new impressions and experiences

One week ago Marcelo, Aninha and I made a trip to Campos do Jordao which is considered to be the favourite winter holiday destination of the rich and famous in Brazil. It is located in 1628m of altidude in the mountains of the state Sao Paulo. The architecture of the city is similar to the one in a typical village in the swiss alps. There is an old bonde (tramway) which connects the two parts of the city Cristovao and Capivari. A very fascinating experience was the teleferico (chairlift) which carries you up the Morro de Elefante (Elephant mountain). It is like a chairlift which the Austrians of you know from skiiing, only that there is no snow;) (see foto) Campos do Jordao is said to be the coldest city in the state of Sao Paulo. But when Brazilians feel cold we Austrians still wear t-shirts and are sweating;)
Summarizing the trip was really great and we had a lot of fun and enjoyed great food and the famous BadenBaden Beer in a quite familiar atmosphere.







Of course I already enjoyed the sun and a marvelous beach in Caraguatatuba (Massaguacu Beach) I am just posting this pic to make you a little bit jealous ;)




On the 13th of August we celebrated my birthday in Sao Paulo in an Irish Pub which is called O'Malleys near metro station Consolacao. I can only recommend this place. It has fantastic imported beer, there is always a live band playing and a really nice and friendly attending. I celebrated with 2 friends of my apartment and FRIX a crazy Philippinan guy I met here in Sao Paulo at the first CS meeting.



By the way the CS meeting last week was absolutely awesome. There were more than 150 people (the majority Brazilians but also some gringos got lost in Sao Paulo and found there way to the meeting) I got to know some very interesting people and had some very nice conversations. It is really amazing how easy it is to make friends in Brazil. I tend to call this the Brazilian phenomenon. Not even one week in Sao Paulo has passed and the number of people I know here has almost trippeled. I had so many offers for partys and things to do on the weekend not even 5 people would have managed to fit all of this in their schedule. So it happens that the next 4 weekends to come are already planed out with trips and festas.

Before I forget my second mission to find a gym is already completed as well. I found one that meets my requirements and is 12min on foot from my apartment. So another thing less to worry about;)

Another interesting experience this week was to get to know Brazilian bureaucracy. In my opinion it should be spelled bureauCRAZY. I had to register my visum here in Brazil which turned out to be more complicated than just hand in a formular (like the nice lady in the Brazilian embassy in viena told me) I had to go to three different places to acquire some documents and pay an additional fee to the one I already paid in Austria. But nevertheless I have been successful and can now stay legally in Brazil for the rest of the time. The positive side of this experience is that I got to know the city better because I had to visit a lot of places which were quite far from each other and I got to know new people who shared the same faith with me. Like a polish girl, two germans, a Japanese and a Mexican guy. It was interesting to talk to them what they have experienced until now and the ones of us who live directly in Sao Paulo planed to meet each other for one or another beer. You can never know enough people in a big city like Sao Paulo ;) and you can never know enough people with which you can go out for a beer ;)

So tomorrow will be my first day of work! I am already quite curious how it is going to be. About I am not very curious is how it is going to be to go to work by crowded bus in a suit at about 27-30°C outside temperature. (and yes it is still winter here and the whole week in the morning it reached this temperature) So I think I am going to sweat a lot the next months;) What a lucky coincidence that I learned how to wash clothes the Brazilian way today ;)
Next time on my blog: Philipp's first week at the chamber of commerce in Sao Paulo! Check it out!