The Christmas intermezzo was a little too brief. My aunt picked me up early from the New Orleans airport. We made a stop at one of her friend’s houses whose husband had just died a few days earlier. After, we headed across the lake where she put me up for a few days as I celebrated the holidays with my family; sharing the gifts I had got them from every corner of the world.
One of my favorite memories of this time is when I did a Thai candy tasting with my 7-year-old nephews and twenty-something cousin and his wife. Like fine wine, we sampled these exotic treats, then gave our opinions about them. It was lovely.
I was able to get a ride to a Walmart to pick up some things for A as my car was still in storage and a single solitary tear formed as I saw all the wonderful and cheap items one could buy, even guns.
And then, just like that, I was being brought back to Louis Armstrong International Airport where I got on a plane and flew to Orlando on my way to Brazil. When I was waiting in line for a second round of security checks, I noticed something interesting. There was a family in front of me with two sleepy looking kids. I thought nothing of it. It was here that the TSA officer took the father’s ID then the mother’s. The the officer asked the children how old they were and their parent’s names. Then it clicked. Neither the TSA officer nor myself knew if this was a real family. Given the fact that Orlando was a haven for families with young children, thanks to Disney World and other amusement parks, this was an attractive sport for another more insidious type of person. The TSA agent was performing a child trafficking check.
I went to sleep as soon as I got on the plane, and thanks to some Vitamin Z, and was able to wake up right before I landed in São Paulo. I got my bag rather easily, found a bench in the baggage claim and took a nap for two hours after securing all my bags. I was waiting for A who was scheduled to arrive later. After I woke up and still no A, I hesitantly flipped on my iPod to get some internet. I only had an hour of free internet and still needed to get an Uber.
As I sat there, I thought about the history of this new country I was in. With Portugal already colonizing parts of Africa with their naval might in the late 15th Century, it was during this time that the Spanish, forged in the crucible of blood and war of the Reconquista of their peninsula after 700 years of Moorish domination began setting their sites on a new trade route to Asia. It is then that a young upstart Genovese addressed the court of Isabelle and Ferdinand and the rest was soon history.
In 1494, two years after Columbus’s fateful voyage across the ocean blue, the Treaty of Tordesillas divided the new lands outside of Europe between Spain and Portugal under the authority of the Pope. I imagine this was to keep the two greatest colonial powers of the era from going to war. The demarcation was 370 leagues (a horizontal measurement, not a vertical, Mr. Jules Verne) West of the Cape Verde Islands off the African Coast. The lands East of the demarcation would be Portugues while the lands West were Spanish. This allowed Portugal to claim the largest land mass in South America, the country that would be called Brazil.
I got a message from A saying that she had missed her connecting flight in Santiago from Lima and would need to stay in the airport for the night. Poor baby.
I caught an Uber, then headed to the hospedaje. São Paulo and Brazil was not the torrid, poor hellscape I was expecting from the films, books, and video games I had seen. It was lush, green, and very modern. I arrived at my destination an hour later. The proprietress, a 5′ 4″ blonde haired, blue eyed Paulista named Katia said my room was not ready and I needed to come back in a little bit. I left my bags and headed out to lunch. I found a small Italian restaurant, and did my best divination of what I wanted given I did not speak the language. I think I did alright ordering a beer and some spaghetti.
I went back and with my room being ready, I got the tour of the place, took a shower, then took a nap. As I knew we would be needing some goods, I headed down the street to a super market. It was overwhelming, like a Brazilian super Walmart. Everything and anything one would need was here. It was also kind of funny how the checkout girl was trying to have a conversation with me in Portuguese, asking if I were a card carrying special member of the store’s shopper club. Or something like that. I just shrugged my shoulders and smiled.
I walked back to the hospedaje and had a beer while I met the hostel cats. I started cooking dinner and noticed that a family of 15 just showed up speaking Spanish, including two loud children under 5 with saggy diapers. I was quite concerned as there was only one male bathroom in the place.
I cooked up some of my Santiago Special in honor of A being stuck there. I then went to my room, watched some TV, and helped A check in for her flights for the next day, then went to bed. It was a first good day in Brazil.
Woke up on New Years Eve day and just kind of hung around while I waited for A. I watched The Expanse, went shopping for shampoo back at that mega store, and did some end-of-the-year client work. I got a message from A saying that she would be a little delayed again. I took this time to walk over to a place known as Independence Park after lunch. It was a really cool place with large Brazilian flags and monuments, but the big attraction was a large paved hill that people were using as a skate ramp like it was a ski slope. It was nice watching kids and adults alike enjoying themselves.
I headed back to the hospedaje and a few minutes later, A arrived. She had a huge backpack, and was wearing the Defend New Orleans shirt I gave her. It was great to see her. Apparently, she befriended a couple at the airport from Peru that had the same problem of cancellations and delays she did and hung out with them. After she set down her bags, she wanted to take a shower as she had been traveling for three days. Afterwards, we both got very sleepy.
After we woke up, we went out to get some food and booze, but unfortunately, everything was closed. As we dejectedly walked away from the mega store, a family that was having a party saw us and asked what was going on. A had taken her Christmas break to learn Portuguese and told the family that we needed some alcohol. The matriarch invited us to attend their party, but we declined. One of the gentlemen there asked if he could drive us to the metro station. I looked at A and gave her a slight head shake. She either didn’t see it or ignored it and jumped into the guy’s jeep. I stood and looked at her. Apparently, she did not know my rule about not accepting rides from strangers in foreign countries. The guy’s wife or girlfriend jumped in the front seat, so I felt a little better. I acquiesced and got in. On the ride over, A was chatting away while I was making mental notes about where we were. A few minutes later, we were dropped off at the metro station and said our goodbyes. We got our tickets and headed to the station.
On our way to Paulista Avenue, the main thoroughfare of the city, I told A that what we just did made me incredibly uncomfortable. I said that we need to be careful because we are obviously targets. I reminded her about what happened on the bus to Paracas. She said she never thought about it and agreed. It was our first “discussion” as a traveling couple.
We happened on a street with a few open kiosks for food and made use of them as we were both hungry. We then found a Carrefour, an international supermarket where, apparently, all of São Paulo had the same idea that they needed booze. We waited in line for an hour buying rum and coke, then headed back to the hospedaje.
When we returned we mixed up our drinks then headed to the balcony overlooking the city. Katia was having a dinner party with friends and it was here I was introduced to the Brazilian custom of greeting the new year dressed completely in white. We all got along splendidly with Katia sharing some of her food with us and we sharing some of our drinks with her friends. We were all out on the balcony when the clock ticked down to midnight.
I always loved new years, even as a kid. It was exciting to stay up late, watching movies, have a small glass of champagne, then playing video games until the sun rose. As I grew, I liked the aspect of starting over. And this year, I felt especially happy at new beginnings. I had a feeling that 2020 was going to be one for the books!
I kissed A and the fireworks ensued. It reminded me of when I was in Buenos Aires in 2009 rolling over to 2010. So many explosions that would last into the night. It was definitely a night and a year to fulfill some bucket list items. After the party, A and I got very tired and went to bed.
We got up really late the next day and headed out. Again everything was closed so that limited our options. We then decided to head back down to Paulista Avenue and have a look around. Since it was a holiday, the entire avenue was closed to traffic and it seemed like the entire city was out and about. It was here that I began fulfilling my boyfriend duties of taking pictures of A in cute poses on the street for Instagram. After the photoshoot, we took a little walk around the city and got some lunch with some much needed beer.
We headed back to the hospedaje and promptly took a nap. After we woke up, we started talking about future plans. I went and cooked us dinner while she fixed me drinks, which was lovely. We stayed up late trying to figure out the best way to get to Foz Do Iguaçu. We decided the option that made the most sense and for our budget was to take a cheap flight to a small town called Cascavel and grab a bus to Foz. We went to bed after that.
The next day we got up, had breakfast, then headed back down to the megastore to buy food for our journey. We then went back to Paulista Avenue again for a walking tour. It wasn’t that memorable except our female guide told us about a Japanese cultural center that had a bidet. Apparently, that was the highlight of her visit. She also showed us the first McDonald’s in São Paulo, which was a very big deal.
After the tour, we stopped at a bar where were had a caipirinha. For those not in the know, a caipirinha is one of the national drinks of Brazil. Like the Cuban Mojito only without the mint, the ingredients of a classic caipirinha are lime juice, simple syrup, and cachaça, a spirit distilled from Brazilian sugar cane. We had a few variations on a theme as caipirinhas acted like chameleons with the plentiful fruits available in this native land.
This was some well-needed lubrication as A wanted to introduce me to her uncle that lived in São Paulo with his family. So, we hopped an Uber and headed to the bus station. Not because they were coming in on a bus, but the family business was running a tour company that would take Brazilians on a four day bus ride to to Lima.
Now, just to reiterate, many places in South America are considered developing nation. As such, even though there are many different low cost airlines, this mode of travel is out of reach for a lot of people. So, buses are the answer. And are just as good, if not better than business class seats on a plane.
Anyway, I met the uncle, some cousins, and eventually the aunt and the cousin’s boyfriend. Everyone seemed really nice. We then went out to a Brazilian steakhouse for dinner. The meal started off with a large beer in a formfitting Styrofoam cooler that then magically turned into 10 more. We got some appetizers and split them amongst everyone at the table. We all seemed to get along, which was a big load off of A that could be a tad neurotic at times. After dinner, we said our goodbyes and jumped in an Uber back to the hospedaje. It was on the ride that A told me she loved me. Now, I know better than to take someone’s word after they have been hitting the sauce, so instead of saying anything, I just leaned in and kissed her. We got back and went to bed.
The following day, we got up then headed to the Old City for a walking tour. It was very nice and there was lots of good information. Apparently, the Brazilian coffee trade started in 1830 and made many people very, very rich. As well as very, very poor. The world being incredibly small, there was a young lady wearing a T-shirt of my alma mater. So I asked her why she was wearing it. Apparently she was there for a year abroad. It was good to see someone doing something that had such a formative impact on my life. We then went into the main cathedral to look around, but A decided to take a seat in a pew because she thought she would burst into flames. On the tour, we were told that the priests that maintained the church had a brewery, so I tried to find the bar. Much to the delight of the nun at the information kiosk, she said that the church had no bar, but I could buy some of the holy libation at any bar within walking distance.
Instead, on our way home, A and I opted for a few caipirinhas. We got back to the room where I did some work while A entertained herself. We then had some dinner which was tuna and onions, which made me gag a little. A thought it was very funny and we ended up laughing about it all night.
The next day, our adventure would continue to Foz Do Iguaçu.