Concrete Jungle
Door: claupaulo
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Claudia
20 Juli 2010 | Brazilië, São Paulo
Finally the rainy days have changed for normal winter weather: sun, 27 degrees and a slight breeze. Not bad at all ;) The tropical trees are secuded to show themselves more. Yes, Brasil is exotic and it consists for 50% of jungle. São Paulo is outside of that area, but believe me it’s a concrete jungle. I have to move like a monkey in the frequent busses, holding on to anything I can find, because every bus driver thinks he is a Formula 1 racer. Argh. :P
The city is a labyrinth of steep streets full of traffic between an enormous amount of skyscrapers. Yes, it’s a business city but this is incomparable to Rotterdam. People call it New York of South America for a reason. Unfortunately busses are not so organized as they would be in NYC. Bus stops do not have a timetable nor list of busses that pass there. You just have to wait for any bus to arrive, read the few stops that are written on the side of the bus, and just when your brain has had enough time to decipher what’s written and has determined that this is the right bus, the bus is gone….
Welcome to the concrete jungle. ;)
Luckily the jungle shows itself in the supermarket as well. So many tropical fruits and vegetables to choose from!!! When I saw it for the first time, I wanted to stay there and live in the supermarket… :D it has so many exotic things which we could only imagine from fairytales about far away countries…
Let’s put it like this: I am sure I could try a new piece every day as long as I am here heheh. Will try to make some pictures for you.
By the way I spent the weekend at Priscila’s family place, which is in a city nearby, called Jundiaí. Her family is really nice! Her sister tried to teach me some traditional Brazilian dances hahah. It’s called ‘forro’, a dance from the North of Brasil with a kind of folk music. On sunday morning we went to a park for some exercise. I ended up in a palm tree, as I couldn’t resist climbing it :D
Oh yeah, before I forget: please stop worrying about me! Brasil is quite safe, at least a lot safer than the stories and media make you believe. As long as you take certain rules into account, such as not wearing expensive jewelry or watches, take the bus instead of walk in unsafe neighbourhoods and do not walk alone at night, divide your money in case you might get robbed etc., it’s pretty safe and certainly possible to live a good and normal life. It’s mostly favelas where the crime and shooting take place, when there’s fights between rival drug gangs or invasions of the police.
I have to admit that I got pretty intrigued by the favelas, as every (middle class) Brazilian is scared of them. But in the end, it’s just human beings living there, despite that there’s problems such as poor housing and drugs… Am really curious to visit a favela and see the real story behind them for myself, as they certainly have good things as well: samba and capoeira come from there. But even more because I am considering working in the development area later on, and fight poverty and stuff so it would be a great opportunity to see how people live there and what could be done.
Especially in Brasil, since it’s developing itself quite well, yet inequality grows. For example, taxes here are mainly levied on basic products. The price of bread consists for 50%(!!!!) of taxes, which means that relatively poor people end up paying a lot more for taxes, which is really unfair…
Anyway, if you want to know more about favelas, you can check out the weblog of this inhabitant of a big favela in Rio, it’s pretty interesting:
http://lifeinrocinha.blogspot.com/
In short I am enjoying Brasil a lot and learning a lot, despite its wonderful world of bureaucracy :P (will tell you more about that later)
Boa noite!!!
Claudia
The city is a labyrinth of steep streets full of traffic between an enormous amount of skyscrapers. Yes, it’s a business city but this is incomparable to Rotterdam. People call it New York of South America for a reason. Unfortunately busses are not so organized as they would be in NYC. Bus stops do not have a timetable nor list of busses that pass there. You just have to wait for any bus to arrive, read the few stops that are written on the side of the bus, and just when your brain has had enough time to decipher what’s written and has determined that this is the right bus, the bus is gone….
Welcome to the concrete jungle. ;)
Luckily the jungle shows itself in the supermarket as well. So many tropical fruits and vegetables to choose from!!! When I saw it for the first time, I wanted to stay there and live in the supermarket… :D it has so many exotic things which we could only imagine from fairytales about far away countries…
Let’s put it like this: I am sure I could try a new piece every day as long as I am here heheh. Will try to make some pictures for you.
By the way I spent the weekend at Priscila’s family place, which is in a city nearby, called Jundiaí. Her family is really nice! Her sister tried to teach me some traditional Brazilian dances hahah. It’s called ‘forro’, a dance from the North of Brasil with a kind of folk music. On sunday morning we went to a park for some exercise. I ended up in a palm tree, as I couldn’t resist climbing it :D
Oh yeah, before I forget: please stop worrying about me! Brasil is quite safe, at least a lot safer than the stories and media make you believe. As long as you take certain rules into account, such as not wearing expensive jewelry or watches, take the bus instead of walk in unsafe neighbourhoods and do not walk alone at night, divide your money in case you might get robbed etc., it’s pretty safe and certainly possible to live a good and normal life. It’s mostly favelas where the crime and shooting take place, when there’s fights between rival drug gangs or invasions of the police.
I have to admit that I got pretty intrigued by the favelas, as every (middle class) Brazilian is scared of them. But in the end, it’s just human beings living there, despite that there’s problems such as poor housing and drugs… Am really curious to visit a favela and see the real story behind them for myself, as they certainly have good things as well: samba and capoeira come from there. But even more because I am considering working in the development area later on, and fight poverty and stuff so it would be a great opportunity to see how people live there and what could be done.
Especially in Brasil, since it’s developing itself quite well, yet inequality grows. For example, taxes here are mainly levied on basic products. The price of bread consists for 50%(!!!!) of taxes, which means that relatively poor people end up paying a lot more for taxes, which is really unfair…
Anyway, if you want to know more about favelas, you can check out the weblog of this inhabitant of a big favela in Rio, it’s pretty interesting:
http://lifeinrocinha.blogspot.com/
In short I am enjoying Brasil a lot and learning a lot, despite its wonderful world of bureaucracy :P (will tell you more about that later)
Boa noite!!!
Claudia
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21 Juli 2010 - 06:56
Josee:
Very interesting story dear daughter! I am totally convinced (also after having spoken with you)that it is a save country to stay a while. Especcially with such dear friends as Priscilla and her family.
Kisses!! PS: You have to move like a monkey and not money.... -
21 Juli 2010 - 08:23
Kris:
Hey Claudia!
Have fun :-)
x
kris -
21 Juli 2010 - 08:55
Ecaterina:
Hey!!! How are you! It looks like you are having a lot of fun and enjoying yourself to the maximum!!
I love people trying to understand the other part of the world, and I thank you for being one of them.
Kisses from the Netherlands
-
21 Juli 2010 - 09:32
Uauu Tanta Coisa!:
Uauuu tanta coisa! eu ainda não li porque é muuuuito mas ya eu vou ler e depois digo mais alguma coisa ehehhe -
21 Juli 2010 - 09:40
Pedro:
Hoi!!!
Yep now I read it! That's great, I told you Brasil is safe, but about São Paulo I did not know anything! I would like to go there when I was in Rio, but cause the rivalery between Rio and S. Paulo my cousin didn't take me to S.Paulo! that sucks! Ah, I have a new small project on Facebook it's about 3 Playmobils called Hans, Marcello and Tom and they are travelling around the world maybe they can go to Sao Paulo!
Grutjes!!! Doei Claudia!!!!! -
21 Juli 2010 - 09:53
Felipe:
zozo jij bent in brazilie :P hoe lang ga je deze x blijven stuur me een e-mail ;) -
21 Juli 2010 - 18:11
Jeroenos:
Eeej Clau!
Nice to read from you! I wish I could come vissting you!!! Well, one thing we have in common right now: the temperature... here it is also 28 degrees and well, in the "spreek kamer" even warmer! :'-) Anyway, I really interested in some photos! So you better make some ASAP! Take care and enjoy! x Jeroen -
21 Juli 2010 - 18:12
Jeroen (again):
O, and sorry for the bad English... Think it's because of the warmth! -
22 Juli 2010 - 03:29
Maaike:
Heey Clau in Paulo!
Klinkt me erg bekend in de oren, je verhalen..
In Venezuela gaat het net zo!
Heel veel plezier en meer wijze en interessante lessen!
Liefs Maaike (CYB) -
22 Juli 2010 - 20:10
Dennis:
Great story and it sounds like a dream. Cannot wait for more pictures.. after all the stories of Brazile is a dangeres place it sounds like heaven.
have fun and keep enjoying
Cheers, Dennis -
26 Juli 2010 - 10:16
Judith:
Hey Clau! Great story, it sounds like a very interesting city, and also a bit like Quito ;)
What are you doing now during the day, since you are not studying yet right? I am happy for you that you have such a lively experience there!
Hugs,
Judith
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