As planned I made my way to a hostel near Paulista. Unplanned was how I got there, who I met on the way, and a sunburn covering my face, head, ears, and probably neck. Despite being untouched the previous two days, the sun came out in full force today. I did not use any sunscreen which I will remedy in the future. While my sunburn heals I have a plan to learn the rest of Portuguese in less than 2 days. Rather than explain it in detail, I will explain what led me here, show you a preview of my new method and move on.
The problem that led me to being unprepared to speak or comprehend Portuguese is that all of my comprehension is from mp3s of the learning material which lacks real context. Conversational Brazilian Portuguese is very different from my learning material. Not to harp on it, but it wasn't designed for getting me into a restaurant or to survive my first encounter. How do I fix it? Rather than engage Brazilians in conversations that I cannot understand (wasting their time and mine), I plan to read grammatically correct data in bulk using statistical analysis and my very own artificial intelligence. I've been telling people about my Language AI for years but now it's time to hand over some books to this beast. The Language AI was always designed for large amounts of data. The reason I limited it to tweets was because I wanted to make the data relevant and connect people at the same time. Try it, I mean it's crazy easy.
So how do I show you a preview of my new method without violating a book's copyright? How many Brazilian books are Public Domain? Brazil's copyright is the author's life plus 70 years, so that limits it significantly (pre-1941). Librivox has 139 audio books which would be perfect for comprehension. Since the text should be available, it is also a reasonable place to find popular Public Domain books. Of course I must warn you that these are in Portuguese and may or may not be Brazilian Portuguese. This one is. Gutenberg has 520, the most popular Brazilian one is Historias Sem Data by Machado de Assis (1884). One may argue that any book written before 1988 does not reflect current Brazil. In fact, one can easily say that a non-timeless book written before 2001 probably doesn't reflect current Brazil.
So here's another question: how many Brazilian books are are Creative Commons? Bingo! Creative Commons has a wiki to advertise Books licensed with CC. The top of the list of books is Intratext which has a Portuguese section. This gets better and better.
Here is the histogram for the first story from Historias sem Data, "A Egreja do Diabo". You can easily see that all 1112 words from the story are there. There are a few mistakes but that's inevitable with machine learning. Update: I found an interesting bug in NLTK which I fixed to get a much better result.
a 106 o 96 que 94 de 88 e 87 não 48 as 39 do 37 um 37 diabo 35 uma 35 os 28 com 25 em 22 era 21 da 20 elle 20 mas 19 é 18 para 17 por 16 ao 15 se 15 ou 14 egreja 13 mais 13 tudo 12 á 12 das 11 no 11 senhor 11 todas 11 como 10 dos 10 na 10 d 9 aos 8 mesmo 8 outras 8 tua 8 deus 7 seus 7 tu 7 céu 6 franjas 6 minha 6 muitos 6 n 6 nada 6 proximo 6 sem 6 são 6 tempo 6 algodão 5 amor 5 disse 5 esse 5 este 5 foi 5 ha 5 homem 5 homens 5 idéa 5 isto 5 nova 5 pois 5 só 5 todos 5 vai 5 virtudes 5 alguns 4 aquelle 4 assim 4 capitulo 4 cousas 4 depois 4 doutrina 4 ellas 4 espirito 4 essa 4 fossem 4 franja 4 me 4 melhor 4 meu 4 nas 4 nem 4 olhos 4 pela 4 porque 4 proprio 4 póde 4 ser 4 terra 4 teu 4 vez 4 vida 4 virtude 4 vos 4 vou 4 ás 4 agora 3 ainda 3 alguma 3 amar 3 atraz 3 azas 3 boa 3 canhotos 3 casa 3 caso 3 casos 3 certo 3 chegou 3 cousa 3 crer 3 desde 3 deu 3 direito 3 entre 3 especie 3 esta 3 eu 3 fez 3 foram 3 força 3 fundar 3 ia 3 já 3 lhe 3 logo 3 mal 3 morte 3 muito 3 mundo 3 nos 3 noção 3 ordem 3 outra 3 outros 3 porém 3 queres 3 realmente 3 respeito 3 rosto 3 seculos 3 seraphins 3 sou 3 superior 3 tal 3 tinha 3 tão 3 unica 3 velho 3 venalidade 3 vender 3 verdadeiro 3 vezes 3 vosso 3 achilles 2 acções 2 ancião 2 annos 2 apologo 2 applauso 2 aquella 2 ar 2 assumpto 2 benedictino 2 bocca 2 bons 2 braço 2 breviario 2 cabellos 2 cançado 2 capa 2 causa 2 chegava 2 confessar 2 conhecer 2 contra 2 coração 2 dava 2 demonstração 2 desorganisação 2 dia 2 digas 2 discipulos 2 divinos 2 dizendo 2 duas 2 effeito 2 entrada 2 eram 2 escriptura 2 essas 2 está 2 eternidade 2 excepção 2 exemplo 2 exercicio 2 explicação 2 fazer 2 fieis 2 fraude 2 gasto 2 grande 2 grandes 2 gula 2 havia 2 humana 2 indifferença 2 instante 2 instituição 2 interesse 2 interrompeu 2 ir 2 livro 2 manuscripto 2 melhores 2 menos 2 minhas 2 mostrou 2 mãi 2 nega 2 nenhum 2 nome 2 obra 2 odio 2 ora 2 parece 2 parte 2 partes 2 pecuniaria 2 perguntou 2 praticavam 2 presente 2 principio 2 promettia 2 quando 2 quanto 2 razão 2 religiões 2 rhetorico 2 sabes 2 sangue 2 seculo 2 seda 2 será 2 seu 2 si 2 simples 2 social 2 sua 2 suas 2 subtil 2 taboa 2 te 2 ter 2 teve 2 toda 2 todo 2 triumpho 2 tuas 2 turbas 2 vamos 2 veludo 2 vieram 2 vinha 2 virão 2 vista 2 viu 2 » 2 _hyssope_ 1 _illiada_ 1 abalou 1 abençoou 1 aborrecel-os 1 abrahão 1 absurdo 1 abysmo 1 acabava 1 accesos 1 accionista 1 accuseis 1 aceitas 1 aceitava 1 acharei 1 achas 1 achassem 1 achava 1 achou 1 acontece 1 acontecer 1 acudiu 1 adulação 1 adulteros 1 adventicio 1 advertiu 1 affirmar 1 afinadas 1 agitaram 1 agonia 1 agua 1 ahi 1 airoso 1 ajoelham 1 ajoelhar-se 1 alaúdes 1 aleivosia 1 alforge 1 algum 1 algumas 1 alheias 1 alistar-se 1 allah 1 alli 1 alto 1 altos 1 alçou 1 amasse 1 amizade 1 analoga 1 ancioso 1 anemico 1 angariado 1 anno 1 annunciar-vos 1 anquinhas 1 antigas 1 antigo 1 apostolos 1 apparelho 1 applicado 1 ardor 1 arrancou 1 arredal-o 1 aspecto 1 asperos 1 assombrou 1 até 1 avareza 1 avaros 1 avulso 1 azul 1 banco 1 barata 1 basta 1 batalhas 1 batendo 1 beatas 1 bella 1 bellas 1 bem 1 benedictina 1 beneficios 1 benzia-se 1 bibliotheca 1 bigode 1 boccados 1 boi 1 bom 1 botas 1 brados 1 brandura 1 braços 1 breca 1 breve 1 bullas 1 cabeça 1 cada 1 cair 1 cairo 1 caiu 1 calabrez 1 cales 1 calumnia 1 cama 1 camello 1 camellos 1 campanha 1 canones 1 canta 1 canticos 1 capas 1 capella 1 cara 1 caracter 1 caridade 1 carrega 1 casal 1 casual 1 casuista 1 catholico 1 cavalheiro 1 ceias 1 cem 1 centelham 1 cepas 1 certos 1 chama 1 chamava-lhe 1 chapéo 1 chegado 1 chegando 1 cheios 1 cheiram 1 cheiros 1 cima 1 cincoenta 1 cita 1 citava 1 citharas 1 clamava 1 claro 1 cogula 1 coisa 1 colera 1 colhido 1 combatem 1 combater 1 combateu 1 comer 1 começada 1 commenda 1 communicar-lhe 1 communs 1 comparar 1 comparaveis 1 complacencia 1 completa 1 completamente 1 comprehensão 1 comquanto 1 comsigo 1 comvosco 1 conclui 1 concluia 1 concluir 1 concluiu 1 condemnadas 1 conego 1 confessar-se 1 confessava 1 confessava-o 1 congregar 1 conhecesse 1 consciencia 1 consideração 1 conta 1 contavam 1 continuos 1 contos 1 contradicção 1 contraditorio 1 convertendo 1 conviria 1 convoca 1 cordialidade 1 corpos 1 corriam 1 cortar 1 credo 1 criados 1 crianças 1 cruel 1 cuida 1 cuja 1 cujo 1 cumpria 1 curiosidade 1 curioso 1 cynica 1 cópia 1 córos 1 dai-lhe 1 dal-o 1 damas 1 dar 1 darei 1 davam 1 debalde 1 debatiam 1 declarou 1 decoro 1 defeza 1 definir 1 definição 1 deitavam 1 deixar 1 deixou-se 1 deleites 1 delicias 1 demais 1 demonstrando 1 demorou 1 desafial-o 1 descia 1 descoberta 1 descobertas 1 descuidos 1 desdouro 1 deslavada 1 desmentir 1 desorientou 1 despreso 1 destruil-as 1 desvendasse 1 desço 1 detenho 1 detestar 1 deteve 1 detiveram-se 1 deu-lhes 1 deu-se 1 devia 1 deviam 1 devoção 1 dextros 1 diante 1 dias 1 differença 1 diga 1 digo 1 dilapidadores 1 directa 1 directamente 1 direitos 1 disse-lhe 1 dissimulado 1 dissimular 1 dissimulação 1 dito 1 dividem 1 dividendos 1 divino 1 dizel-a 1 dizer 1 dizer-vos 1 dizes 1 dobrou 1 documentos 1 doçura 1 drogas 1 drogman 1 droguista 1 duplicadamente 1 duvidar 1 dás 1 ecclesiastico 1 economia 1 edificar 1 efficaz 1 eis 1 elementos 1 eliminada 1 ella 1 eloquencia 1 embaçando 1 embora 1 emquanto 1 encheram 1 enfiar 1 engrinaldavam 1 enjoado 1 entendeu 1 enthusiasmadas 1 enthusiasmo 1 entranhas 1 entrou 1 então 1 envenenára 1 equivalia 1 erario 1 errada 1 escapava 1 escarneo 1 escondidas 1 escrevia 1 esgalgada 1 esmolas 1 espalha 1 espalhar 1 espertar 1 espiritos 1 esquerdo 1 estar 1 estatuas 1 estava 1 estavam 1 estendeu 1 estou 1 estrondo 1 estão 1 etc 1 eterna 1 examinava 1 excitar 1 exclamou 1 exclusivista 1 exercel-a 1 exercer 1 exercia 1 exigencia 1 exigia 1 existencia 1 expansão 1 expectaculo 1 explica-te 1 expressão 1 expôr 1 extraordinaria 1 extraordinarias 1 facil 1 fallava 1 fallavam 1 fallo 1 falsificador 1 faltaria 1 fama 1 farta 1 fastio 1 fausto 1 faustos 1 fazei 1 fazendo 1 fazia 1 filha 1 filhas 1 filho 1 filhos 1 final 1 fino 1 fique 1 fitaram 1 fixo 1 flor 1 formalmente 1 fosse 1 fraudulentos 1 friamente 1 fructo 1 frugalmente 1 funda 1 fundamental 1 fundára-se 1 furor 1 furtava 1 fé 1 fóra 1 fórma 1 fórmas 1 gabriel 1 galliani 1 genio 1 gentil 1 geração 1 gesto 1 globo 1 glorias 1 glotões 1 golpes 1 gosta 1 gratificações 1 gratuita 1 grave 1 habito 1 harmonias 1 haveria 1 historias 1 historica 1 homero 1 honesta 1 hospedaria 1 humanos 1 humilhado 1 hypocrisia 1 hypothese 1 i 1 ii 1 iii 1 imaginativa 1 immortal 1 imperiosa 1 impuzera-lhe 1 incluido 1 incomprehensiveis 1 incutia-lhes 1 indifferentes 1 individuo 1 induziu 1 infinita 1 infinitas 1 infinito 1 injurias 1 insigne 1 insolvaveis 1 integralmente 1 inteira 1 intimos 1 intrinseco 1 inveja 1 inventado 1 invenção 1 ira 1 irmandade 1 isso 1 iv 1 jejum 1 jogo 1 juiz 1 juridica 1 justamente 1 labaro 1 lado 1 ladrão 1 lançou-lhe 1 largar 1 lavrava 1 lealdade 1 legal 1 legitimal-a 1 legitimas 1 legitimo 1 legiões 1 lembra 1 lembrou-se 1 lenços 1 lettrado 1 lettras 1 levantar-se 1 levante 1 levantou 1 lhes 1 liberalmente 1 lingua 1 litteraria 1 locução 1 logar 1 logica 1 longamente 1 longos 1 lucros 1 lucullo 1 luthero 1 luxuria 1 lá 1 magnifico 1 mahomet 1 mandai 1 manjares 1 manto 1 marquezas 1 materias 1 maximas 1 mediante 1 meio 1 memoria 1 merecer 1 mergulhou 1 mesma 1 mesmos 1 mesquitas 1 mestre 1 mestres 1 metaphorica 1 metaphysica 1 metter-se 1 metteu-se 1 miguel 1 mim 1 minuto 1 mirifica 1 misanthropia 1 misanthropo 1 missa 1 miudas 1 modos 1 moedas 1 monumento 1 moral 1 moralistas 1 mostram 1 mostrar 1 motivo 1 muezzin 1 muitas 1 mulheres 1 multidões 1 murmurou 1 máus 1 mãos 1 napoles 1 naturaes 1 natureza 1 naufragio 1 necessarias 1 negal-o 1 negar 1 negaria 1 negas 1 negação 1 nego 1 negociantes 1 negocios 1 negou 1 nenhuma 1 ninguem 1 noite 1 noites 1 noivos 1 notou 1 novenas 1 novo 1 nucleo 1 numero 1 nunca 1 obsequios 1 observação 1 obstaculo 1 obter 1 occultas 1 olha 1 olhai 1 olhar 1 onde 1 operações 1 opinião 1 organisação 1 origem 1 originalidade 1 ortigas 1 outro 1 ouvir 1 ouviu-o 1 padre 1 pagar 1 paginas 1 pai 1 palavra 1 palavras 1 papel 1 parasitas 1 parecer 1 particularidade 1 pasmo 1 passado 1 passou 1 peccado 1 pedra 1 peior 1 peito 1 peleu 1 pelo 1 pelos 1 pensaste 1 pequenas 1 perdeu 1 perdão 1 perfeito 1 permitti 1 permittia 1 perversas 1 pesadas 1 pessoa 1 pessoal 1 pessoas 1 phenomeno 1 phrase 1 physicas 1 picante 1 piedosamente 1 placidez 1 pobre 1 podes 1 podia 1 pondo 1 porção 1 possiveis 1 possuia 1 povoadas 1 poz 1 preceito 1 preciosa 1 preciso 1 preconceito 1 predicas 1 preguiça 1 pressa 1 previsão 1 preço 1 primeiro 1 principal 1 privilegio 1 procedimento 1 procissões 1 producto 1 produziu 1 proferir 1 profunda 1 prohibia 1 prohibiu 1 propagava-se 1 proponho-me 1 propria 1 prosperidades 1 provavelmente 1 provincias 1 prégou 1 publicas 1 publico 1 pupillas 1 pura 1 puxadas 1 puxal-as 1 pão 1 pé 1 pés 1 pó 1 pódes 1 põe 1 quaesquer 1 qualquer 1 quantias 1 quatro 1 quem 1 quereis 1 quero 1 rabelais 1 rainhas 1 raio 1 raiva 1 rapido 1 razões 1 reboava 1 recebam 1 receber 1 recem 1 recolhe 1 recolhei 1 recolheu 1 recolhia 1 recolhiam-se 1 recorreu 1 rectificar 1 rectificava 1 redito 1 reflectir 1 regimen 1 região 1 regra 1 regras 1 regular 1 rehabilitadas 1 reinado 1 remanescentes 1 rematar 1 rematasse 1 remate 1 renovar 1 reparo 1 repente 1 repetia 1 replicou-lhe 1 reprehendeu 1 respondeu 1 restituam-lhe 1 retires 1 retribuição 1 rezou 1 rigorosa 1 rindo 1 riso 1 ritual 1 robusta 1 romana 1 rostos 1 roubar 1 roubou-o 1 roupas 1 rua 1 ruas 1 sabedoria 1 sabeis 1 sacudiu 1 sala 1 salario 1 saliva 1 salva 1 salvar-se 1 salvação 1 santo 1 sapato 1 satanica 1 secreta 1 secretas 1 seguida 1 sejam 1 semanas 1 semelhante 1 sentia-se 1 sentimento 1 sentir 1 sentiu 1 sequer 1 seria 1 servo 1 signaes 1 signal 1 silencio 1 sim 1 singular 1 soberba 1 soccorria 1 solidariedade 1 solitaria 1 sombra 1 somniferos 1 somno 1 sorriu 1 subia 1 sublime 1 substancia 1 substituidas 1 substituir 1 sulphureas 1 summa 1 supplica 1 supprir 1 sãs 1 talento 1 tamanha 1 tambem 1 tanto 1 tapava 1 tarda 1 tedio 1 telus 1 templos 1 temporal 1 tenda 1 tendes 1 tendo 1 tens 1 tentou 1 terei 1 teria 1 terror 1 terão 1 ti 1 tingem-se 1 tinham 1 tiveram 1 todavia 1 tomai 1 tomam 1 tomar 1 traduzisse 1 transfundil-o 1 transpiração 1 tratasse 1 trazel-as 1 trazem 1 tremulo 1 tres 1 triumphou 1 trocando 1 trophéu 1 têm 1 ultimos 1 umas 1 unico 1 universal 1 uns 1 valor 1 vantagens 1 varios 1 varonil 1 varão 1 vasia 1 velhas 1 velludo 1 vencido 1 vendem 1 venha 1 venho 1 ventre 1 verdade 1 verdadeira 1 verificou-se 1 versos 1 victimas 1 victoria 1 vieste 1 vim 1 vingança 1 vinham 1 vinho 1 vivia 1 vivos 1 voou 1 vossos 1 voto 1 voz 1 vulgar 1 vá 1 vêde 1 vêde-me 1 leve 1 musa 1 ácerca 1 és 1
Since I was talking with a nice Paulista (a person from São Paulo) I didn't take any photos though I should have. I will have time to take photos of the places I went but not the awesome Saturday scene that I saw. São Paulo is so wonderful.
Who did I meet, how did I get to the hostel, and how did I get a sunburn? I took the metro from República to Ana Rosa. I assumed that my phone's map would show the position of the hostel or that it would be easy to find. I started walking and ended up far far from Ana Rosa. When I stopped to take a drink of water a passer-by asked if I was not Brazilian. I said I wasn't. It just so happened that the passer-by was an English teacher who was free to help me find my way. We stopped for water and orange juice on the way to the metro station. We arrived at Ana Rosa metro station and found the street name on the map. It's a single block street that he had never seen before despite having walked (yes walked) past for years. When you have thousands of streets, no one really knows where non-major stuff is. Imagine a Seattlite saying "That? I have never heard of that street before." Luckily we found a perfect way to figure out how to get somewhere knowing the address, location, and it being 2 blocks away from the metro station. Yeah, I consider this to be a cultural oddity.
After leaving my bag with the hostel, we went for lunch and sightseeing. We went to the Centro Cultural São Paulo which is a large and very accessible modern art and culture center. We stopped for water again. You may think that it's rather frivilous to spend a lot of money on water, but my new friend told me that it isn't safe to drink unfiltered water since they do not use chlorine. I am going to take his word for it and drink only filtered water. We walked to one vegetarian restaurant after another finding each to be closed since it was Saturday. That's right, not many awesome restaurants are open on Saturday. The last place, Apfel was open and pricy. It was extremely tasty though and quite worth it. I can imagine saving up to go to that restaurant. I drank a drink I've never drank before (similar to grape juice but not as sweet). I ate various vegetarian foods that I will not find cheaply in America unless I cook them myself.
After eating, we walked down the hill to Jardins which is the wealthy district and looked at clothes in the galleria and walked back up to Paulista. He invited me to visit his house and we talked for hours. He played his 100-year-old piano and walked me home. You may have heard of friendliness of Brazilians but my friend's hospitality rivals any in the world (even my friend in Tokyo). It probably helped that we're both vegetarians in primarily omnivorous societies who read our news on the Internet and are concerned about the state of the world.
Anyhow, I got home and laid down noticing finally that I was sunburnt. I fell asleep and woke up 4 hours later at midnight. I went downstairs to get water and ask where to get a power adapter. Since I couldn't find an adapter or the supermarket, I drank some water and said hi to the other residents of the hostel. My roommmate wasn't home so I thought that if s/he was there it couldn't hurt to say hi before s/he wanted to go to sleep. This was a suprisingly good idea. They couldn't understand my failure of a greeting "Que tal?" Please do not use this as a greeting, no one understands it. After a while they invited me to a party in Vila Madalena where I met very nice people. Party is a loose term. Vila Madalena is nowhere near Vila Mariana despite having similar names. Vila Madalena is a very big party neighborhood while Vila Mariana is a quiet residential neighborhood next to a large street that is a mile from the huge central parties at Paulista.
We arrived home at 4am and I slept well for 4 hours. I'm hungover and had a couple episodes of tunnel vision at the supermarket but was able to do almost all my shopping. Three prong to two prong adapters are as rare in Brazil as they are in Germany, Japan, and America. Bring an international adapter to save yourself two or five trips to the local stores. I bought an expensive magazine, Matemática at a banca de journal which I plan to review in a future blog.
I tried to get Skype to work and bought 10€ in credit today. It didn't work. I plan to call my grandmother and possibly other people if I get a chance. The funny thing is that São Paulo is 6 hours ahead of PST instead of 3 hours like I thought. That means that I can call between 3pm and 3am to reach people in PST between 9am and 9pm. My day is almost done when their day is starting, almost like Europe... Update: I called my grandma. She was happy to hear from me. The solution to the problem with Skype was to remove ~/.Skype and try again.
Read more »Today I started walking early in the morning and ended at 2PM after a great lunch. Certainly until my cast is off, I will not be able to walk as much as I did today. I overdid it and I'm expecting awful problems to start to occur tomorrow with my arm. Generally walking and a cast do not mix. I will have no problem covering more territory by metro in the coming month though. It has now come to my attention that I am in way over my head as far as Portuguese goes. Every time I have attempted to listen or to speak it has been a train wreck. If someone with an automatic weapon were to shout an order or a question at me, I would be toast. Luckily those sort of people have no questions or orders for me.
Since I have now learned that Portuguese is more difficult than I thought, I am putting mouseover text which should translate a few interesting things for you. Look for italic green text like this and put your mouse over it for a few seconds. If you think of a better way to display this, let me know.
I walked to the massive church, São Paulo Cathedral by accident which has a wonderful park in front. I used my phone's GPS to navigate from place to place so most of my lines are only a little bit more crooked than they should be (a sign of a smart tourist and a good GPS). I took photos of every place that I liked, mostly architecture, parks, and statues. I finished at a wonderful market in Jardim Paulista. Since my experience was so delightful I plan to go stay for 4 days at the hostel there. There are multiple hostels near Paulista Ave for some reason and I'm sure I'll find out. I certainly can give 5 stars to Hostelling International São Paulo Downtown. The people are friendly, speak English, and the area is perfect (Republica).
Lunch was especially difficult today. I decided to eat at one of the many comercial that serves lunch and dinner. I was not able to understand or communicate what the person said who said something when I walked in, so I stood there looking stupid for a moment while I gathered my phrases. Yup, I'm that bad. He said "você fala" which I was able to understand only partially. I replied, "Eu Fala" but did not finish my sentence. The correct way to finish would be "Eu Fala pouco Português". I knew it but I couldn't speak it. It reminds me very much of one of my favorite movies, Rocket Science where the main character is chanting loudly in his mind "The plans are not mutually exclusive" while he could not say a word. After a moment I simply sat down since I didn't know how to say anything useful. A woman came up and asked something I didn't understand. "Eu não fala..." I attempt to say but fail. She speaks slowly and little. That helped quite a bit. She thought that I had ordered so she brought me the wrong meal at which point the first guy told her. She then wondered what I was doing and gave me a menu. I don't understand anything on the area she points out as the correct section. Contra Parameganio. Bauru. Pernil. If I had a Google translator right there I would still be stumped. Contra means against and that has nothing to do with food. The only thing I know that uses parmesan is eggplant parmesan. I love eggplant parmesan but I was pretty sure that was not going to appear if I order Contra Parameganio. Finally I decide to use the simplify path. If someone speaks your language simplifying each concept there is a much more likeliness of success than if someone tries to speak their language or if they try to understand words that they have no clue what mean. Honestly it worked perfectly. What I said was "veduras, arroz, fritas" and her response was "Arroz, carne ou peixi?" Oh no, no carne... "Sem carne, sem peixi," I reply (I'm vegetarian if you didn't know already). It would definitely be easy to order if I didn't have a strict diet. My diet may change but at this point I cannot convince my brain (if I wanted to) to eat meat, so it isn't worth the reduced annoyance of the very patient waitress. One day it's possible that someone will try to throw me out for being such a pain but I am attempting to learn Portuguese quicker than their patience runs out. I of course can order Salada e arroz e fritas apenas por favor." if it gets to that point. When the salad and rice appeared I was very happy. You know how good food tastes when you haven't eaten much? This was the Brazilian version of that. I took my time with the salad and the waitress saw my cast and decided to cut my salad for me. That's right, salads come half-prepared. They actually have cut the lettuce and sliced the tomatoes and onions but into large pieces. There was so much rice that I honestly couldn't finish after 30 minutes. Very tasty.
Tonight I decided to skip dinner. For what? For no reason. Okay to be honest I'm afraid of going to get dinner after the debacle with lunch. Some fear for their life in Brasil, some fear disease, some fear the fate of the poor. I fear annoying a poor waitress for dinner. Tomorrow will not be so. I may certainly change my other fears as well but there's only one good reason to change one's opinion: facts.
I was able to get work done on a project tonight. It was fun and yet I ended by finding out that my original plan was flawed and that I needed to tweak it, delete 200GB of data, and run again. No problem. Nope, I'm not going to worry about having to run it again. What is the cost of 200 computer hours when my servers have to be online 24-7? It costs my provider pennies in electricity.
I'm still up writing at 2:30am and what sounded like a bomb just went off somewhere to the south I think. It could have been a festive explosion, a car malfunction, or a bomb. Who knows? I certainly can't see any smoke rising in the south. From how loud it was, I should be able to see it or the police gathering. Nope, I guess this is a case of nothing to do.
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Looking to the left from the top of the hostel:
Looking straight from the top of the hostel:
Looking right from the top of the hostel:
An easy photo opportunity at Santa Cecilia Station:
Near Santa Cecilia Station:
Across from Santa Cecilia Station:
Easiest landmark ever:
It's amazing. I actually made it to São Paulo, Brasil. I can't speak Brasilian Portuguese (of course I can't) despite having a ton of confidence before I left. I'll make a lot of progress everyday. What's more interesting is that I am writing this blog hours after arriving. If you recall, I didn't post my first blog in Tokyo, Japan or Berlin, Germany until over 48 hours after. The reason for that is easy access to what a person needs. Information is key to speed sometimes and boy did it work. The taxi stand had a database that took a street name and listed hotels, hostels, and other points of interest. 88 Real got me to the hostel in 45 minutes. Had I been smart I would have taken the bus. I wasn't able to figure out which bus to take so that would have been a bad idea. The hostel was happy to put me up despite having my reservation be for tomorrow. The hostel has 110V power (same as US) and WPA wifi, so it was really easy to get online. After my adventure, I hopped on and posted this. No photos yet but just wait.
Today I got lost. Similar to my adventure in Tokyo and Berlin, I simply walked in one direction until I needed to turn and didn't keep track of where I turned. After a while I found a landmark and followed my way home. For a while though it was a bit difficult to find my way. São Paulo doesn't have long straight streets. That's why a street name can get you a list of hotels and hostels. The street I'm on can't be more than 5 blocks long. I'll post the actual length in another post.
São Paulo is wonderful. There are so many shops in my area that I am in awe. The streets are dangerous and the sidewalks are uneven as possible. The heat is wonderful and the mood is good. There is so much graffiti everywhere that I actually wonder if the graffiti artists have the same values as other cities around the world. Maybe not. The largest building I can see from the 7th story here has graffiti at the top. São Paulo is 2 hours ahead of US Eastern Time (BRST), so this is being posted at 2:20pm rather than 9:20am. The time difference is quite a kick especially since flight was 19 or so hours. I'm pretty sleepy having not been able to sleep on the flight.
Some people said that São Paulo has many banks and is not a good tourist city. I disagree. São Paulo is full of people and is a sight to behold. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder they say. I'll be finding new and interesting things and reporting on them. Perhaps I'll even be able to compare with other cities.
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