During the daylight on the weekends, I saw a lot of cool things. On many weekends, I walked to Parque Ibirapuera. It is a beautiful park with some great things to see. The first weekend, I went to Liberdade, the Japanese neighborhood. I had been hearing about Liberdade since 2004 or 2005 and so it was one of the first things I saw. I was a little disappointed, because I expected it to be more like Chinatown in NYC. Well, it is in lots of ways. Some of the things I bought for my bookshelf, the only two things I guess, were things I saw in Liberdade. I felt ripped off! :) I saw lots of things there I had seen in Chinatown. But I expected Liberdade to be bustling a lot more. But it actually was more than I thought; I was just there too early in the day. Another time I saw more. The only place in the world where there are more Japanese people than Brazil is Japan. So there are Japanese people all over--in my ward, the law firm, around town, and so forth. It is really fascinating.
Near Liberdade, there are some beautiful cathedrals. I checked those out a few times, went to a few plazas, looked at some bookstores, and so forth on the weekends. It was always really nice. My favorite place was the Museu do Ipiranga. The actual museum is a beautiful building and, unfortunately, I never got to go in because it was on strike the whole month. It is run by the University of São Paulo and a lot of the school's employees have been on strike. But the museum's grounds are amazing. You feel like you are at the Palace of Versailles or something. Maybe not that much, but still very nice! Once I saw a parrot there too. That is the great thing about São Paulo and Rio. You see all these great birds all over, and you don't even have to go looking for them. But this museum is next to a big park where there is a big monument to Brazilian independence and a tomb where Pedro I, I think, is buried.
I had some great meals in São Paulo. When this American lawyer was in town, we went to this steakhouse. It was the rodizio style, like many of you have seen, where they bring the meat to you. This place was really nice and really expensive, and so you know I was eating as much as I could. It was great. We ate late and that caused me to not sleep so well. Especially because I was thirsty from all the meat, and had to wake up early in the morning. This guy from work gave me rides, and Tuesdays were his day to not drive during 7 to 10 am. Each day of the week, certain people can't drive during peak hours. If your license plate ends in 0 or 1, for example, you can't drive between 7 am and 10 am or 5 pm and 8 pm on Monday. It is because of the traffic. But the food was worth it.
I really enjoyed the internship. I learned a lot, met some great people, and feel like I have a better idea of my interests.
One weekend, Matt from my ward in NYC came for business. He is in the bishopric of my ward. It was great to see him because he is a cool guy, and it was fun to do some stuff with him. We went to the temple and ate a ton of pizza on Friday night, and then went all around the city on Saturday. I was really touched by his generosity. He bought me a few meals and I wasn't expecting it. I am always on a super budget here, so the meals fill me up but are never all that good. So for him to pay for some meals was so great and I was very thankful for that. I told him my mom would be so happy, but I forgot to tell her. I hope she reads it here. :) We went all over, saw the museum of art, some other stuff, and had a lot of fun.
Other than that, there really isn't much else to report from São Paulo. I left two weeks ago tomorrow, and came to Rio. I really liked São Paulo, but I am glad I went there before here because Rio really is quite amazing. But São Paulo was great and I am glad I had some good experiences there. Next time I will finally get caught up with this blog.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Books
When I first arrived in São Paulo, I walked around the area I live and on the Avenida Paulista. It is a really pretty area and I liked living there. In doing all of this, I found a few bookstores. These were the best bookstores I had seen since being down here in South America. I found three that were really nice, tons of books, lots of books in English, and lots of places to sit down and read. I thought I was in heaven.
One work day was a holiday, and after walking around for a while on Paulista, I went to one of these bookstores. It is the biggest bookstore in Brazil, supposedly. Not only does it have great books, but it also has music that you can sample, which meant that I could listen to Capital Inicial (Brazilian band), U2's latest album, and Coldplay's latest stuff. Well, at least 30 or 40 seconds worth of each song. :) I have the U2 and Coldplay stuff, but did not bring my iPod.
So that day, I sat down and started reading a book. I figured that this was ok and even encouraged because they have a million places to sit. I started reading The Phantom of the Opera, which I have wanted to read for a few years now. I went home for lunch, and then came back in the evening. I can't remember if I read Phantom that night too, but I read Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde that night. It was short, and it was a great book! I really liked it.
The next night I came back to read more of Phantom. It is pretty silly, but I went to the bookstore four days in a row. I would come after work and hang out for an hour or two. One day I got pretty close to finishing Phantom. That night I was sitting down and then I saw a guy come sit down next to me. He had a few books and my first thought was, no joke: this guy probably just comes to the bookstore and reads books for free. And then I realized how humorous and hypocritical that was; I was doing exactly that! I came to read books for free.
That night, I left Phantom on the table next to the chair where I was sitting. I returned the next night to finish it. I went to where the book usually was. There are a ton of little hard cover books in English at this one display area. I couldn't find the book. I searched all over and did not see it. I went to see if it was in another section and it was not there. So I got a few other books. I sat near where I was the night before, and noticed that there was a stack of books near one of the registers. The employee was standing there, and I saw the book near the bottom of the pile! I was so happy. When he turned around, I went over, acted as if I were looking at books in the shelf next to the stack, and then slowly slid out the book. Ridiculous. I finished it that night, and really enjoyed it.
In another bookstore, I saw a book that I had seen in the states and wanted to buy, but hadn't. It is called The Lost City of Z, about a British explorer searching in the Amazon for a lost civilization. I had seen the book in this bookstore before, but couldn't find it. I looked all over. I picked up The Thirty Nine Steps, and started reading it. I looked up after a while and saw this girl, who had the book! I wanted to grab it out of her hands. I didn't know where she found it, but I found it at another bookstore and read it there. All of the books I read in these stores were great. The Thirty Nine Steps was great, as was The Valley of Fear. And The Lost City of Z, definitely worth reading. I eventually bought some things from these stores, so it wasn't complete free riding.
Here in Rio I have seen a few, but not like those in São Paulo. Oh, by the way, I am in Rio now. My blog is like a month behind, but with internet access here every day at school, I am catching up.
Just the other day I was checking out some stores downtown. This guy had a camera and came up to me to see if I would be interested in having my picture taken in the bookstore. I said sure, and did my best to look really studious and serious. I was pulling random books off the shelf, slightly squinting my eyes, trying to tighten my jaw. It was pretty fun. But I should have asked him to tell me what they were for or at least to send me the pictures. Oh well, maybe I will see them on some illiteracy billboard or something.
Anyway, it has been a great summer for many reason, and one of them is that I have been able to read a lot. I finished Les Miserables last night and I think I cried one tear at the end. It was that good, and the ending was so bitter sweet. It was a great book. Next post I will get back to some of the other things I was up to in São Paulo.
One work day was a holiday, and after walking around for a while on Paulista, I went to one of these bookstores. It is the biggest bookstore in Brazil, supposedly. Not only does it have great books, but it also has music that you can sample, which meant that I could listen to Capital Inicial (Brazilian band), U2's latest album, and Coldplay's latest stuff. Well, at least 30 or 40 seconds worth of each song. :) I have the U2 and Coldplay stuff, but did not bring my iPod.
So that day, I sat down and started reading a book. I figured that this was ok and even encouraged because they have a million places to sit. I started reading The Phantom of the Opera, which I have wanted to read for a few years now. I went home for lunch, and then came back in the evening. I can't remember if I read Phantom that night too, but I read Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde that night. It was short, and it was a great book! I really liked it.
The next night I came back to read more of Phantom. It is pretty silly, but I went to the bookstore four days in a row. I would come after work and hang out for an hour or two. One day I got pretty close to finishing Phantom. That night I was sitting down and then I saw a guy come sit down next to me. He had a few books and my first thought was, no joke: this guy probably just comes to the bookstore and reads books for free. And then I realized how humorous and hypocritical that was; I was doing exactly that! I came to read books for free.
That night, I left Phantom on the table next to the chair where I was sitting. I returned the next night to finish it. I went to where the book usually was. There are a ton of little hard cover books in English at this one display area. I couldn't find the book. I searched all over and did not see it. I went to see if it was in another section and it was not there. So I got a few other books. I sat near where I was the night before, and noticed that there was a stack of books near one of the registers. The employee was standing there, and I saw the book near the bottom of the pile! I was so happy. When he turned around, I went over, acted as if I were looking at books in the shelf next to the stack, and then slowly slid out the book. Ridiculous. I finished it that night, and really enjoyed it.
In another bookstore, I saw a book that I had seen in the states and wanted to buy, but hadn't. It is called The Lost City of Z, about a British explorer searching in the Amazon for a lost civilization. I had seen the book in this bookstore before, but couldn't find it. I looked all over. I picked up The Thirty Nine Steps, and started reading it. I looked up after a while and saw this girl, who had the book! I wanted to grab it out of her hands. I didn't know where she found it, but I found it at another bookstore and read it there. All of the books I read in these stores were great. The Thirty Nine Steps was great, as was The Valley of Fear. And The Lost City of Z, definitely worth reading. I eventually bought some things from these stores, so it wasn't complete free riding.
Here in Rio I have seen a few, but not like those in São Paulo. Oh, by the way, I am in Rio now. My blog is like a month behind, but with internet access here every day at school, I am catching up.
Just the other day I was checking out some stores downtown. This guy had a camera and came up to me to see if I would be interested in having my picture taken in the bookstore. I said sure, and did my best to look really studious and serious. I was pulling random books off the shelf, slightly squinting my eyes, trying to tighten my jaw. It was pretty fun. But I should have asked him to tell me what they were for or at least to send me the pictures. Oh well, maybe I will see them on some illiteracy billboard or something.
Anyway, it has been a great summer for many reason, and one of them is that I have been able to read a lot. I finished Les Miserables last night and I think I cried one tear at the end. It was that good, and the ending was so bitter sweet. It was a great book. Next post I will get back to some of the other things I was up to in São Paulo.
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