first impressions and experiences in Sao Paulo

So after having fought the swine flu and my first live experiences of the Brazilian healthcare system and medicines on my own body it was time for my first couchsurfing experience in Sao Paulo. I slept on the couch of Juliano, a young recently graduated Brazilian dentist. He lives next to Avenida Paulista, the principal avenue in the center of Sao Paulo. His apartment is in a luxurious building in the 35th floor. There is a gym, an outside and a heated inside pool, whirlpools, sauna and everything you may desire in the building. This can be quite welcome in Brazilian winter nights which as you can see in the picture above can be quite cold with 13 degrees celsius. (okay for an austrian who is sometimes happy when it has 13 degress in summer that's a joke but nevertheless i liked it)
Well this is one reality of Brazil and I am keane on getting to know the other side of it. I like couchsurfing more and more and it will still be very helpful on my journey through real Brazilian life.
Juliano was a really kind and friendly host like I am used to know it from Brazilians. He showed me around in the center, gave me some really helpful tips and even went with me the next day to show me my way to work and how to take the bus to go there.





The skyline of Sao Paulo is really impressing by night and by day. It is similar to the one in New York. This might be the reason why the call Sao Paulo the New York of Latin America. Although you can see by day that the buildings are older and not so well preserved like in the US-American metropole it does not lose in on it. Nevertheless I am starting to like Sao Paulo. I still have to localize me and find my way to this huge city. Unfortunately the public transport system is really far away from European standards and it can take you quite a while to go from A to B by bus or metro. So I will have to look for couchsurfing hosts who live in neighbourhood districts of my work in order to not having to travel one hour or even more in the morning. My first work day will be the 17th of August which leaves me still some time to get to know this conglomerate of millions of buildings, people and cars.
Yesterday I was invited to the house of my friend to eat the famous Brazilian dish feijoada (for more information see the brazilian food section of my blog) I really enjoyed it but also came to the conclusion that I will have to find a gym soon in order to fight the calories of the huge amounts of delicious Brazilian food I am enjoying every day.
So my next two missions are:
1) find a new CS home proximate to work (if possible with the option to stay longer)
2) find a gym with a reasonable price and also proximate to work
See my next entry for a report on my mission progress!