São Paulo

7:00 in the morning is not always the most welcoming time to meet with a group of 13 other sleep-deprived kids, but I guess everything runs a little differently here. Unfortunately, I only got 5 hours of sleep last night because of the differences in wake up times from the day before. I woke up at 6, having to leave the house at 7 for the São Paulo city tour. We all met in front of Nikki's house then and got into our bus and headed off to São Paulo. It is about a 1 hour and 20 minute drive, but I noticed that we kept stopping for Ze to go to the bathroom-maybe 4 or 5 times. I thought that something was probably up unless he had just drank 6 gallons of water. I asked Maria if he was OK and she said that he wasn't feeling at his best, actually worse than less than at his best. He was really nauseous and just didn't feel good all around. When we arrived in São Paulo and got off of the bus to do a walking part of the tour, Marcelo met up with us and took Ze back home, but don't worry, he is feeling fine now. We walked into a Cathedral and through one of the main parts of the city where we ended at a small café. We all got espresso and brigadeiro and had a nice break from walking. We met back up with our bus and then had some time on the bus while we went to another part of the city.

We got out of the bus and I realized that I recognized the buildings. I looked down the street and we were very close to the hotel that I had stayed at when I was in São Paulo previoiusly. I recognized all the buildings, I already have pictures of almost everything in the area! It felt really cool being in the same place I had already been...IN BRAZIL!!! We walked around some more and ended up in a bookstore where I picked up a Dave Matthews Band album and the newest Fall Out Boy CD that just came out. We spent some time in the nice air conditioned bookstore and then walked back outside to brave the heat. We met our bus again close-by and headed for some lunch. I enjoyed a pastel, a sort of deep fried large pocket with cheese and meat inside, and of course, Guarana Antarctica. From there, we drove to a nice park where we sat down and rested for about a half an hour. From there, we went to a local shopping mall where we spent a couple of hours there.

Of course, all of the girls were very excited to get some new clothes, whereas the boys just trudged around and tried on sunglasses. I was going to buy a nice new pair of Oakley Gascans, but I looked down and the price was 500 Reals, YIKES!!! I guess I'll just have to wait to find a better price. We spent lots of time just hanging out and then finally had some dinner and headed back to the bus. Everybody slept on the bus except for me, Nikki, Gen, Blake, and Bruce. We talked about a variety of things, and it was nice to spend more time with them. Unfortunately, when we stepped off the bus Gen came over to me and told me that the happy couple was no more. They had decided that they were going to break up on the bus ride back. I guess they just didn't work, but had some fun while it lasted!

Tomorrow we all head out back to Ubatuba for the beach sleepover. All of the boys are sleeping at Yago's house and the girls at Kathe's. Gen is heading off on a cruise so she won't be there, but I'm sure we can still have some fun! I won't be able to get on and tell you all what is happening, but more to come on the 12th...