Sao Paulo

Upon arrival, I quickly realized that Sao Paulo is a huge city. For a taxi from the bus station to the hostel in one of the outlying neighborhoods was $25, and was about 15 kilometers away. I met an Aussie guy named Travis and we decided to walk around the city a little. We went to a building where you can ride an elevator to the top and see the whole city from 36 stories high. I didn´t realize just how big Sao Paulo was until I got up there and in every direction as far as the eye can see it´s all city. Imagine if Cumming to Fayetteville and Lawrenceville to Douglasville was all skyscrapers and that is Sao Paulo. It´s almost impossible to drive from one end of the city to the other during the day the traffic is so bad and the distance so far. It truly is almost its own small country. After the tower Travis called a friend, Carol, who lives in Sao Paulo to meet up and she invited us for lunch with her sister at a very sophisticated cafe. I got salmon salad and we all ate very nice meals and then Carol picked up the check! Her younger sister showed us around the city for a few hours and I got some goods pictures. That night we met up with her coworkers for happy hour because she was leaving the company and they were celebrating, then we went to a couple of popular bars where all the young hip people hang out. It reminded me alot of Virginia Highlands, but I didn´t bring my camera so I didn´t gt pics. Last night we met up again and had a few drinks then she showed us her apartment which she shares with her sis and we hit up a club called Energy. It was $20 per person to get in (40 reis) and she paid for all of us and our drinks.

When I first met Carol and her sis Carmilla, Carol was dressed in a suit, so I knew she was some type of business person. Sao Paulo is very sophisticated compared to other pats of Brasil, it´s the financial center and most people come here to make money. She told me she was a lawyer and so I thought she was fairly well off. Then, as we talked she told me she makes 12,000 reis per year ($6,000 dollars) and I almost passed out. Brazil is so expensive I could barely survive here on $40K a year, and I wonder how she lives on $6K! It makes me so sad that her rent is mroe than she makes and so her and her sister have to split rent with their dad in order to make ends meet, and she considers herself middle to upper class. I just kept thinking over and over, it´s very good that she doesn´t know how much wealth there is in America. The nicest clubs in Sao Paulo are around $20 cover charge and the inside looks like a college bar (which they consider very classy). When I explained that our clubs are 20,000 square feet with plasma screens, designer furniture and lighting, and multiple bars she didn´t understand. It´s just so different. I had a blast last night with Carol and Travis at Energy listening to House music and dancing and when we left the club the sun was already up.

It´s very overwhelming now that I´ve finally realized the situation that exists in these countries. So many people are highly educated and make less than a highschool graduate in America. I want to repay her to thank her for showing me around for 2 days and it´s very humbling to know that our country is truly the land of opportunity and that I am blessed to be able to afford my extremely cushy lifestyle. Being around a country of people who struggle daily to make enough money to buy food motivates me to increase my wealth and share the wealth I have already. After talking with Carol´s friends, I wished for the first time I was rich so I could give money to all of them.

I am catching an 11 hour bus to Florianopolis, but I can´t stay too long because then I´m off to Iguazu then rushing to Rio to meet Brad and Mike.