Last week my team at work met up in Sao Paulo, Brazil! I had never been to Brazil, or anywhere in South America before, so I was excited for the opportunity.
I left Sunday afternoon, and arrived home the following Sunday morning afternoon (more on that later). I arrived in Brazil on Monday morning, met by many team members who all came in around the same time. After a bit of a hiccup with my luggage (which I got eventually), we headed into the city!
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were work days. It was a great time with the team. We had some awesome discussions, did flash talks, and worked on small projects together. Honestly, it was one of the more productive meetups I’ve been on. In the evenings some of us played board games as well, which was a great way to spend time together.
One of my teammates used to live in Sao Paulo, and he planned out all of our meals. We went to some amazing restaurants! We went to a Brazilian Steakhouse (which is a really cool experience), an Italian pizza place (lots of Italian people in Sao Paulo), a Japanese place (also lots of Japanese people in Sao Paulo), and some other great spots with various traditional Brazilian dishes. He really gave us the full experience when it came to food!
On Friday we went out to do a bit of touring around. We went to the Butantan Institute, where they create snake anti-venoms and vaccines. There were lots of snakes there that we could see, including some boas which had climbed up the trees in their outdoor enclosure! We went to a lunch place with fresh fruit juices and great salads as well. We even saw little monkeys! They came to visit us while we were eating. Luckily, they kept their distance and didn’t try to steal our food.
On Saturday, everyone was flying out, but at all different times of the day. A few of us who were staying until the later evening decided to book a tour guide to take us around for the morning. It was really great! He explained a lot of things about the city. By population, it’s the largest in South America (population of 12+ million) and the 12th largest in the world. Turns out one of the main factors that fuelled the city’s growth was the coffee industry, and there are several historic buildings in the city which were the estates of “coffee barons”; people who owned coffee plantations. We even saw a McDonalds which was in an old coffee baron estate house!
We had been staying near a road called Paulista Avenue, which is the economic center of the city. It’s at a high point in the city, because historically the wealthier people wanted to live and work away from the rivers, which would flood occasionally. The tour guide also took us downtown, which had some neat streets, and an amazing cathedral which we visited.
There are some dangerous parts of the city, but having people around who knew the city well meant that we didn’t worry about winding up in the wrong part of town. It felt very safe.
Another highlight of the tour was the market. The fruit vendors would give out free samples of everything, I could hardly eat it fast enough to keep up. And the fruit was fresh and delicious. I don’t remember all of the different things I tried, but there were star fruit, dragonfruit, lychee fruit, and many more!
Another cool spot was Batman’s Alley, where we saw some amazing street art. It was starting to cloud over, and our tour guide was a bit worried about flooding, but we still had time to check out a bunch of the artwork before the rain started.
And finally, we went to the top of a museum which had some pretty great views of the city.
On the way home, my flight out of Sao Paulo was delayed, making me miss my connection to Halifax. I was rebooked automatically, but it meant that I got home several hours later than planned. It all worked out, though.
Except that when I got home, I discovered I had Covid! Symptoms started while I was in Brazil, but I tested negative. It held on, though, and several days after getting home I tested again and it was positive. I’ve only caught Covid twice, once in Australia, and once in Brazil. Apparently I’m only susceptible to Southern Hemisphere Covid!
Sickness aside, it was a really great trip. I’m thrilled to have finally visited Brazil, and am looking forward to going back sometime!
