Snapshots

-Really, as long as it's daylight or you're in a group, it's okay. My favorite time of the day is morning. My least is the night. The nearby church bells ring out daily at noon and six.

-Regardless of what my phone's weather forecast says, it's 85 here every day. I was freaked out about not having air conditioning (only the elite of the elite have central air here), but I have to say our apartment has some kind of magic going. It never gets hot in here. Open up a few windows and it's never higher than 75. All that being said, we will have a portable unit before next Summer strikes.

-I've done my share of traveling and I can tell you that Sao Paulo has the most beautiful women of any place I've ever been. Call me biased if you like because I'm marrying one of them. So be it. It doesn't change the reality walking by you on the street every day. If you are a single guy and you're not visiting here, you are unknowingly regretting this and every moment. Trust me.

-Dani's brother drove us home from his place last night. It's when I realized that my new greatest fear in life is to be lost in this city at night with no phone, no money, no ride. The vampires here are real. You see it driving by.

-It's been a few weeks here and I will never complain about the US government again. The DMV is a well-oiled machine. Congress is highly functional. It really is true. I forever have a new appreciation for the efficiency of America.

-Tokyo was number two, by the way.

-Dani's parents bought us a flatscreen, which was awesome of them. When we hook it up, it will be used for our computer, DVDs, etc. The television programming here is worthless. Forget the language barrier. The shows here are just a giant void.

-We got our first power bill. I was amazed at how low it was. Then I remembered, oh yeah, no air conditioning.

-I've gone without television for almost three weeks now. It's been effortless to give up. You really want to watch something? It'll be online. That's how I watched Resurrection. That's how I'll watch March Madness. The television set is just an ether pump sucking away the hours.

-Brazil was a dictatorship until right around my first birthday.

-We got our internet installed today. Finally. I can't tell you the relief of logging into Netflix after going nearly three weeks without. You can't just go to netflix.com here, though. You have to go through some proxy server, so that Netflix thinks you're in America. Hola.org and HideMyAss.com are examples. At the end of the day, it's just a few more clicks.

-I've had a few conversations lately about small business here. One with a guy who is operating one. The other with a guy wanting to start one. The overriding message I got from both is that here, it's basically impossible.

-Our building has a gym in it. Just a few machines and some free weights. I'm almost in the routine of going every day now. I've yet to see another tenant in there. Hello, big extra room in our apartment.

-It costs more to close a business in Brazil than to start one.

-If this city has a theme song equivalent to Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York," it's the song "Sampa" by Caetano Veloso. He's one of Brazil's most famous, and still living, singers.

The song sounds pleasant and floaty. Just a guitar and vocals. I've played it a lot over the last few months for Dani, mostly to cheer her up when she misses home. Arriving here, I played it as a celebration of my new city.

I never bothered to translate the lyrics. I knew a few of the words and would sing them in short bursts. I just always figured it was one of those commercial little ditties about how great a place is.

"Something happens in my heart
 When I cross Ipiranga and Sao Joao Avenue"

I read those translated lyrics tonight. It was what I expected. And then I kept reading.

I had heard the song was about Caetano moving to Sao Paulo and not really knowing what to make of it at first. I read them tonight and two verses later I was openly crying.

Even for a Brazilian moving to Sao Paulo, the new city Caetano found himself in left him feeling the same way that I did, but couldn't put into words.

"And you were a difficult beginning
I get away of what I don't know
And those who sell a different dream of a happy city
Soon learn to call you reality
Because you are the other side
Of the other side
Of the other side"

It will always be one of my favorites. When I listen to it, I will be here again.

Listen to "Sampa" by Caetano Veloso here.