food and transportation

transporation in Sao Paulo
We took the bus and the subway saturday (May 10th), to see an art museum on the other side of town. We went with the doctor and his wife and the mission president and his wife. Sao Paulo is a huge city; one of the largest cities in the world. There are between 18 and 20 million people just in this city.

I hope we can learn how to travel the public transportation on our own soon. Grandpa/Vern gets to ride free because he is over 65; but I have to pay. It costs about $1.25 to ride the bus and about the same to ride the subway. I don’t think we will try it on our own until we get a map of the subway system and a bus schedule.

The museum had a special show of Japanese art that was very nice. There were also several galleries of old 16th and 17th century oil paintings and sculptures. I learned, during my schooling in New York, that Sao Paulo has a high concentration of illustrators and graphic designers. So I enjoyed the modern art display I think the best.

Grandpa/Vern and I have to be very careful walking because all of the sidewalks are maintained by the store or home owners. Some are stones, some are tile, and some are cement. Some are very nice and well maintained; while others are uneven, cracked and broken. The woman that showed me how to walk to the post office told me to keep my eyes on the ground if I want to avoid falling. I like to look and smile at people while I walk and say “bom dia” (good morning) or “boa tarde” (good afternoon). So looking down is quite unnatural for me. So I try to keep looking up and down while I am walking.

We also learned that cars have the ride away and pedestrians have to yield to the cars and motor bikes—which are all over the place winding in and out of the traffic. We were told that there are, on an average, about three to five deaths a day of these motorcyclists.


There are hundreds of little shops on every street. Some are only the size of a small bedroom. Others are two levels high but still very narrow. Many shops are on the front of a home. Some of the people move the shop in at night and park there car where the shop is during the day. Space is at a premium here in Sao Paulo and ever square foot is used. You can also see people putting up make shift tents and living on the grassy mediums between some of the major streets.

One landscaping feature that I really like here is a plant that grows on the walls. This makes the stucco wall look wonderful, like a green hedge instead of a wall. Graffiti is everywhere except on the high rises or gated areas. Even if there were to be some paint sprayed on the plants that grow on the walls, the plant is trimmed regularly and the paint would be gone.

The food here is wonderful.
They always have white rolls for breakfast lunch and dinner. They always have cucumbers, carrots, beats, lettuce, chard, cabbage, unions, peppers, tomatoes and onions—cut up and presented a different way each meal. At least every other meal they have cooked and chilled broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant and string beans. Some times they have olives, crated cheeses and mushrooms but not very often.

Every Thursday night we have pizza. It is not like American pizza but just a quick bread crust with melted cheese. Some have various meats such as red sausage, or ham and pineapple, or olives and onions. They also make a dessert pizza with chocolate on it and slivered almonds and it looks like cream cheese. Everyday they have some type of pudding dessert. I have not been eating the desserts so I don’t know how good they are, but they seem to disappear fast.

Every meal they serve white rice and black or red beans, sometimes beans with chicken, other times beans and sausage. Every day they have chicken, beef, and sausage or ham cooked different ways.

They serve two kinds of fresh maid juice one is usually orange juice and the other, one of their local fruits. They have four different types of juices and different soft drinks on tap. They also have carbonated water on tap that you can mix with the fresh made juices. All the water in the the CTM is filtered and safte to drink and tastes wonderful. Every meal you can have apples, bananas, papya, grapes, pinapple, watermelon, and guava. The missionaries are allowed to take apples and bananas out of the cafeteria. They can eat as much as they like but are told to take small portions and go back for more rather than waste food.

Brazilians typically have cheese and sliced ham to make a breakfast sandwich. They also have three flavors of yogurt on tap every morning. The milk here comes in cartons that do not need to be refrigerated until it is opened. They serve hot chocolate too in the morning; but I have to ask for hot water. They serve granola, bran cerial, and two kinds of regular sugar coated grain flakes. They also serve two different kinds of sweet breads for breakfast as well.

You can see why missionaries and senior couples usually gain weight here.