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flying to SP

I was right - no more buses. found a red-eye to sao paulo for the same price and got to avoid the 26+ hours bus ride, but still got no sleep and had to crash on the airport floor waiting for local buses to start running in the morning - fair trade off?? not sure. ummmm....I also initially got on the wrong plane - I was strung out enough to not notice and the dudes taking tickets clearly didn’t look close enough. some lady hunts me down on the plane and tells me to get off: this isn’t my flight, I’m on the next one. damn. how silly would that have been if they didn’t notice and I landed in the wrong city?? despite 6 months taking care of myself, I’m still pretty clueless.... andre & luis - I met them through couchsurfers.com - are awesome! andre trades futures, luis does strategy for lowe advertising. these are some of the first working stiffs I’ve met in a while - they wear suits, alarms go off in the morning, they work late. what a strange life they live.... :) but their sweet apartment is on paulista ave, 17th floor, great views of non-stop SP sky scrapers. they loaded me up with their collection of brazilian hip-hop and minimal (my new most favorite music). the area they live in is totally safe - dont beleive the hype. I saw a woman with her purse just hanging from a chair, not wrapped a thousand times around her leg. it’s ironic to see here in “one of the crime capitols of the world” - its unheard of in basically the rest of south america. [btw - did you hear about the mini-civil war happening in rio? drug dealers stole weapons from the cops, cops raid favelas (slums), drug dealers fight back, cops are getting nowhere)] so that first day we get to talking about art and the guys agree to let me do a painting on their wall. we go to the biggest walmart I’ve ever seen to buy paint/brushes. next day I bust out a summary of my south american “dream”. I’ll get pics loaded soon - for those who know my style - this is nothing like it. true to my wish for this trip, I may not be a different person, but my art IS. I worried that the guys would think it was too much, but I think they dig it (I can still here andre saying “c’mon”). after all the art/graffiti I saw the last 5 months (lima, santiago, valpo, BA), this was the best way to pay tribute. that was a soul-nourishing day...!! and a tiny taste of my future once I stop traveling I think... next day I hunted down art museums and DID feel that unsafe vibe everyone talks about in SP. I walked by one abandoned building that I know if I walked into, I’d be mugged - or worse. the guys served up an excellent last night for me to say good-bye to sao paulo and ALL of south america. I tried to ignore that I’m getting sick.....just need to hold out for one day and I’m back in the USA. oy!

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