I was in Brazil most of last week, and pretty much the only part of Sao Paulo I saw was from a taxi. And that was only back and forth between work and the hotel. I was staying in what seemed the nicest part of town at the Renaissance Hotel so I did not get any real perspective on the town or the country.
City
in
every
direction
What I can say with some amount of confidence is that Sao Paulo ain’t no Rio de Janeiro. There is city, skyscrapers, and cars in every direction for as far as the eye can see. I was staying on the 22nd floor and literally couldn’t see a place not covered with concrete. I did not see the beautiful countryside and the charm that so many people rave about when they speak of Brazil.
It rained every afternoon. A lot. The first day we arrived there was a torrential rainstorm that afternoon, and it flooded many parts of the city and knocked out power in many places. Two days after the storm, there was still not any phone service at the hotel. I am not sure how we weren’t affected, because this video of it looks terrible.
It was also the first time in my professional career I worked with Latin men and for the first time felt like a second class citizen and that what I did held no value or interest to them. I’ve worked and lived in Europe and worked extensively in Asia, and never have I been treated like that. It was very dissatisfying and quite shocking, actually. I clearly need to read a book on the working culture of South America so I can get a handle on how to deal with this better.
I have looked forward to coming to Brazil for some time now, and I must say that I was disappointed. And I am saddened by that because I know it was just my experience – staying only in Sao Paulo and for a short of time – that makes me feel like this. I need to give it another chance. I will say, however, that for all the work travel I do, I always am pleasantly surprised by something in each place. I cannot necessarily say that in this case.
Enough of that.
Each of these was as tall as my leg
It wasn’t all work. We did go to a churrascaria restaurant one night called Fogo de Chao. It has locations in the USA too, but supposedly they aren’t nearly as good as the original one that we went to. Churrascaria is Portuguese for “eat an entire cow and then continue eating more”. I have never seen so much meat in my life – everywhere – and they bring it on whether or not you want it. I was absolutely stuffed when I left.
And this was when I was done!
I was really looking forward to Thursday night where we planned to go out and enjoy the fantastic nightlife. Everything you read about when it comes to Brazil is how hot the clubs and bars are. I was excited to check it out. It didn’t quite go as I had imagined.
First, we went to a private club where we apparently had a contact to get in. Not really. I don’t know if we did or not, but we ended up standing around while the guys negotiated with the door staff in Portuguese for about 30 minutes and never got anywhere.
Take two. We get to another club that looks promising from the outside. Chic, fashionable people on the outside. And it costs 60 real (~$25) to get in, so I figure this has got to be decent. But the music isn’t sounding so great from the outside…. I’m getting leery.
We get in. The club is called Disco. And the music they played? You guessed it. I really wish I could find a link so you could see this club. It literally looked like something out of the 70s (even the people!). In fact, they played videos of John Travolta from Saturday Night Fever on the screens. I think that was the most entertaining part of the club.
No one in the club was younger than 45, I kid you not. The average age was probably between 50 and 55. The people I was with didn’t seem to notice that (which is confusing to me, because they are all about my age), and got to dancing. I think the caparinias were affecting some more than others, that’s all I can think. Needless to say, by 2:30AM I got sick of watching Travolta reruns and decided to go.
That was pretty much my last sad image of Sao Paulo.
Must. Give. Brazil. Another. Chance.