guy there had all of our access cards, course schedules and other forms ready to go. Full marks for making a good first impression!

So with that out of the way, we spent the rest of Monday and Tuesday getting comfortable in the local area. It is an interesting part of Sao Paulo, apparently known for attracting very wealthy residents. Sitting by the pool on the roof of our apartment building (by the way, the blog banner pic is a panorama from said roof) in the evening, we were amazed by the number of helicopters landing on rooftops nearby! We were also very aware of the huge gap between the rich and poor in this country, with some people driving around in Mercedes while others are only able to afford a Fiat.

On the subject of traffic, it is completely nuts. We have learned that traffic signals are basically irrelevant. The only safe time to cross a road is when there are no cars, because most of them completely ignore rules about giving way to pedestrians! We've already seen a couple of traffic accidents, with one pedestrian who had obviously been hit by a car while crossing the road. One interesting thing is that the accidents immediately turn into a big group activity, with lots of passers by stopping to help anyone who is hurt. The picture is of the usual scene during a business day immediately outside our apartment building.