Bem-vindo a São Paulo

The pualistanos, as the locals of São Paulo are called, tolerate the challenges of "a vida cotidiana" in a country that is undeniably developing. The ubiquitous slums (favelas) sitting among the homes of the rich and stretching across the hillsides are among the first sights you see driving into the city from the São Paulo-Garaulhos Airport. In many cases, these favelas are communities unto themselves, with their own identities and cultures of poverty. As the city passes by outside the window of your taxi en route to your hotel in Jardins or Consolação (most likely where you're staying if you are visiting from the U.S.), you'll see a confusing, chaotic mess of a city that is progressing forward yet struggling to come to terms with a significant gap between the rich and the poor.

This is my second time in São Paulo, and I felt far more overwhelmed this time than I had anticipated. Perhaps it was because I was traveling alone. Perhaps it was because I knew that I would be visiting parts of the city beyond the neighborhoods I knew well. Or perhaps it was the early morning taxi ride to the hotel after having survived a densely packed airport. Taking in the sites around me, I felt the enormous energy of the city and its peoples, but I also felt the weight of the city's enormous disparities.

Block after block, you see a peculiar mixture of concrete superstores, high rises, crumbling abandoned buildings, the "art" of spray painters everywhere, severe traffic congestion, buses packed like sardine cans, and uneven and often unfinished sidewalks.

Securely dropped off at the front entrance of my hotel on Rua Frei Caneca, I was greeted in English and quickly checked in to my room. The interior of the room looked like it was taken directly out of a catalog for an upscale modern boutique hotel in the U.S., jet tub included. When searching for accommodations online, this was among the "best" in terms of cheaper options, but it clearly would be out of range for most Brazilians at US$170 per night. To put that into perspective, a teacher nets, on average, US$400 per month, and employees of the hotel and restaurant industries average around US$150 per month. While my developed world privilege helps the local economy, my spending unfortunately doesn't effectively filter down to those who need it the most.

After a long nap and a shower, I stared out my hotel window, feeling intensely anxious, paralyzed by a fear of distance from what was outside. Two questions went repeatedly through my mind: Why was I here? Why am I fearful of a city that I know so deeply? All the research I did in graduate school and beyond, combined with my short visit two years ago, still didn't prepare me to the reality of being here alone, on my own to navigate the incomprehensible streets with unreliable street signs and deal one-on-one with paulistanos in my sorely limited Portuguese.

Once I finally broke through those feelings and stepped onto the sidewalk outside the hotel, I realized why I fell in love with this city. There are interesting people and interesting places everywhere you look. For around US$1.50, you can take the subway to another part of the city. Some stations are in dire need of an update, so you do need to have some idea of where you are going in case the map in the directory is missing. Of course, you can get good views of the city from a taxi, but you maintain a certain distance from the paulistanos. When you're that close to the locals and hear only Portuguese all around you, it's like you're sitting on the human pulse of the city. You wonder who all these anonymous bodies are, what they do, where they live, where they are going in this sprawling metropolis.

On my first afternoon out in the city, I walked down Avenida Paulista, gawking at all the massive buildings and working carefully through the crowded sidewalks. The heat and humidity were challenging, considering the temperatures in Bloomington had only recently made it to 50 degrees. In need of a break, I grabbed a sandwich and some coffee at Shopping Center 3. Then it was a walk down Rua Augusta to Rua Oscar Freire and back up Rua Haddock Lobo, streets where the richest people shop, dine, and socialize. My own shopping experience on R. Oscar Freire was interesting; every single store had at least one employee who could speak English fluently. While some prices were reasonable from my vantage point as a middle class American, much of the merchandise was well above what I could afford (eg, blue jeans for R$999 and mid-range designer shoes for R$299).

After a brief break to relax my feet, I explored Rua Frei Caneca, the street where my hotel is located. Some blocks are run down, but there are many small cafes, restaurants, and bars that attract a diverse crowd from 20-somethings to the 50-plus. I stopped to eat at Shopping Frei Caneca and discovered a great supermarket - a good option for cheap beverages and snack foods.

Back to the hotel to get some sleep. Another huge day of sightseeing ahead of me tomorrow!