Skunk River

So, I kind of cheated and changed the date of this post. It isn't really 10/15, it is actually 10/27. I just didn't want it to seem like I haven't written in over a month. But, in reality, I haven't.

This post is going to be about my trip to São Paulo. Well, actually my trip to an Alphaville just outside of São Paulo.

SP is a huge metropolis in the southern half of Brazil. It has over 18 million people! (New York has 8). Gustavo and I went there to visit his aunt and uncle that live in Alphaville (a.k.a. richpeopleville) His uncle is a veterinarian. But not just a veternarian...oh no, he is veterinarian to the stars! So, he is rollin' in the dough. They have plasma TVs in just about every room in the house, no kidding.

Being in alphaville/SP actually reminded me a lot about the States. The houses were larger and there were modern conviences such as microwaves, dishwashers and George Foreman grills. And, his aunt reminded me a lot of my mom. She is very talkative and friendly and made delicious food. She made sushi one night, we had a barbeque the next (the Brazilian kind remember) and then yummy garlic fish. It was great.

Nothing really eventful happened there. Except what I whitnessed at Uncle Sergio's birthday party. I was absolutely appalled! We all gathered around to sing "parabens para você" and to cut the beautiful pineapple and orange cake. After the candles were all blown out and wishes were made, the host began serving the beautiful dessert. However, when she dished it out, she trimmed the frosting off of the sides of the cake! What?? And! No one stopped this atrocity. I actually watched in horror as people threw their frosting into the garbage. In my family, we do not waste buttercream deliciousness. It is a delicacy. There are fights over who gets the big, sugary flowers and the excess frosting that sticks to the knife. Not in Brazil, apparently. I prayed that night that my sister and dad would never have to witness what I just had.

The rest of the trip was spent visiting with family. I actually got up the nerve to talk in front of a large group. I must say that I really love Brazilians. They make me feel so proud of my portuspanglish. I said one sentence and the room went nuts. They were applauding me on my ability to speak like a 2 year old. They really know how to make a girl feel good :-)

There is a park that is in front of "old São Paulo". It was the first place settled. I really enjoyed that because it was like a timeline of the major events of the colonization of Brazil. That's what all these pictures are. This last one is of an old colonial church. I think it is out-of-this-world gorgeous.

I almost forgot. You probably wonder why I named the post skunk river? Well, there is a river that runs right through SP. It is huge. And it STINKS! Seriously, I have never smelled anything like it. I wish there was a way to attach the smell to this blog, but I think that would be a crime. It is so poluted. Brazil has spent billions of dollars trying to clean it, but can't because it is so out of control. Good thing Captain Planet will be graduating soon!

The end.