Balneário Camboriú

When I was in high school, I remember how I used to drag myself out of bed in morning just to be ready in time to catch the school bus….15 years later, the same emotion resurfaces as I get ready to catch my “office” bus! After spending some time in Sao Paulo, my work took me further south in Brazil to a state called Santa Catarina. For the past one month my office has been in a small town called Gaspar around an hour away from my home in another small town, Balneário Camboriú.

Balneário Camboriú

Balneário Camboriú, a beach town is a major tourist destination with population of roughly 200,000 which reaches over 1 million during summer (and yes I went there for work!). I walk out of my hotel here and in less than 100 meters reach the central beach, a beach with panoramic view on either ends of green mountains dropping down to the blue ocean. I walk to the north end of the beach and a cable car is waiting to take me over the hills to the adjoining beach. I walk to the south end of the beach and have a boardwalk built besides the mountains and over the ocean to connect me to more beaches. I look out of the office and all I can see in green mountains, a river flowing calmly besides it and endless cattle farms.

Cable car connecting beaches separated by hills

But as they say, all good things must come to an end....I am back in Sao Paulo. Now I walk out of the hotel and see a concrete jungle. I walk north and see major avenues filled with traffic. I walk to the south and see the highly polluted Pinheiros River instead of the blue Atlantic. I look out of the office and I see huge favela (slum). It might almost seem that I have moved back to hell from heaven, but there is something about the city which makes it worth coming back to. Like most major financial centers around the world it has it has its own flair and vigor. In the constant rush of people you see a sense of purpose to achieve something and it fills you with energy and motivation to make a difference!

Befriending Sao Paulo

Before leaving NY I was repeatedly told....“Don’t worry Brazilians are very friendly people!”

7:00 am Wednesday morning, as usual I walk in the hotel cafeteria for breakfast, bored of having breakfast alone since a week, I decide to randomly join a group of three people. Thirty minutes later, I had three friends from Bahia (a state to the northeast of Brazil) – 2 of them do not speak much English...but we meet at regularly at breakfast and talk and talk and talk…who says language is a big barrier to communication :)

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It is a beautiful Saturday in Sao Paulo, I and another of my friend (of course I found him at the breakfast table too) decide to explore Paulista Avenue (a famous street in Sao Paulo) - the only problem we both knew little about the neighborhood and spoke practically no Portuguese. As we were wandering around the street like homeless dogs, clouds took over and a downpour began. We took shelter under a building and thought it was a good opportunity to take directions from someone. So we started talking with a lady who told us that she was waiting for her husband to pick her up. After a good 20-30 minutes conversation, we exchanged email ids and promises to exchange notes in future. Next we knew, a couple of weeks and a few emails later, we were having lunch and laughing it out with her and her family in a restaurant at Paulista Avenue! The duration of the lunch 2 pm to 6 pm!

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In NY, I was talking a some lessons in Portuguese language and just before leaving for Sao Paulo, my Brazilian instructor connected me to her - husband's - office colleague's - son - who lives in Sao Paulo. Sergio is a Brazilian who has spent some time in US and is an English instructor in Sao Paulo. On one Friday he invited me for dinner at his place where I met his wife and a few of his friends cum students…a couple of journalist, a doctorate student, a social worker, an artist… the result endless conversations and laughs...so much so that Sergio even offered us stay over at his place and take a cab home in the morning as it was already very late by the time we finished!

I write this story when after spending a month befriending Sao Paulo, I am considering leaving Sao Paulo to be in a different city for the next month, but….“don’t worry Brazilians are very friendly people!” :)

Cathedral de Se - Another venue where I made friends with two random people, who were trying to explain to me the history of place...in Portuguese of course!

"Things Amusing"

Adjusting to a new culture is always challenging, but on the brighter side every now and then you see or hear something that tickles your funny bone. After spending three weeks in Brazil, from the various things that crack me up, I would like to share three specific ones

The greeting

Probably the first thing you learn in any language are the basic greetings…stuff like, hello, good morning, good night etc. They say, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing…well in case of Brazilian greetings little knowledge…

It is 5:00 pm local time on a beautiful Friday evening; I enter the conference room for the last meeting of the week. As soon as everyone settles in, the lights are dimmed, slides projected….and the speaker starts…"Boa Noite a todos!"…literally translated to English “good night everyone!” …probably the speaker wasreally able to read the minds of his audience!!

In Brazil “Boa Noite” is used for both good evening as well as good night…the other day as soon as I entered a fancy restaurant for dinner, a beautiful blonde waitress came up to me and greeted me with a bright smile and a warm “good night" :)

The accent

Asians are generally seen as people with peculiar accent for English, but this one bowled me over...

A few of my Brazilian friends were giving me some tips about Brazil….one of them asks, “Did you see any bitch here yet?”…another one jumps in, “you should go to the south; the bitches in south are beautiful”…yet another one, “yeah! I miss the bitches in Rio, Sao Paulo is not really a bitch city”

Of course by "bitches" they meant "beaches" ;)

The law

A picture is worth a thousand words...

Mandatory warning besides the entrance of an elevator on every floor, its a law in Sao Paulo!

Sao Paulo: Scene One, Take One

September 15^th 2011, just another date in most people’s calendars, marks a significant change in my life.  It is the day I embarked upon a new adventure…the adventure called Brazil!

 

Though the roller coaster ride had begun much before – from the time the idea of Brazil was proposed to me…as we went from utter confusion...to endless wait...to excitement about what lies ahead...to fear of grand failure...to last minute cancellation threat – but on September 15^th 2011, I was in Samba Land…with all the anxiety and excitement you can associate with any new challenge!

                                                                                                                                        

One week here and I already had a great preview of what lies ahead. It turned out that, the day I landed coincided with one coworker’s birthday and hence was the day for a crazy party…party which lasted till 4 am for some on a Thursday night! Next day went by quickly and of course party plans were made for the weekend. One of my friends here invited to pick me up on Saturday evening…only learnt later that by evening he meant around 10:30-11pm! By 10:30 pm I was ready and waiting for a Brazilian weekend experience…as I fought sleep...the clock kept ticking…11 pm…11:30...zzzzzz…midnight…zzz…12:50 am and finally I got a call stating that they will be down to pick me up in 10 minutes!! 

The similarity between Mumbai (my hometown) and Sao Paulo is something which struck me as soon as I set foot here. Be it traffic, crowded streets, rash driving, pollution…or the city's energy, passion and mania for success! Another thing which is similar…the value of time commitments :)

Any experience in Brazil can’t be complete without "futbal" (soccer). In my first week itself I was taken to see a soccer match between arch-rivals …Sao Paulo versus Corinthians. The attendance….45,000 …the atmosphere…electric! But, what surprised me the most was the amount of security…the section of the stadium where the supporters of the visiting team were seated and the roads leading to it were sealed for locals; in addition there was helicopter surveillance throughout the match…not to mention the ludicrous amounts of armed police deployed! They say cricket is a religion in India and soccer is the same in Brazil…but, like for most things in world…you can’t really understand it till you actually experience it!!

Another weekend has dawned…I look forward to experience all what Brazil has to offer :)