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São Paulo is the economic center of Brazil. When São Paulo goes down, the whole country feels it. Last night, on the dot at midnight, our internet died. I cursed and went to bed, as the internet has been dicey for a few weeks now with super slow speeds at times.
We woke this morning to the news that the whole of São Paolo was down. News later came in that the downtime was statewide. Our internet downtime meant that everything was down. Think banks, police, airports, the works. On tv (great crime-prevention move there), they announced that no one was able to make official complaints at the police (what happened to paper and pen?) and the cops weren't able to release bodies from the morgue without internet (we needed to know that). Our news tonight tells us that Annatel, the governing 'body' for telecommunications in Brazil, is considering a R$50 million fine against Telkom if they can prove negligence. This should get interesting. Take a guess who'll eventually foot that bill... the users. Speaking of footing the bill. We just got the delightful news, too, that our electricity is going up by 8.26% next month. That should go down well.
Yesterday, we were out the whole day. We only got home at 9pm. Tat had a job in. I was really proud of her. She worked hard and performed well. The director, a crazy British guy, asked her why she hasn't considered going into acting. Born and raised South African, she has spoken Brazilian Portuguese fluently from shortly after we arrived here... without any hint of a foreign accent. For yesterday's work, she had to do a huge section in an American accent, then follow up with a section using a British accent. According to the director, she is authentic. Not bad for a kid who's never been to either the USA or Britain. She just listens to the accent and replicates it. That is some talent.
This photo was taken of Tat in the studio a couple of years back. I don't take the camera in there anymore.
Now I need to catch up with some mail. 'Someone' apparently put the internet on hold for us, but forgot to stop mail while I was down ; )
São Paulo is designed, to me, in a strange manner. In the center of the city is Sê Cathedral - literally, the center. All distances in the city are measured from this cathedral. Whatever road you're on, the numbering of the property is based on the distance from this cathedral. The lowest number on the road is the end closest to the cathedral. Properties here aren't numbered, as such, but go according to their size, so you are number 1234 on XYZ road based on the fact that your front door is 1234 meters away from the end of the road closest to the cathedral.
For more Picture Perfect or to join in the fun, go here.
What a morning. We left home just after 5am to head into town to Poupa Tempo, the govt offices where Tat was to renew her RG. It was drizzly, tiny droplets of rain floating and dancing, never really hitting the ground, landing gracefully and soaking everything they touched. In the light of the street lamps, the overhead wires looked as though they were beaded with diamonds. We were about to take a photo when the bus arrived. The bus was packed with steaming bodies... shouted conversations, the bus conductor playing with cell phone tunes, a girl singing along to some private tune on her mp3 player. We swayed and bumped along as light crept almost imperceptably into the sky.
The fresh air as we got off the bus was delightful. A group of elderly folk in white with perky white caps were doing some form of slow movement... not sure if it was Tai Chi. The walk to Poupa Tempo was uneventful. We chatted and laughed, glorying in the fresh, cool air. At Poupa Tempo, we got into the queue to get the number to be in the queue - yes, confusing. We wanted to take photos of their fascinating old/new light fittings. These things were huge, very antiquey with flourescent lightbulbs in them. Needing permission from the building admin, we decided against it. When Tat's turn finally came, we were somewhat dismayed to find that hers wasn't an ordinary case. She has to choose her nationality... and no one really knew what the next step was, but we could find out at a 'cartorio'. The cartorio's are basically clerical offices set up as middle men between the public and the government offices. Just another link in the chain... just another palm to cross. The cartorio was going to open in around 2 hours. Nothing else is open in the city before 9am - Brazilians aren't early birds.
We set out to wander around Sé. Sé is a mostly-paved semi-park fronting São Paulo's main cathedral. The Sé metro station runs below. Sé is in the heart of the city, it's center. All city measurements are taken from this point. We took a photo of a gorgeous rain sprinkled rose, then crossed over to another garden, where we took photos of some really interesting flowers. A little further along, I took photos of some shattered safety glass on a 'bridge' going over the pond. We caught sight of some fragile plants with dainty bell-like flowers. I took a few photos and handed the camera to Tat. As I handed the camera over, her cell phone rang. In that split second when we both looked down to the cell phone, a 'wind' blew past. We were robbed. I say, 'a wind', as the bridge was empty. It was a big bridge and wide... there was not a soul to be seen other than the two youths over head in another 'pond' taking their early morning bath. It took a second to register what had happened. Tat was on the ball. She dropped the umbrella she was carrying and gave chase... yelling for anyone to catch the thief. I think this guy could have given Road Runner a run for his money. I have never seen anyone run like that. They look in the wrong places for Olympic athletes. I followed as fast as I could, but I'm not exactly built for high speed chase. Two other men joined Tat in the chase. The cops and security guards we passed just looked on.
The chase got to where the area was very dicey. My hot-headed, impulsive daughter finally stopped, thankfully. There were two cops on the corner. One kept muttering about not being able to leave the car and the other said, "Don't worry! I'll get on my white horse and chase the scoundrel down!" Ok, not quite in those words. He ran off. I think he must have fallen somewhere. He was still dapper when he returned, but obviously hurting. He was totally bewitched by Tatiana. After radioing a bulletin to the other cops in the area, he very 'officially' took down Tat's details, interspersing his assurances about catching the criminal with "I wish I had eyes like yours" and "You're very pretty" (how does she do it... even when she looks a wreck, she attracts them!). I suggested she autograph a photo for him ; )
Around that time, Tat's two fellow-chasers came back. They lost the thief in the bus terminus. It was assumed that the thief got on one of the buses. What astounded us was that these two were homeless men and they were angry! We thanked them profusely for their efforts. They went off swearing that if they caught the thief, they would make him pay. We made our way, slowly, back up to the scene of the crime. There, we found one of the chasers talking to a woman, also homeless. She was ranting that thieves like that bring a slur on them, as they don't steal. When they spotted us, they went on about what they would do if they caught him. I guess they have their own justice system.
We left the area and headed to the bus to go home, a little heavier in heart than when we arrived. Tat's documents could wait for another day. The lesson? Not that we should be more careful when going into town. That is a given. That boy stole to get a pitance with which he could buy his next bottle of glue - or he stole to 'pay' an older person... a controller. He was skilled at his 'art', probably having done that since he was barely out of his mother's arms, if he spent any time in his mother's arms at all. Then there was the two homeless men who helped give chase. They had nothing to gain from helping, though on hindsight, I think there was a reward expected. I think, though, that they chased because they saw a crime committed on their 'turf'. Yes, we learnt a lot about humanity and our perceptions of people this morning. As for me, the material loss is not welcome, but when I watched my child running, and sometimes losing sight of her - it was a long distance - I feared something happening to her. I cannot begin to describe the relief when I finally met up with her again and could put my arms around her. Life is precious.
They say you should be careful what you wish for. We have been wishing for rain and boy... did we get rain?! São Paulo is flooded again. This time, it is on our end of the city. These buses are stuck outside some slums... it is the bus route we would usually take to get home. Those buses have to cross that 'river' to get to where we live. There is no other route into the city. The photo here shows the same slums as the ones in the top photo here. The 'river' you see here is actually the road running in front of those slums.
The photo below is of another major road we would have to cross to get home. I'd say it is rather damp. We got 80mm (3 inches) of rain in around half an hour this afternoon. Our cousins are flooded. They're camping on the second story of their house. Downstairs is a muddy river.
4 People (to my knowledge) have died in this flood and 15 000 are without homes. This kind of rain is normal for this time of the year. Getting so much in one day isn't all that normal though. This month, we have had 217mm (8.5 inches) of rain so far.
We were meant to go into town tomorrow to sort out Tat's voter's registration and ID card. She turns 18 on Tuesday and will then have to vote and needs a new ID. Apparently, the rains aren't over. There will be more thunder showers tomorrow and Sunday, with an easing off for Monday and Tuesday, so we'll see what gives.
It was a stormy week in other ways too. The family here has been stressy. We're waiting on payments from big corporations from as far back as October last year. It's always the little guys that get shelved. Their excuse is that they're missing two signatories. They need six in total to be able to pay contractors. What's with that? I bet their utilities are paid. Makes me so angry. I hate that this kind of thing always happens before a special occasion. Tat is in for a very quiet birthday again. Dang!
Then there is my friend, Felicity. She was given her prognosis for her tumor - it is the worst kind, grade 4, inoperable and aggressive. The doctor, bless his sensitive soul, told her that she has a year. She's amazing though. She's positive and cheerful, or at the very least, determined to be positive and cheerful. It's going to be a rough road for them. Her husband is in a new job and can't take off work, so she's alone at home.
Ah well... let me get to bed. I have been going to bed between 2 and 4am every night lately. It's adding up. It is once again 2am. I think my biological clock has packed up and left home.
São Paulo is the biggest city in the southern hemisphere, with more than 13 million inhabitants. The Region of the Great São Paulo has more than 20 million inhabitants. This video was taken from a helicopter. The palatial building you will see is the Ipiringa Museum. The large tract of green that comes a little later is Ibirapuera Park. It looks large, but in relation to the size of the city, is small. To give you an idea of size, we don't live right on the edge of the city and, to get to the park, I'd need to take three buses. Time taken to get there would be about 2,5 hours.
It's traditional here.... rain over the New Year and tradition has stood us proud yet again. Ok, for half the city it has. Watch the video and weep with me... not a drop of that rain has fallen here!!! We are still hot and sweaty and sticky. Granted, I don't wish the flooding on anyone, but if we could at least get a little of that. Our skies here are clear and, yes, it is the same city. The temperature has been around 35°C (95°F). The rains you see here have fallen in the area where we used to live two years ago. I'm rather glad we're not there anymore. That house leaked so badly, we'd have to bail ship every time.
I often speak of 'going to the village' or 'going into town'. It has occurred to me that there are a lot of misconceptions in those two phrases, especially to those who are fairly new to my friends list. Where I live is by no means a 'village' and 'town' is something of a misnomer.
I live in a neighbourhood called Vila Zelina. It holds the Lithuanian community of São Paulo. Vila Zelina is situated on the outskirts of the city. I call it the village more because of its atmosphere. The village is centered around the square (it's round) and the church. Though there are many churches and denominations here, this Catholic church is known as 'a igreja' or 'the church'. The houses are built on top of each other much like all São Paulo suburbs, but there are fewer apartment blocks. In the slide show, you'll see a couple of photos of how we look down on the neighbouring suburbs. We're very high up here, which is a good thing in terms of all the rain Brazil is capable of.
São Paulo, the city itself, is another story. Vila Zelina is in São Paulo. São Paulo is the financial center of Brazil. It consists of the central city and outlying municipalities, altogether known as the greater São Paulo. The greater São Paulo has a population of around 20 million. When I speak of going into town, I mean going into the São Paulo city center. Sê is the heart of São Paulo. All streets are numbered and named from that point. The edges of the greater São Paulo extend up to a radius of 30km (18 miles) from that central point. That is a lot of people to squeeze into that area! Our traffic jams here are measured in kilometers. Tonight the backed up traffic totalled to 197km (122 miles). This city is Big!
I hope this gives you all a better idea of the world I live in and why I often speak of going into town as though it's a major adventure.
