Sights of Sao Paolo

Since my camera cable is packed, this old photo of Maeve, Sasha and me will have to suffice.



Sao Paolo is not known as the most scenic city in South America, but it is its business hub (or at least Brazil's, the largest country's). We've been in some really interesting meetings here.

What's interesting about Sao Paolo is that it has the largest Japanese population of any city in the world besides Tokyo. This ethnic diversity means that I've had excellent sushi twice and that they offer regular caparinhas as well as ones made with sake (YUM and so much less of a hangover).

The photo above is from last summer, but it represents part of the highlight of this trip. I realized one day after I got here that Sasha's brother, sister in law, and adorable niece live here. When I got back to my hotel to email Sasha about my whereabouts, I had one waiting for him not only confirming this fact, but informing me that his mother was here visiting them as well. Last night I went out and met them for dinner. First of all, it was quite exciting to tell everyone that I was bailing on a group dinner (sadly, at the best churrasceria in Brazil, but my arteries are clogged enough thank you) to have 'dinner with friends who live in Sao Paolo.' Yes, I am that worldly. Then, it was exciting to take an hour long cab ride with a driver who spoke no English whatsoever, and was not quite sure where we were going. The cab ride was supposed to take about 15 minutes, but Sao Paolo has the most traffic I've ever seen, and I lived in LA. The two best parts of the cab ride was (1) having to tell the cab driver that the apartment was near the "Ouchy-Backy", which is how locals pronounce the name of the Outback Steakhouse, an apparent landmark around their neighborhood and (2) coming up on what seemed like a car accident slowing traffic to a crawl but what actually turned out to be five policemen waving large rifles and shining flashlights into the windows of passing cars, with at least six men already handcuffed on the side of the road (my local hosts informed me this may be related to the riots from last week).

Seeing Mary, Toby, Fiona, and Maeve was wonderful. It was also great to sit around with adults and talk about things that aren't investment banking or good looking women. Maeve is adorable, and currently sports the curliest mohawk since Mr. T. She's also Disney princess obsessed and intimidatingly tri-lingual. You want to feel small? Try having a three year old teach you Portugese.

It was great to catch up with old friends, and I'm not just saying that because 50% of my readers are members of this family. Oh, and Sasha? I learned how to say 'silly monkey' in Portugese because your niece was talking about you.

We fly to Rio tomorrow!