Oi! Tudo bem? Legal... Yes, I'm learning Portuguese. Not formally yet, but it's coming. I have a ways to go, but my ability to understand others is increasing the most each day.
Having departed from Dallas on June 7th, it's been roughly 13 days since I have landed and began my adventure here in São Paulo, Brasil. I should mention that prior to landing on the 8th, I spent a nice afternoon in Miami on the 7th enjoying the sun, great hospitality and good foods served by a Ukrainian host on the famous Ocean Drive - the area full of Art Deco buildings in Latin capital of the United States. Here are some photos from Miami...
Great experience actually as I had roughly 8 hours to kill before I took off on the overnight flight to Sampa - this allowed me to buy a pair of swim trunks at the W Hotel Miami (pictured above), change in the restroom, have the reception hold my things, cruise down the beach in the sun, tour Ocean Drive, have a nice meal and then head back with an extremely pleasant experience under my belt. I even had a complete stranger run me down to hand me the bus ticket I dropped! Such great personalities started my trip off right.
The flights from Dallas to Miami and Miami to SP were all smooth and led to memorable conversations on both legs. I would have to say that I wasn't impressed with the food on the flights, but that is typical! Ha.
Ok, so the past 13 days - I moved into an apartment that I found on Airbnb.com in an area of the city that is convenient to most day and nightlife. It is considered quite a posh location in the city and, for me, is ideal due to it's proximity to both key industry, clubs and the famous Ibirapuera park. If I were to count, and I will.. I have been to Ibirapuera roughly 9 times since I have been in the city. That tells you how much it figures into my life here in Sampa. I always have the most refreshing experience running amongst the dense greenery and with the many motivated weekend and professional athletes that make the park their training ground. In addition, I, as expected, have had a taste of the nightlife through many pubs and also a club - SheRocks. I am not a big fan of the name as it doesn't exactly give any hint of the real nature of the club, but really enjoyed my experience due to the excellent live band and great DJ that spun throughout the night. I should mention that this experience did lead me to my currently less than healthy state, but it was a night worth making!
Through my time, many events have taken the attention of the citizenry in the area - EuroCup 2012, Maratona São Paulo and, of course, Brasilian futbol. My understanding of the latter continues to grow with each day. For example, there is a match between Corinthians and Santos today. Corinthians is from São Paulo; it is one of three teams that make their home here. The other two being São Paulo FC and Palmeras. Santos is a team from the close to Sampa city of Santos. I am assuming they are in the same division, but am not sure. Still more to find out here as I would consider it a somewhat critical part of planning nightly activities (watch game at pub vs. dinner & club). Regardless, my allegiance can be bought at this point, so let's see how that goes~ ha.
My impressions so far: very much like New York in terms of the size and scale of activities at one's fingertips. Definitely, less of everything, but still quite plentiful. The art scene is not as vibrant, but much more than I anticipated. The restaurant and club scene is actually more impressive than I initially assumed. Also, given that you hopefully don't waste your life away in traffic sucking down exhaust fumes, you will really enjoy a nice quality of life as you walk to and fro work and home while striking up random conversations and sharing a brew are the local spot. It's as likable a city as it is dislikable, depending on the amount of time you spend in traffic.
My final observation I will make for the night is that prices are exceptionally inflated in Brasil and especially São Paulo. Whether it is groceries, gas, taxis, electronics, rent, restaurants, pubs or clubs, it's all quite painful, mainly due to regulations and the punitive tax regime currently in place which supports the graft and general disfunction of the national governmental bodies. I am still getting a handle on Brasilian politics (I think this will take a while!), but as I have read and seen, it is one of the prime culprits for the general "quality of life discount" for the average Brasilian.
In other news, I am working towards my first position in VC here in Brasil and had a great interview yesterday - let's hope it leads to something fruitful! I am excited to get this part of my life underway. Also, basically locked up a three-bedroom place in Chicago with two great guys - look forward to starting that in the near future as well. Great things on the horizon, great people in my life both here, at home and in my future activities. Merci, Obrigado, Tsekkur Ederim, Tak Tak to all of you :)
Having departed from Dallas on June 7th, it's been roughly 13 days since I have landed and began my adventure here in São Paulo, Brasil. I should mention that prior to landing on the 8th, I spent a nice afternoon in Miami on the 7th enjoying the sun, great hospitality and good foods served by a Ukrainian host on the famous Ocean Drive - the area full of Art Deco buildings in Latin capital of the United States. Here are some photos from Miami...
Great experience actually as I had roughly 8 hours to kill before I took off on the overnight flight to Sampa - this allowed me to buy a pair of swim trunks at the W Hotel Miami (pictured above), change in the restroom, have the reception hold my things, cruise down the beach in the sun, tour Ocean Drive, have a nice meal and then head back with an extremely pleasant experience under my belt. I even had a complete stranger run me down to hand me the bus ticket I dropped! Such great personalities started my trip off right.
The flights from Dallas to Miami and Miami to SP were all smooth and led to memorable conversations on both legs. I would have to say that I wasn't impressed with the food on the flights, but that is typical! Ha.
Ok, so the past 13 days - I moved into an apartment that I found on Airbnb.com in an area of the city that is convenient to most day and nightlife. It is considered quite a posh location in the city and, for me, is ideal due to it's proximity to both key industry, clubs and the famous Ibirapuera park. If I were to count, and I will.. I have been to Ibirapuera roughly 9 times since I have been in the city. That tells you how much it figures into my life here in Sampa. I always have the most refreshing experience running amongst the dense greenery and with the many motivated weekend and professional athletes that make the park their training ground. In addition, I, as expected, have had a taste of the nightlife through many pubs and also a club - SheRocks. I am not a big fan of the name as it doesn't exactly give any hint of the real nature of the club, but really enjoyed my experience due to the excellent live band and great DJ that spun throughout the night. I should mention that this experience did lead me to my currently less than healthy state, but it was a night worth making!
Through my time, many events have taken the attention of the citizenry in the area - EuroCup 2012, Maratona São Paulo and, of course, Brasilian futbol. My understanding of the latter continues to grow with each day. For example, there is a match between Corinthians and Santos today. Corinthians is from São Paulo; it is one of three teams that make their home here. The other two being São Paulo FC and Palmeras. Santos is a team from the close to Sampa city of Santos. I am assuming they are in the same division, but am not sure. Still more to find out here as I would consider it a somewhat critical part of planning nightly activities (watch game at pub vs. dinner & club). Regardless, my allegiance can be bought at this point, so let's see how that goes~ ha.
My impressions so far: very much like New York in terms of the size and scale of activities at one's fingertips. Definitely, less of everything, but still quite plentiful. The art scene is not as vibrant, but much more than I anticipated. The restaurant and club scene is actually more impressive than I initially assumed. Also, given that you hopefully don't waste your life away in traffic sucking down exhaust fumes, you will really enjoy a nice quality of life as you walk to and fro work and home while striking up random conversations and sharing a brew are the local spot. It's as likable a city as it is dislikable, depending on the amount of time you spend in traffic.
My final observation I will make for the night is that prices are exceptionally inflated in Brasil and especially São Paulo. Whether it is groceries, gas, taxis, electronics, rent, restaurants, pubs or clubs, it's all quite painful, mainly due to regulations and the punitive tax regime currently in place which supports the graft and general disfunction of the national governmental bodies. I am still getting a handle on Brasilian politics (I think this will take a while!), but as I have read and seen, it is one of the prime culprits for the general "quality of life discount" for the average Brasilian.
In other news, I am working towards my first position in VC here in Brasil and had a great interview yesterday - let's hope it leads to something fruitful! I am excited to get this part of my life underway. Also, basically locked up a three-bedroom place in Chicago with two great guys - look forward to starting that in the near future as well. Great things on the horizon, great people in my life both here, at home and in my future activities. Merci, Obrigado, Tsekkur Ederim, Tak Tak to all of you :)
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