Colombia to Brazil

Early Morning Flight

I never seem to sleep well when I have an early morning flight. I know both John’s and my phone alarms are set, but still I worry.

John and I are already awake when our alarms go off at 3:15am.

The cab arrives quickly for our 4am departure from the hotel. John snaps his seatbelt on but on my seat, there is no entry clip to be found. Going to the airport is like being on Mr. Toads Wild Ride at Disneyworld. I wonder if there is a speed limit because we seem to be flying, which is quite concerning when not belted in. But the streets are deserted so there is nothing for our taxi driver to run into

The line up to check in for our 7am flight to Brazil is painfully slow as is security…and I need to go to the ladies room. Argh!

The food on this Avianca flight is equally as bad as the meal from the Avianca flight from Toronto to Bogota. A bland meat and cheese sandwich with no vegetarian option. I pull out the meat but still don’t manage to finish it. They also have a granola bar with nuts. Not so good if someone has allergies.

The flight is non-eventful and we get through immigration and baggage claim quickly upon arrival in Sao Paulo.

Arrival in Sao Paulo

Portuguese is the language of Brazil so our tourist Spanish is not going to be much help. But we do know “Obrigado” which is “Thank you”.

Sign above some men that says Say no to the clandestine Transportation Uber is illegal in Brazil. Right near the airport taxi booth is a big sign in Portuguese with the English translation underneath that says “Say no to the clandestine transportation”…under the sign are a number of men with cellphones that flash the word UBER … not so clandestine. We grab one of the authorized airport taxis.

It’s dull and rainy day in Sao Paulo or SP as its often called. SP is the largest city in Brazil and the largest city in South America. With a population of 22 million it is in the top ten biggest cities in the world.

As we drive into the city from the airport it is a sea of high-rise apartment buildings.

We pass many different areas on the way to our Airbnb apartment in Bela Vista area. It is pretty obvious which of these neighborhoods are the sketchy ones.

Most buildings are securely barred. There are a lot of homeless, some with tents and some just laying out under blankets or bags in the street.

Our Airbnb

A double bed beside a window looking out onto a deck area with a table and another floor to ceiling window Getting into our building is like getting into Fort Knox. A security guard questions us and then gives us cards to get us into the outside gate and inside door and keys to the apartment.

We are on the 19th floor in a nice studio bedroom with desk, tv, small couch and the bed. There is a tiny kichen with all the essentials. I am so looking forward to making my own meals…veggies!. And then we have a large separate eating/laundry area with floor to ceiling windows showing the endless horizon of buildings.

Reunion with Graham

Graham and John sitting a table with food in front of them
We picked this place because our son Graham lives nearby. He is in Sao Paulo studying at one of the universities until June. He is soon at our place. It is so good to see him.

We catch up and then go to his apartment where we meet one of his roommates. His apartment is nice and clean. I am thrilled to see the Canadian flag hanging in his window. His roommate seems really nice.

We leave his place and head for a grocery store. I love going to grocery stores in other countries…but that is the cook in me speaking. I cannot find canned black beans which I really want so we drop our groceries off and Graham and I head to another grocery store.

We all have a good home cooked meal with veggies back at the apartment.