Out with the old.....

... and in with the new.

This is a pool on the 26th floor (roof) of the Paulista Wall Street Suites Hotel. I was lucky enough to spend  my first 2 days at this hotel. When I wasn't in orientation, touring the streets of Sao Paulo, or meeting a few fellow business students at FGV, you better believe i was swimmin' on the roof. Oh, the view from up there?

 Pretty

dam

good.

Nonetheless, its been a pretty hectic and often stressful first few days. I'm moved in with my host parent, Clarissa, at last. I've been living with a host in another neighborhood for the last few days because of another exchange student that moved out of Clarissa's this morning. I couldn't unpack or access the internet while I was there, so its a relief that I can finally begin to develop a routine and sense of home. My host is very friendly and understands English well, which is good for someone at my level of Portuguese (approx. level 0). Intensive language classes started this morning and I'm hoping by the end of the week I'll be able to take the right bus to FGV without having to ask someone "Voce falla ingles??" - which probably isn't even correct. 

Brazilians are very friendly and outgoing, and even though I can't speak their native tongue I've still managed to make friends with a few of them already (I guess being an American at a bar makes you likeable.)

The view from my first host's apartment. (Traffic is terrible EVERYWHERE)

And at night.

The next few are from the hotel balcony.

 This city is a true urban jungle.

This is from yesterday at Parque Ibirapuera. Its basically their central park, although there are many many beautiful parks in Sao Paulo.

Watching the Super Bowl at bar/restaurant on Avenida Paulista with some of the other exchange kids.

Nalgene getting a fill-up after a long night in Sao Paulo. Every ounce of water I drink has to be filtered or bottled.

This next video is of a folk band at a street "feira," where my host took me to shop and look at antiques/records/Brazilian street food. Since feiras happen every day in different parts of the city, I know I can return to this one any Saturday if I want to buy something I saw. Enjoy the excellent audio quality.

That's all for now, tchau!