No, I mean seriously.

We arrive in Sao Paulo at around 8:00 pm something (i.e. 12 hours after the original ETA). The immigration takes a couple of minutes. It's amazing how efficient it is. I am impressed : maybe 10 or 15 lines are open (Brazilian nationals, foreigners).

The airport looks terrible on the other hand. It feels like I landed in Angola years ago. Just a bit less dirty and disorganized :) 

We reach the luggage delivery area and, after what seemed to all of us like a long wait, a voice starts speaking in the microphone : we are having a slight technical problem with the delivery of your luggage. We apologize for the inconvenience... Follows a huge wave of unhappy exclamations among the travelers. I can't stop laughing :)

Eventually, I recover my backpack and off I am. When I reach the inside of the general terminal, Brazil hits me : pão de queijo (a tiny bread roll, filled with cheese, not bad at all), rissois (beignets fourrés à diverses choses...), and other typical delicacies are right in front of me.

I have no time to waste though and look for ATMs. I quickly find three of them. Well. Believe it or not but NONE of them agreed to give me cash, despite my Gold Visa... Angry, pissed, pissed, angry, scared. The good thing I still had 150 US Dollars in cash. That helped me get to Paulo's place : I took a shuttle from the international airport to aeroporto de Congonhas, which is downtown Sao Paulo (true !) and then a cab to Paulo's place.

From that moment onwards, everything went way better.

Paulo's place is a "condominio" (co-ownership) made of two huge buildings (28 floors) having four apartments per floor on average. There's a huge garage, tennis court, skate area, swimming pool, and various entertainment rooms, all of this surrounded by tall gates and some serious security at the front gate of all this. 

I had to provide my identity, whom I was visiting, in what apartment, what building, what floor. They then called him to make sure I was expected and only then they opened the gate to the taxi driver.

The smell in the elevator and on the various floors of the building reminded me very much of Angola : it's a smell that carries humid air and like a vague mouldy aftertaste due to closed spaces. Wow. This took me back 20 years before in a split second.

I got welcomed by Paulo and his lovely girlfriend, Carol. After a bit of chatting and a well deserved shower, I went to bed straight away. Sleeping was all I could think of.

Who is Paulo ? I'll tell you next. :-)

Nadege