A Cidade das Paulistas

A little over two and a half weeks ago, all 11 of us (plus, our awesome tour guide/crazy cool Brazilian aunt, Neyla) flew down to Rio de Janeiro's rival city, São Paulo, to spend a week at FGV's sister campus learning about Brazil's financial and energy sectors.

Prior to leaving, I had heard mixed reviews of the city. Cariocas don't think too highly of Paulistas and their city, and thus, whenever I talked with people about São Paulo, they didn't have a whole lot of good things to say. According to Cariocas, Paulistas, living in the Brazilian equivalent of NYC, work far too much and have no clue how to enjoy life and party. Plus, the mere idea of living in a city that has no beach is simply an absurd one to Cariocas. But São Paulo also received some good reviews as well (primarily from foreigners and more objective Cariocas). While it does indeed have more of a workaholic lifestyle and possesses no beach, the city also boasts quality and world-famous museums (art and history), incredible architecture, incredibly good food, and a night life all its own.

With all this in mind, I was excited to spend a week in a different part of Brazil and to decide for myself what I thought of Sampa (the affectionate name of São Paulo). But, I also must admit, I was still a little nervous and hesitant to re-enter the go-go-go atmosphere of a fast-pace city.

The Sprawl

The Concrete Jungle

It probably didn't help alleviate my reservations when the first image I saw from the airplane was of a HUGE, SPRAWLING CONCRETE JUNGLE. Seriously, it was impossible for me to tell where the sprawl ended much less began. There were so many high rises scattered everywhere that I had no clue as to where the true downtown actually was. And as soon as we got off the plane, we could just tell we were in vastly different city with a vastly different take of life: everything seemed faster; everything more compact; everything concrete.

The MASP

At, At, At Night

But as the week progressed, the good parts of Sampa started to emerge from the concrete. It is indeed the Brazil's financial capital, where the life balance is clearing tipped toward work and "productivity." We got to experience plenty of that during our seminars about Brazil's economy and energy sector (I'm practically an expert on sugar cane and ethanol production, by the way). But the city still possesses things that contrast and offer a break to the busyness of daily life. The historic downtown, including the cathedral, the various museums, including the Portuguese Language and the MASP, and the fine restaurants bars situated atop buildings and overlooking the city's skyline were indeed some great spots of respite during the week. And not to mention, the Paulistas we met were equally as friendly as their Carioca rivals. Overall, I really enjoyed seeing and spending time in São Paulo (if only for a week).

But I am not going to lie, as we flew over the bay and descended into Santos Dumont Airport in Rio de Janeiro, I couldn't help but feel like I was coming home, like I could finally breathe and relax again. One of my friends says that São Paulo is the city of the future. Unfortunately that is probably true. But let's just hope that the future has a couple of Rio de Janeiros :)

Coming Home :)