Just put another slab on it Jefferson

So who the hell planned São Paulo? The reality is...NO ONE. A bunch of Coffee Barons got mega rich back in the 19th century and the bankers, lawyers, accountants, and later schemers, cheats, and crack addicts showed up (probably some overlap there)...everyone with big ideas (or delusions) of grandeur fleeting through their caffeine addled craniums and thusly.... I present to you São Paulo. It's like LA after New York through up on it and took beauty advice from Pittsburgh or Detroit. Who'd a thought that a small jesuit village would of turned out like this?? Lord have Mercy on São Paulo.

I arrived here a week ago with Deborah and our friend Josiane. I decided to skip Curitiba in favor of being in this gargantuan city with friends and local contacts. I think it's been a fair trade as we all had a good time together last weekend. The weather was also very sunny which apparently is rare for Sampa. Things have gotton back to normal (ie Schitzo) in the last few days as it rains off and on. I am looking forward to getting some sun in the Northeast region, where I'll be going on the 27th.

Luckily enough, my Rio friend Rodrigo lives here now. We've hung out a lot and shared some good stories over beer and we checked out an Art exhibit by a Brazilian artist who uses garbage as his medium (he's probably from SP). Today I rode around in his car while he went around town for job interviews as an english instructor. The traffic was horrendus but it was worth it as I got to see different parts of the city and he was hired by his preferred prospectful employer. He told me that there were some illegal gringos working there. If São Paulo wasn't so damned overcrowded and unlivable..who knows...maybe I'd consider teaching?!

Before I leave there are some places I want to check out and some people I hope to meet. I'll make sure to plan ahead for traffic.