After a 10hr delay at Buenos Aires airport, I arrived at my first intended destination - Sao Paulo, Brazil. I was picked up by Cian (an accomplice from Hypercenter infamy) who drove me thru hectic traffic where more than one driver seemed to be in a playstation simulation. Along the way he filled me in on the latest crime trends. Some of the methods were cunningly ingenious and most were backed by the threat of new bodily holes. We passed some decrepid slums, including houses made from trash to a nicer part of town where he lived with his family. This is where I'd be staying for the next few days. Each house is fronted by a big fuck-off gate and neighbourhood watch is a paid off vigilante.
Jetlag only had little teeth, so we caught a train downtown were I got to sharpen some neglected Portuguese (under supervision). Now it would seem from the previously informed paranoia, that we'd be less likely candidates for Darwinism, but not so. While looking for a bar which was a murder scene from 2 days ago (maybe I did have jetlag) we found ourselves climbing stationary esculators in a building where we were the only gringos among a staring black neighbourhood. More than one store here had a sign with "Niggaz" in big print, but the mood wasn't right to pull out my phone camera. At a mutual point of realisation, our conversation stopped (the conversations of others had already stopped) and we hastily backtracked to daylight.
My time at Cian's was useful for learning the language from his daughter who used effective teaching techniques such repetition and emotional engagement. She later told me that i was her best amigo.
From Cian I was keen to gain some insight into his manic productivity in writing several books since the start of the year. The best I can summarise is that on the shoulders of a father's heightened protective instincts sat aggressive misanthropia.
Brazilian bbq is delicious.
It was good to walk the 3 dogs around the streets and we even found some grasslands where they could run free until a local urgently advised that it was infested with poisonous snakes.
I have now flown to Iguassu where I'm about to check out the falls.
Jetlag only had little teeth, so we caught a train downtown were I got to sharpen some neglected Portuguese (under supervision). Now it would seem from the previously informed paranoia, that we'd be less likely candidates for Darwinism, but not so. While looking for a bar which was a murder scene from 2 days ago (maybe I did have jetlag) we found ourselves climbing stationary esculators in a building where we were the only gringos among a staring black neighbourhood. More than one store here had a sign with "Niggaz" in big print, but the mood wasn't right to pull out my phone camera. At a mutual point of realisation, our conversation stopped (the conversations of others had already stopped) and we hastily backtracked to daylight.
My time at Cian's was useful for learning the language from his daughter who used effective teaching techniques such repetition and emotional engagement. She later told me that i was her best amigo.
From Cian I was keen to gain some insight into his manic productivity in writing several books since the start of the year. The best I can summarise is that on the shoulders of a father's heightened protective instincts sat aggressive misanthropia.
Brazilian bbq is delicious.
It was good to walk the 3 dogs around the streets and we even found some grasslands where they could run free until a local urgently advised that it was infested with poisonous snakes.
I have now flown to Iguassu where I'm about to check out the falls.
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