São Paulo

So after a 20 hour bus ride we arrived in São Paulo with our new Japanese friend Ryo who has been traveling around the world for months. We went to lunch at an all you can eat BBQ place where Ari was confident one of the staff members was a tranny. Ryo's friend arrived and Ryo instantly exclaimed how old his friend looked and how he had aged since they last time they saw each other. We got some açaí a Brazilian super fruit that we have become addicted to since traveling around. We got back to the hostel asked what was going on that day and because it was Black Consciousness day there was a huge concert in Praça da Sé, a famous square in front a huge church in São Paulo. We arrived in time for a DJ to start playing all the famous Brazilian hits, "That Thing" by Lauren Hill, "Don't Stop til you get enough" by Michael Jackson, and "Hip Hop Hooray" by Naughty by Nature. Then a band came on and played the best of the music of Tim Maia. It was a great concert and Thomas realized that Tim Maia ripped off the Ohio Player's brickhouse. Then Seu Jorge played, Seu Jorge is a burgeoning actor featured in City of God as Knockout Ned, and also in The Life Aquatic. He is also a famous Brazilian singer. As the sun set and people started lighting up marijuana joints. Seu Jorge plays a hybrid of samba and rock which is in the genre of samba rock. As Thomas and Ari wandered off to get some booze I made friends with some people who were in the same section as us and I charmed a young lady with my dancing skills. (dance lessons are totally worth it.) We met some girls after the concert winded down and they offered to take us out to a happening strip. We stopped in for a mediocre overpriced dinner and then went to a club. The club was named Vegas and it was featured in a Brazilian movie called Magnata. There was a crappy rock band on the top floor and a great DJ spinning house music on the bottom floor. The club was packed and lots of beautiful women were thrown in the mix. Ari met a girl who was dressed in a Moo-Moo, Thomas met a girl who we were convinced was a tranny, she had a tattoo that said Axl Rose, and she was quite disappointed when we told her it wasn't spelled that way, I met a girl who turned out to be a bit of a bigot. I got home at 11 Am. We easily spent over $75 a person. We woke up late and Ari wanted to buy some "sweet" T-shirts so I asked the front desk for some recommendations and we were off. As I stopped to buy some abacaxi, pineapple on the street a woman catwalked down the street wearing nothing but flip flops and pink panties. She looked to be strung out, and she had the hairiest ass I've ever seen. As she passed by men changed directions to follow her, stopped and cracked up, or started discussing the possessed creature. She instantly had a large parade trailing behind her. Anyone who can walk down the 3rd biggest city in the world nearly naked is ok in my book. We then went to a shopping center to look for said "sweet" t-shirts. Each floor was a different theme, Thug attire, Goth/Hard Rock Attire, Emo attire. No "sweet" t-shirts were found. We then went walking looking for the huge fruit market in São Paulo. When we finally found the market we were in a sketchy part of town, the streets were littered with cardboard boxes and derelicts, and the market was closed. We went on the metro to a mall and Ari bought some "sweet" board shorts. Got back home, took a power nap and then met up with my friend Luanna to get some drinks. We went to a trendy hipster bar, (yes there are hipsters in Brazil) then went to a dance club in the Jewish neighborhood of town. We were hoping it would be a Jewish singles night but we were deceived. We danced, drank and left at 6 am to go and get some overpriced hamburgers. We managed to spend $R400 without even trying. We got home at 6:30 planned to sleep for an hour and then catch a bus to Ilha Bela on the São Paulo state coastline, but I didn't turn on the alarm so we over slept and had to catch a later bus. We met a beautiful girl on the bus and her cousin. Arrived at our hostel at 3:00 and the rain is raining. However our hostel is the nicest we've stayed at so far, with a Polynesian theme, plush couches and an ocean side pool. Going to relax, I come back home in 3 days.