Brazilian Beach Babe

Brazilians seems to me one of the most visibly diverse populations I have even encountered. Brazilians are African. Brazilians are European. Brazilians are Asian. Brazilians are native. Though even with this seemingly balanced mix, they of course still crack racial jokes. Brazilians wear bright colors (especially green and yellow, colors of the flag), and are CRAZY about their soccer.

I arrived in Sao Paulo City, in the Sao Paulo state, and have been staying with Carol and her relatives - her aunt and uncle, and her grandmother, who both have beautiful apartments close to each other in the city center (see me with Carol, above, and with her family, below). As I mentioned, they have been feeding me, and the food here has been a dream come true. Vegetables, delicious beef (and I don´t even like beef!), and lots of fresh fruit. One fruit here called Kaki looks just like a tomato (yes, I know, tomatoes are supposedly fruits too). Only when you bite into it can you believe it is not really a tomato, it is like an optical illusion.
Sao Paulo is a huge city. With a population of around 17 million, it is one of the biggest in the world. Unlike some of my other stops, Sao Paulo is not a tourist destination. The foreigners in Sao Paulo are there for business only, this is a business town.

Upon arrival, Carol´s mother Cristina took me to the coast, about one hour away, to experience the infamous Brazilian beaches. Carol´s aunt and uncle have a beach house (apartment, there are not many real ¨houses¨ here) at a place called Riviera. After visiting some of the nearby cities, we spent the night and had the whole next day at the beach. On our way there, Cristina took me to a shop to buy a bathing suit. Now, bear in mind that Brazilian standards for ¨too small¨ in bikini talk are far different from our own. Cristina and the saleswoman kept handing me items to try on, and all I kept saying was ¨bigger, bigger, BIGGER!¨ In the end I left with a bikini in what was probably the largest size they had, a GG. Don´t get too excited guys, if you were here you´d be wearing a speedo ; )
Our day at the beach was nice and relaxing. The scenery was gorgeous - city meets beach meets hills - very nice. Being the off-season down here and heading into their winter, we had the beaches almost to ourselves. Cristina warned me not to go in the water because it is ¨too cold¨ this time of year. Cold ocean water to Brazilians turned out to be ocean on the warmest day in New England, so I had a blast swimming in the waves with no one in my way! Here is a shot of my ocean fun, this is the closest view you´ll get of my new bikini:

Desiring some more sights, I headed to the one and only Rio de Janeiro! I´m here now, though it is pouring rain so I´m not sure just how many ¨sights¨ I´ll see. I´ll will write about Rio soon.

Joan