Under Union Flags

With the wave of public demonstrations in the city continuing, a normally grey concrete setting was thrown into colour recently when various worker's unions gathered under the Museum of Art Sao Paulo, on Avenida Paulista. MASP, as it's more commonly known, is one of relatively few easily recognisable landmarks in the city due it's unusual architectural design. It stands elevated on 4 structural columns, in this instance allowing various unions (sindicatos) to gather underneath in order to demand various "melhorias", a term for better working conditions. 

The final drop!

In English we say "the straw that broke the camel's back!" In Portuguese it's "a gota d'agua", or the final drop of water. An announced public transport fare increase from R$3 to R$3.20 may not have seemed particularly significant to those looking in from outside the country, but it was "the final drop of water" for the Brazilian public already indignant at a transport system that fails to cope with demand, the billions of public money spent on football stadiums for next year's World Cup in spite of poor public hospitals and schools, and the ever-continuing political corruption. From June 2013 onwards in major cities across the nation, demonstrations of the like not seen for 20 years led to the inevitable minority who left burning cars, buses etc. in their wake. After an initially defiant stance, the government were eventually forced to pour water on the flames, so to speak, by scraping the intended fare rise. 

Fortune's Fools?

As time and the world marches on (or a bus rolls by as in this case) there are always those who are left by the wayside. This city certainly isn't lacking in those who have given in to substance abuse, cachaca (a cheaply available & potent alcoholic drink derived from sugar cane), mental illness, misfortune, or various combinations thereof. In fact, "Cracolândia", or "Crackland", is an area where crack addicts, including children & pregnant women, converge to get high through the night & the streets become reminiscent of zombie movie sets. Social workers & church volunteers attempt to pull addicts out of their magnetic world, while experimental visitors from other states & even countries often become entrapped. Whether fortune's fools or mearly foolish, these are the residents of the darkest side of the city.

Men At Work

In this city of momentum, they couldn't put enough reflectors on me to do this job! Just stand in the middle of Avenida Faria Lima, one of the busiest avenues in the city, and direct traffic... You see that bicycle up against the lamp-post? That would be my exit strategy... 

Advertising, how low will they go?

Remember Tom Cruise in Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report"? He walks through a shopping mall and companies have lasers that scan your eye's retina and start calling you by name and personalising their adds? Well, this week I saw evidence that that terrifying thought is drawing closer to reality, when in Pinheiros Metro station an advertiser had set up a light & dry ice rig that projected the company logo, with commuters having to walk through it! Pretty hard to ignore. If that wasn't bad enough, last night my sleep was twice disturbed by computerized tele-marking calls on my mobile at 1.30am & 3am!! As I say, advertising, how low will they go?

The Flame Thrower of Poá

I often like to look up the variety of definitions that exist for a word, in order to get a greater feeling for it. This weekend the term was "Hustler", to which one definition read: "a shrewd or unscrupulous person who knows how to circumvent difficulties". São Paulo has the highest number "hustlers" I've ever seen in a city, and you come across them everywhere, from trains to zebra crossings. I met this particular hustler in my home town and he fell on the better side of the definition, simply offering talent for a willing donation. He also offered me a great São Paulo second to capture. 

Anyone for German folk dancing?

Every end of May an area of the city named Brooklin celebrates the German spring by holding MaiFest (May Festival). Thanks to a large population of German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, and Portuguese immigrants, one thing that this city can't be criticised for is cultural diversity, as proven by the somewhat unusual novelty of coming across traditional German folk dancing in the streets of São Paulo.