Tour of Sao Paulo

Global Interns in front of a mural in Ibiquera Park

On Tuesday all the interns went on a guided all day tour of Sao Paulo City. The city is very big so we hopped on a bus and saw the sights. It was interesting driving through more of the city. When I was researching Sao Paulo in anticipation of my trip I imagined it as a giant Manhattan with skyscrapers everywhere. That is not the case. Most of the city is very poor and although there are a lot of buildings (as evident by the pictures I post further in the post) most of the buildings are not that tall. There are plenty of beautiful sights but there are also plenty of areas you wouldn't want to walk alone in. Here are the highlights.

Catedal de Se

Built in the 1920s

Outside the cathedral in front of what is considered the center of the city

Icon of St. Paul, saint of Sao Paulo, in the cathedral

Mercado Municipal

We stopped at the market for lunch. This used to be where citizens bought their produce and food but it has since been renovated and turned into a sort of posh hangout. We had lunch at a cafe on the mezzanine and afterwards we walked around taking in all the food.

For lunch I had pastel, or deep fried pocket filled with a variety of things. This one is filled with dried meat and cheese. All the girls ate this and the boys tried the mortadella sandwiches. I know, you must think all I do in Brazil is eat. That's because all I do in Brazil is eat.

For dessert I found cocada queimada. It was basically a ball of shaved coconut with carmelized sugar binding it together. Quite tasty.

We went up in the second tallest building in Sao Paulo to get a great panaramic view of the city. Surprisingly, the tallest building is only 35 floors. The building is on a hill so that adds to the height but it is still a dwarf compared to the skyscrapers of Chicago.

Lastly we headed to the Morumbi Stadium, home of the Sao Paulo soccer team. I learned very quickly that soccer is central to Brazilian culture, probably moreso than religion. I feel like in every conversation I have someone brings up soccer and I am starting to know the teams and the jokes and stereotypes that go with them. The plan is to make it to a game before we leave town in a month.

International Sao Paulo interns

Tough girls

And that is the end of the tour! It was so generous of them to set this up for us and let us get a glimpse of the city before we began the real work. We hope to go to some of the museums here and to the restaurants closer to the city centre (I'm on the southeast side of the city) but it seems like our bucket list of what we need to do before leaving keeps getting longer as our time here gets shorter.