Flight and First day
Door: Jeroen
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Jeroen
17 Januari 2017 | Brazilië, São Paulo
Dear friends and family,
through this way I aim to keep all of you interested and informed about my life in the concrete jungle of São Paulo.
After my last night with family in the Netherlands we left on a cold Sunday morning. It moved me to say my parents a final goodbye. Even though all of us knew I would be back this summer. A couple of months is long for anyone to travel to another continent for the first time in his/her life. As my mother teared away on this final goodbye, I started my first true foreign adventure.
I was on a stationary plane, a plane with mostly Brazilians, who do not, I repeat, not, speak English. As the A/C was switched off, the summer heat of São Paulo hit my right there. And with that my friends, a true odeur of Brazil had introduced itself to me. Quite a shock after snow the night before.
What amazes me still, was that people like to queue. Knowing the plane would not leave until all passenger had boarded, I was waiting and bathing in space, which all of us would have to give up entering the unspacious plane.
As the air cooled before takeoff I became acquainted with my Brazilian neighbors who informed me in sign language about São Paulo. During takeoff I found out it was me who, like the flight attendant put it: "won the warm shower of KLM." as the condense of the A/C would collect itself right above my seat. Simple toilet paper fixed the problem.
After landing, my German friend 'Dominik' from across the pathway and I shared a cab to our final destinations. He got off at his hotel and I continued my way to a lovely three story house. Dominik and I had shared our life stories in the plane over whiskey and wine, and felt a bit like brothers. As we both had never been to Latin America before, we found comfort in each other. Certainly as communication with others in the plane apart from the dutch flight attendants was very limited. He is gonna stay here for two weeks for work, so we will probably share a drink sometime soon.
Upon arrival I was welcomed by my new housemates and we got acquainted over home made caipirinha, and damn, that was good!
After a couple of hours of rather good English I decided my bed was my place to be. And I must say, the bed is pretty fine. For pictures of the house and surroundings, have a look at my album here. Have a look, they're worth it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Day 1.
This morning I woke early and joined my housemate 'Alvaro' for breakfast. And let me tell you, those tomatoes are something else over here.. =)
I spend the first day discovering the city and my neighborhood. As the city is huge, my hood is pretty big itself too. Therefore I decided that knowing where to get my groceries was good for the time being and left for the heart of SP after shopping. Cheese is super expensive, fruit is soo cheap. Moreover, I miss my Mooi Kaap Droë rooi wyn of 3,49. Here you pay at least 6 for something they call wine. I namely bought one for less, and that turned out to be a sweet wine... red...
Metro's are cheap, clean and easy. The wireless Public Transport Chip Card is a relief as I was prepared on stamps et al. The city centre is crowded with people. But the building are insane, big, randomly thrown around, giving the city a very dynamic feel from any angle. It really looks like GTA. There is no other way of putting it. I feel at home here, because I feel I have already been here, virtually. This time I'll try to behave.
through this way I aim to keep all of you interested and informed about my life in the concrete jungle of São Paulo.
After my last night with family in the Netherlands we left on a cold Sunday morning. It moved me to say my parents a final goodbye. Even though all of us knew I would be back this summer. A couple of months is long for anyone to travel to another continent for the first time in his/her life. As my mother teared away on this final goodbye, I started my first true foreign adventure.
I was on a stationary plane, a plane with mostly Brazilians, who do not, I repeat, not, speak English. As the A/C was switched off, the summer heat of São Paulo hit my right there. And with that my friends, a true odeur of Brazil had introduced itself to me. Quite a shock after snow the night before.
What amazes me still, was that people like to queue. Knowing the plane would not leave until all passenger had boarded, I was waiting and bathing in space, which all of us would have to give up entering the unspacious plane.
As the air cooled before takeoff I became acquainted with my Brazilian neighbors who informed me in sign language about São Paulo. During takeoff I found out it was me who, like the flight attendant put it: "won the warm shower of KLM." as the condense of the A/C would collect itself right above my seat. Simple toilet paper fixed the problem.
After landing, my German friend 'Dominik' from across the pathway and I shared a cab to our final destinations. He got off at his hotel and I continued my way to a lovely three story house. Dominik and I had shared our life stories in the plane over whiskey and wine, and felt a bit like brothers. As we both had never been to Latin America before, we found comfort in each other. Certainly as communication with others in the plane apart from the dutch flight attendants was very limited. He is gonna stay here for two weeks for work, so we will probably share a drink sometime soon.
Upon arrival I was welcomed by my new housemates and we got acquainted over home made caipirinha, and damn, that was good!
After a couple of hours of rather good English I decided my bed was my place to be. And I must say, the bed is pretty fine. For pictures of the house and surroundings, have a look at my album here. Have a look, they're worth it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Day 1.
This morning I woke early and joined my housemate 'Alvaro' for breakfast. And let me tell you, those tomatoes are something else over here.. =)
I spend the first day discovering the city and my neighborhood. As the city is huge, my hood is pretty big itself too. Therefore I decided that knowing where to get my groceries was good for the time being and left for the heart of SP after shopping. Cheese is super expensive, fruit is soo cheap. Moreover, I miss my Mooi Kaap Droë rooi wyn of 3,49. Here you pay at least 6 for something they call wine. I namely bought one for less, and that turned out to be a sweet wine... red...
Metro's are cheap, clean and easy. The wireless Public Transport Chip Card is a relief as I was prepared on stamps et al. The city centre is crowded with people. But the building are insane, big, randomly thrown around, giving the city a very dynamic feel from any angle. It really looks like GTA. There is no other way of putting it. I feel at home here, because I feel I have already been here, virtually. This time I'll try to behave.
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
