Asian Market in South America

Catedral Metropolitana de So Paulo. This pic is taken standing in the square in front of the cathedral.
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More Sao Paulo madness.  Since today is Sunday, things are moving a bit slower in the city.  We can finally relax and stroll down the street without having fear of being run over by a car or knocked over by another pedestrian.  The city still smells generally bad, and every once in a while I catch a whiff of something especially foul, which I can only assume is the smell of something rotting.

Today was a good day.  The best yet.  Jema and I timed how long the walk from our hostel to our language school would take.  We did eventually figure an hour, but that was after getting lost, bickering about which direction to take, then sitting down on benches and getting the map out.  Sitting down and reading a map makes a person look very touristy, but, sometimes figuring out where in the crap you are is more important than what people are thinking of you.  After we found our way to the school, we continued on our walk toward the Liberdade District.  This is the mostly Asian part of the city.  On Sundays a market is held in the Liberdade District, and we strolled through looking at all the handmade goods and homegrown foods.  Since our budget is tight, we did not buy any of the stuff, but we did stop at a little Yakisoba eatery and have some delicious rice and noodles.  After eating our food we took another stroll through the market and then headed back into the center of the city.  On the way we stopped at a McDonald´s (they are everywhere), to get some ice-cream.  Seriously, McDonald´s is the only American fast-food chain I have seen here.  And the only other American chains in general that I´ve seen are Shell and Sam´s club.  Maybe McDonald´s, Shell, and Wal-Mart have a secret alliance with a goal of world domination.  I wouldn´t be surpised.  Anyway, before stopping at this internet cafe we walked by one of the huge cathedrals again, which I have found out is called Catedral Metropolitana.  Here are a few facts that I have learned:  the construction began in 1913 and lasted 40 years.  It is 111 meters long, 46 wide, and the towers are each 92 meters tall.  It has a capacity for 8,000 people.  Over 800 tons of marble were used by the time construction was finished.  Several important people in Brazillian history are buried in the crypt, including a famous conductor whose organ, in the church, is the grandest in Brazil.

The cashier proceded to speak to me in lightining-fast Portuguese, none of which I could decipher.

Catedral Metropolitana de So Paulo. Huge cathedral in the center of the city. Its even more impressive from the inside.
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Today there have been a lot of live bands on the streets.  About every 3 or 4 blocks you have what would remind an American of a teenage garage band.  Intrestingly enough, they are playing American music.  A few minutes ago they played ´Brick in the wall´, and then they played ´Hotel California´.  I can´t tell if they are singing the verses in Portuguese and chorus in English or if it´s just all in English and I can´t understand the accent.  Doesn´t matter, I guess, it still reminds me of home.

Since the tap water is unsafe here, everyone drinks bottled water sold at little conveniences stores.  Today I ventured into one of these little stores, on my own, to buy a bottle of water.  I grabbed a bottle of the shelf, went up to the cashier and set my water down in from of him.  I knew how much it should cost so I started pulling my Reals out of my pocket.  The cashier proceded to speak to me in lightining-fast Portuguese, none of which I could decipher.  So I promptly responded to him in the most useful phrase I know thus far, `Não fala Portugúes.´ Which of course means ´| don´t speak Portuguese.´ Hopefully after our week of Portugeuse lessons I will know enough to perform a task as simple as purchasing a bottle of water.

On a side note, right now a Green Day song is playing somewhere in the background.  It´s interesting to think how much of an impact American culture has on the rest of the world.  I encountered this is Canada, too, when I saw everyone driving American-made cars and wearing hats with logos of American sports teams.  But I thought that was to be expcted, because Canada is so close to the USA geographically.  Way down here in Brazil, though, I´m still encountering instances of American culture.  You all can form your own oppinions, I just think it´s interesting.

Well, I better go.  Hope your Sunday´s are all funner than a barrel o´monkeys.  Bye!!!

Patrick  =:-)