SP Night Market

Wednesday 26 September
hosted by Plug N Work

The first edition of SP Night Market will be on Wednesday 26 September. An evening where you can network + mingle amongst specially selected vendors; gourmet food, wine, art and fashion and of course cupcakes!

Entry R$20/ person + chance to win raffle prizes from the selected vendors.

https://www.facebook.com/SpNightMarket

https://www.facebook.com/events/366549233420960/

Through fresh eyes

I've been rediscovering Sao Paulo this week with my friend, Maria, who is looking to move here. She landed a week ago and her first days here have already been filled with so much awe and appreciation (she just moved from Dubai - could you get 2 cities any more different?), and good old laughs as she adapts back into Portuguese.

I threw her in the deep end up on her second day here by loaning her my car. Not only did she end up in rush hour traffic;  the clutch failed on the Reboucas turn off from the Marginal and she had to ask a CET guy help her drive the car up to an emergency bay. All those cars driving in their rodizio who drove past in the 10 minutes the CET man was distracted have Maria to thank if they don't get a fine.

It's been so great to see Sao Paulo all over again through Maria's eyes. She is SOOO excited about fresh fruit and vegetables, greenery, public displays of affection, drinking in a garage bar and not at a hotel bar,... all those things you can't get or do in Dubai of course. It's all about perspective right?

Check out her Sao Paulo blogging here.

And if you know of any company looking to hire a Finance / Commercial Director let us know because she really wants to stay!!

Get in the right frame of mind

Get moving!
Moving countries...cities... neighbourhoods, can all be pretty daunting. I met a lady the other day who is just about to move to Chennai, India with her husband's work. She was pretty happy about moving there. I can imagine having curry every day is a pretty good draw, and there are lots of cultural links with the UK and maybe she might be just plain excited about moving somewhere new. I have to say I'm a little jealous. Not that I want to leave Sao Paulo anytime soon but I love the idea of the unknown.  The running joke for us, is that now that we've got our Permanent Residency, where should we move to next? We have limited options now because the girls will be of (serious) school age in a few years so let's see..

Get some perspective!
I actually wanted to write about all the naysayers; all those people who hate the idea of Sao Paulo before they've even stepped foot in the city. To be fair, GRU is not the best introduction let alone the taxi ride down the Marginal into the city. Crime, language, traffic, cost of things can also be thrown onto the list. I've met people here who have hated Sao Paulo so much it seeps into their every day life... I always wonder if they are only like this in Sao Paulo or will they just move back to their own city and find something else to complain about.

Get in the right frame of mind!

• Make the effort to learn the language, seriously. Make some Brazilian friends. We went to our local bar almost every night and learned a lot of our Portuguese through talking to anyone and everyone. A few caipirinhas don't hurt either. We went on a 4 day holiday as soon as we arrived with 8 Brazilians and the entire weekend was in Portuguese - I didn't understand a thing.
• Find a house / apartment close to work / school so you have some sanity in your life, i.e. traffic-free.
• Adapt and use Brazilian products - I love Granada soaps, Arezzo shoes and Pao de Queijos!
• Make the effort to get to know the city - check out different neighbourhoods every weekend. This big, dirty city has SO much to offer.
• Get out to the beach as often as you can for a breath of fresh air. We're going for the third weekend in a row!

Every city has it's pro's and con's and I'm not saying that Sao Paulo is the best place in the world to live in but for right now, it works for us. Maybe I'm being biaised because I AM a city girl... put me in the countryside and I might be writing a completely different blog here : )