Make Time: Sao Paulo - Staying with Jesus

So do you remember the 4 Sao Paulo guys I hung with at Carnival in Rio a few weeks ago? Each one of them had a nickname based on their uncanny resemblance to said nickname: Obama, Anderson Silva, and Jesus (or Lebowski). I've been talking with Jesus over the last week about coming to Sao Paulo (SP), and he was giving me tips and assuring me that we're gonna continue the momentum of Carnival into SP. Love this guy. He's a musician and a documentarian and he's from SP, and after going back and forth over email about ideas for seeing the city, he offers me his second bedroom in his apt for my few nights in the city. Seriously? I only met you at Carnival, and although we had a good time this is one of the nicest gestures I've felt on my trip. So I cancel my hostel and meet Jesus at the nearest subway station from where the bus dropped me off. Oh yeah, it was an 11-12 hour bus ride from Florianopolis to SP, but the beauty is that I departed at 8:45am so there was only about 5 people on this entire bus of about 50 seats. YES. Apparently everyone takes the overnight buses so they can avoid paying for a place to stay, so this daytime route worked out famously for me. I get in around 9pm and Jesus is waiting there outside the station - same good vibes from Carnival. Fired up to see someone familiar in this city, which has been described as a very dangerous and non-touristic city. We jump in his car and he has a beer waiting for me. Classic. Budweiser. Even more classic. I'm not a beer drinker but at this time I had to accept and roll with the locals. We then met up with Silva and Obama for a quick dinner in a cool hipster neighborhood - Vila Madalena. Great seeing each one of these guys - like old friends already. We drank too much and didn't eat enough, but lasted till about 5:15am and then passed out. Pure perfect day. Glad to have another night with these crazies.

Oh yeah, this morning when we finally got up and going - around 2:45pm, we hit up this local lunch spot which was AMAZING. I have to remember the name of the dish we had, but it's very prevalent from a certain state in Brazil. Really good - beans, pork, rice, oranges, greens, and some random spice. OK - just looked it up and the dish is called Feijoada!!! And before our lunch the waiter brings out a shot of Cachaca, a Brazilian favorite for the alcohol in caipirinhas. Such a great thing to be with locals. Especially a guy nicknamed Jesus. Below are some pics I took on my phone today. We took a quick 15 minute drive after lunch so he could show me some things, but that turned into an hour in traffic, so I've learned my first lesson of SP - traffic is nasty. Motorcycles everywhere and cars and trucks everywhere. Everyone is civil, but you can sense an overall frustration. Sucks. Oh well, we got back to the apt and then Jesus had to go to a class, because of course he's finishing up college at age 29. Yes, that's what Jesus does - he keeps it real. Anyway, he's about to get back and then we're out for the night. They know of this good rock bar called She Rocks, so we're headed there. Yeah, the name doesn't sell me but I'm trusting Jesus, Obama, and Silva to guide me into this city. Fired up. Will have pics and stories tomorrow, but for now enjoy these from lunch and the drive this afternoon.