We arrived in Sao Paulo on Friday afternoon, after a 6 hour bus trip from Paraty.

Another taxi ride from the bus station to the hotel, and what a hotel it is!! Looks like it was very nice when it was built (I´m guessing in the 60s) and nothing has been changed since. The radio on the bedside cabinet is like the one we used to have back in the batch (really old and starts with a whine until the music starts). Sink in the basin is very cracked and the power shower looks like it came out of the ark. Worst part is that it doesn´t even look clean so we decide to shower in our jandals.

Our tour leader takes us on a short orientation of the city, and our impression of Sao Paulo doesn´t get any better. We stayed in Republica which is a historic part of the city. Homeless people sleep in the park near the hotel and wander the streets. Lots of clothing shops a short walk from the hotel with many security guards standing outside the open shop front watching for any theft. One guy sites up on a stand (picture a lifeguard seat high up) and watches over the pharmacy.

We walked to the main cathedral and square which seats 8,000 and has recently had a visit from the pope. There was some sort of catholic rally going on with lots of guys standing outside so we didn´t enter in.

Dinner was nice a buffet for only 9 reals (about 3 pounds). The funniest part was while I was getting seconds this little kid (about 4) wandered up to our table and took my napkin that was sitting under my cutlery. His parents looked on horified. He must have been told to get a napkin and saw mine so took it. His parents walked him back to my table with a fresh napkin and made him appologise. Very funny

We had found a SDA church within a short walk so on Saturday morning we walked there. When we got to the address we were a little confused as the address was a hotel!! We wandered up the street a little further and didn´t see anything so decided to try back at the hotel. On the way back Tony saw a guy in a suit with a bible in his bag so guess he was probably an Adventist so we followed him for awhile. Unfortunatly I think he was a little lost as he appears to be in a hurry and asking lots of people for directions. He headed away from the hotel, so we decided to head back to the hotel.

At the reception we asked for Adventista, and they pointed us upstairs. The church was held in one of the conference rooms.

Small group of about 30-40 were meeting, and only seats were in the front row. They made room for us, and offered us a hymnal for the songs (in Portugese of course). The Pastor welcomed us in Portugese but we don´t know any Portugese so we just said to the woman next to us "English" and "New Zealand".

They didn´t have a piano, but only a CD player a speaker which they played the music to the hymns. Different hymns to what we have in English, very short and none of the tunes were familiar.

Pastor was very dynamic and spoke on Jonas (Jonah). Guy sitting behind us spoke a little english so helped out with us finding the text. Worse part was they held up the entire service while I tried to find Jonah (ok it is a small book) and once I found it they continued. We could tell the Pastor was really good, as I didn´t get too bored after 40 minutes of Portugese. He spoke with his hands and we understood the names of things.

After the service they tried to ask where we were from. I only knew about 3 words in Portugese (Hello, Thank You, Yes, No and a few numbers) so the confersation didn´t get very far. Tony spoke a little to the guy who spoke english, and then we left. Lots of Chaos from people and kisses on the cheek from the Pastors wife. All very lovely.

After church we took the metro to a big park and walked around for a few hours. Large park with lots of people going for a jog (way too hot for me to be running in this temperature!) and families out. Lots of guys playing football of course and generally people out being active.

Dinner was at another buffet restaurant and the chef cooked individual pasta which was nice.

After the meal and homeless man walked up to us and was trying to sell his cute little dog that was sitting across his shoulders. He kept saying 1 Real for my dog (in Portugese, our gude traslated). He seemed serious, and I think it was his dog it looked very cared for. Tony thought it was a little dog we´d seen barking earlier on some shop steps that he´d stolen. Very sad to see people begging on the streets.

On our way to the restaurant a boy had run across the street and kept holding out his hand and speaking in Portugese. He was very dirty and his legs looked like they hadn´t had a wash in a long time.