Back in Sao Paulo!

When I took on my current job, I was told that travel would be an important part of it. It took a while for me to get my travel papers in order but I finally got that done on my trip to Canada over the summer. So I was ready to hit the road… er the air.
Work took me back to Sao Paulo a couple weeks ago. A bit of visa drama later I showed up at our SP office in the middle of the financial district of the city, groggy and ready to take on the week. After sleeping through most of the afternoon meetings and going to bed at 8pm, I was alright for the rest of the week.

This time, my trip was zero touristy and 100% work. But more interesting to me was to compare and contrast the Brazil of 2009 with what I saw this time. If it is possible, there are more cars on the road and the traffic gridlock is frustrating… makes you wonder how people drive at all. I remember taking the underground train last time but most ppl I spoke to at the office there seemed to think of public transport as a non-option. As the host of the World Cup and the Olympics later, I sincerely hope SP does something about the traffic and the stress its people undergo in their daily commute.

The trip was not without its share of adventure though! While being on the 31^st floor office for the week had its perks by way of gorgeous views (read daydreaming fodder during meetings), a fire drill in the middle of the week had us walking down all 31 floors. Without lunch.

It was great being back and re-familiarizing myself with the little observations I had the first time around. I was once again struck by how much like India Brazil looks and feels – though perhaps cleaner. I’m pretty sure I’ll be going back again and hopefully next time I’ll be able to take a couple days off to visit Rio.

Caipirinha count on this trip = zero

Fresh fruit count = insert some large number here (happy me!)

Longest car trip on SP roads = 4hours

View from our office in SP

Butter cookies I couldn't get enough of