No Time To Lose

Airport - customs and I am out into the wild! Or so it seemed...
I don´t have a waist bag, bum bag, sac banane, whatever it is called. So I put all my important documents and money in a plastic zip bag and shuffle it under my jeans, exactly where that famous bum bag would go. I had to prepare myself for anything. After all the warning of robbery I imagined that walking out there was like a wild jungle - all eyes prepared to prey you, however, not for consumption.

I walk out and looked for my bus which would take me to Santos - a sea side town directly south from Sao Paulo. I missed it and had to wait another 3 hours for the next bus. I took the opportunity to buy a phone card and call home (and learn how phone calls work here).
I bought 75 units for 9 reales (4 euros). The phone card has no chip, but a barcode and you must begin all phone calls with 0 and a code, depending on which operator the public phone is. In this case it was Telefonica so the code was 15. Then you have a code for the region you are in. In this case the code of Sao Paulo, then you have the actual number of the person. So in total you have at least 10 numbers to dial and if you are in a different region, or on a different phone, those codes would change.

I strolled around and realised that I didnt need to hide my important belongings under my trousers whilst I am in the airport. I bought some water - which has a funny taste! The bottled water has 6 times more magnesium, twice as much nitrate and sodium than Italian water. Maybe thats why it taste different. Everything taste different. Outside the trees were obviously present. In fact there are trees and plants and vegetation absolutly everywhere possible. I could already see that there is a great variety that I never knew existed.

I took the Expresso Brazileiro from the Airport to Santos for 17,50 reales (8 euros) and 2 hours. It was a coach with big comfy seats that recline - much more confortable than the plane. In fact it would be the equivalent of a plane´s first class. The coach took me through part of the city to reach the motorway. From the little that I saw, the urban side was clearly poor, but not shockingly so. I found it hard to tell the difference between what was inhabited and what was abandonned. The majority was abandonned... or so I thought. They are inhabitated! They are simply not polished. I suppose they are basic and functional, nothing fancy.
The ride was quite hilly and between all this were tons of skyscrapers. From the motorway, the landscape was skyscrapers - and needless to say, green. It was a cloudy day and very foggy also. Approximately 23 degrees. It got foggier and foggier as we headed to the mountains. There I got preview of what their "countryside" looks like!

The mountains were overwhelmingly vegetated. No words nor photos could possibly express its magnitude. It is just incredibly dense and varied. The ride down the mountain to Santos (which I later discovered is actually an island) resembled those photos on the net. Big mountains with white transpiration coming off the trees in little smokes and endless vegetation. It seems to grow absolutely everywhere and does not stop. And thankfully, they are neither cut down more than is necessary for transportation. Beautiful little flowers appear here and there, pink, purple, orange, yellow - flowers for which I do not know the names!

I arrive in Santos bus station and here I start to keep my eye out for that famous theif which I am awaiting... But it is simply so clear that I am not from there that if it was to happen, I would be unlucky more than anything. So I did not think about it, and neither was there a threatning atmosphere. It would not be like in the centre of Sao Paulo, for example. Claudia picked me up with her father and I was driven straight to her grandmother´s house, where they were having their Christmas dinner. No time to shower, or refresh - just as I was in my green dress I was introduced to her family. There was about 25 people and her grandmother is a great character! She is young at heart and solid as a rock, with style. She put on her Santa hat and distributed presents to all her family and even gave me a present - a pink lipstick! I ate and had Claudia´s aunt´s chocolate and lemon tart mmmmmm and a glass of red wine, which also tasted different.

After an hour or so, I was then taken to Claudia´s cousin´s house - Fernanda. Fernanda is very lively and lots of fun. In her house I met more of their family and ate more cake. This time is was chocolate and strawberry and a Brazilian desert called Tapioca made of coconut and milk with a funny texture. That was very nice and I will definetly have it again! I was then taken to Claudia´s house where I showered and got ready to go to a bar by the sea where her sister plays guitar.
Before leaving though, I asked Claudia´s father where I could buy good chili sauce for Rena and having asked a fan of chili pepper, he immediately took me to his office. We went across the road and into a backgarden - and what a garden! Yet again, planta plants plants of all colours, shapes and sizes... a perfect garden barbeques and lunches. He turns a light on a behind a big cage is a toucan! A toucan! There is was and it came towards us bouncing from branch to branch and came close to us and stared at me with his blue eyes. His beak was huge and bright yellow and oh my god I just cant believe it!
Her father tells me to put my finger into the cage. I said "No way! you put yuour hand in there!" And he did and the toucan bit it playfully and it doesnt hurt. It was so cute! I just couldnt belive that within 6 hours of landing in Brazil I was with a toucan bitting my finger in a little hidden tropical garden.
He then takes me to his chili collection, this man is no joke. He shows me all the varieties that he has and how to preserve them. In Olive Oil if you want them hot as hell and in Apple Vinegar if you want them hot. And when we say hot, we are not talking about casual hot. After opening each bottle and making me sniff them all one by one he selects two from his special collection, places them into plastic bottles, ready to be taken back to Europe. My mission to collect chili frm every continent couldn´t be more accomplished up to date!

Upon entrance at the bar, and anywhere for that matter, you are given a "Cartão do Consumação". Every person who enters has a personal one where the waters note what you have consumed (food and drinks). Before the exit you have to pay your bill and hand over the "Pagado" stamped card to the bouncer at the door. If you loose your card, you have to pay 250 reales (over 100 euros). There we had beer, which taste like water but claims to have 5% alcohol in it. Here everyone shares beers, either as a "convivial" thing or to keep it fresh, I am not too sure. So everyone gets their small glasses (approx. 20cl - ok maybe 30cl) and a can or bottle of beer in the middle to top up everyone´s glass.
The impression I get is that the people here know that they are a third world country and are very anxious to get out of it. They want to develop and they want to prosper. They can be self critical of their own habits (eg: the Cartão system) and on TV I see governmental adverts claiming that they are investing in schools and education, creating jobs and the like. I think Brazil is an incredibly interesting country to follow in its developments. Between the richness of the people, the culture, the foods and its great resources, it is a shame to consider it a third country and even more so to witness the abject poverty that exists here.
In the bar-restaurant, food is being served up till midnight and perhaps even later. Seeing that it costs quite a little bit to eat there (and from what I saw it seemed to be tapas style greasy foods) we went back to Claudia´s sister´s place and had pizza instead!

On the hot rainy night, I slept like a baby.

The next day we had lunch and walked into town. We had a mission to get me flip flops. We went to Carrefour, where a pair of Havaianas cost 16 reales, but as they didnt have my size, we went to a local beach store where they were bought in turquoise blue for 12 reales (5-6 euros). We went to a perfumery to buy bathroom goods and I bought for 17 reales (8 euros) what would normally cost close to 20 euros in Spain. I think I will manage to stick to my budget!
We then went to a hairdressing salon where I had a manicure and pedicure for 22 reales (10 euros). And my bitten nails look much better. Claudia has challanged me to not bite them, at least until I leave, now that they look prettier!

We went home, had dinner and headed off to a club on the mountain in the town next door called São Vicente (pronounced Sau Vicenchi). From there you can see all view of Santos, the beach and its great waves and of course, the trees, the vegetation and the mountains. The club is called "Juá" which I think comes from the Arabic. Here there is a great influence from Lebanon. Various times I came across billboards advertising Kibe and Humous - there is even an "Esquina do Esphera" (Tete´s favourite). There are places by the beach where you can have tea and shisha.
In the club (where I lost the card that has prevented you all from seeing my picture, and prevented me from emptying my memory card) it was Noite do Flashback playing 60´s to 80´s and even 90´s music. People of all ages were there, including Claudia´s uncles and aunties! They made a public announcement of my arrival from Barcelona and welcomed me to Santos - but I didnt even realise nor hear it because it was in Portuguese! But it was very nice of them!

The club closes at 4am and we went down to the beach on the way home where there are "chiringuito" type huts dotted along the beach where cans of beer are sold for 50 centimes (thats about 25 euro centimes!). I took the opportunity to run to the beach and touch the water. The beach is long and the waves are good to surf.
Today was a lazy day and yet again it is raining, so no hurry to go outside. It is 7pm and I am now going to town and who knows of what comes next.