A little bit of charity... Canadian International Society

I have a very soft spot for the Canadian International Society here in São Paulo and the projects that they support. I started working with them on their Board when I first arrived 5 years ago and it was a great way to meet people, keep myself busy and start to integrate not only into the expat community but the broad group of Brazilians that had been a part of the CIS for almost 50 years! Unfortunately this year many members of their Board are leaving or can't volunteer anymore, so if you are looking for something to be passionate about and keep yourself busy then please contact them! president@cisbrasil.org  *No, you don't have to be Canadian or Brazilian!! 

Please take a moment to donate to one of their crowd-funding projects! See details below x

Project Dentinhos Brilhantes

They say a smile is worth a thousand words. Since 2004, the Casa São José has been operating the project “Dentinhos Brilhantes”, providing dental hygiene and education to children and adolescents in the Jardim São Luis neighborhood. Now we need your help to keep this vital program going and to continue bring brilliant smiles to the children of this community.

If you have four minutes, please watch the video to learn more about this project: The Canadian International Society (CIS) together with the organization Juntocomvces have launched this crowd funding project to raise $R6000 to help fund the Dentinhos Brilhantes project for another 6 months. 

Please help! Make a pledge now. Just pick a donation level in the right hand column and click to donate - it only takes a minute:

This is a great opportunity to part of a worthwhile cause. The Casa São José dental program has helped inumerous children and adolescents since the inception of the program. Every dollar pledged makes an impact. A pledge of any amount will make the difference in enabling the program to continue.

This is all or nothing campaign, which means we need to hit our goal or the program won´t get any money.

Please share this link: http://juntos.com.vc/pt/dentinhosbrilhantes

Help spread the word - The success of this campaign depends on getting the word out as widely as possible. Even if you can´t make a pledge, please support us by sharing the above link with your friends via email, Facebook, twitter etc.

Let´s help make the smiles of the children in the Jardim São Luis neighborhood continue to shine bright. Thank you so much for your support.

Pre-Natal Yoga in São Paulo

If you are looking for Pre-Natal Yoga in English then look no further! Check out Aviva's Pre-Natal courses here in São Paulo!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1576453889260830/

Charity Second Hand Sale Event : In Her Shoes

NuBlu Jazz Fest hosted by SESC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghw26g3h6L0

Coffee in São Paulo

The very first coffee I had when I arrived in São Paulo was from our local padaria. I mistakenly asked for a "cafezinho" - which was filtered coffee, pre-sweetened poured into a small chopp glass. One sip and I gagged (politely), asked to pay and tried to hide the almost full cup of black sweet tobacco "coffee" somewhere behind the half eaten coxinha. Where was the amazing Brazilian coffee I had always heard about!!??

5 years ago there were two cafés that served good coffee- Octavio on Faria Lima (filled with business men sipping R 10 coffee) and Santo Grão in Itaim and Jardins (decent coffee, slowest staff ever).

In the past few years some true coffee enthusiasts have finally opened some establishments serving great local coffee. The café culture that I know from New Zealand still does not exist here but you can find an espresso much more readily in padarias and local restaurants, along side Nespresso (ugh, but I can see why it is so popular here in Brazil when there is not many other options). I brought my own espresso machine in from the US and then started the search for decent coffee beans... and YAY, I discovered FAF coffee. You can order online from their issoecafe site here and they deliver, or you can pick up from their Lab in Pinheiros. My favourite is the FAF Reserva organic beans which can also be ground if you don't have your own grinder. If you're looking for a great milk for frothing, my favourite is Leitissimo- even thought it is UHT milk it is super creamy, and the "cleanest" milk you'll find in Brazil, even more so than the fresh A grade milk.

Other coffee shops to check out here in São Paulo include Sofa Cafe in Pinheiros, Coffee Lab in Pinheiros which also gives courses, Deliqate in Jardins with a good lunch option, the barista from Café Urbe just won best barista for Aeropress this weekend just gone and of course our very own Sophie & Theos' Cafe in Jardins where you can have the best cupcake alongside your coffee - and a great place for taking a few hours to sit and chill / work.  There are still very limited options but the list is slowly growing.

Sophie & Theo's Cafe - Rua Augusta 2239, Jardins inside Escola São Paulo. An oasis from the hustle and bustle of Rua Augusta - step into Escola São Paulo and choose to work in the quiet (aircon) library or take in the calm of the terrace at the back with a coffee and a cupcake. Serves light lunches, fresh juices, and open from 8am-10pm Monday to Friday and 9am - 5pm Saturdays.

Sofa Cafe - Rua Bianchi Bertoldi, 130, Pinheiros.

Coffee Lab - Rua Fradique Coutinho, 1340, Pinheiros.

Deliqatê - Alameda Jaú, 1191, Jardins.

Café Urbe -Rua Antônio Carlos, 404, Consolação

Octavio - Avenida Brigadeiro Faria Lima, 2996

Santo Grão - Rua Oscar Freire, 413, Jardins or Rua Jeronimo da Veiga 179, Itaim

Fruit and Vegetable markets in São Paulo

When we lived in Jardins we had a fresh fruit and vege market, "feira" literally on our doorstep. I always prefer buying from the feiras than a supermarket, the experience is so much more fun. My favourite market is on Saturdays in Vila Madalena on Mourato Coelho. Things can be more expensive than some of supermarkets but I love being able to pick out my own fruits (or ask the vendors to pick fruit out for me), and try lots of exotic fruits. I've also been meaning to check out CEASA* which is a big market in Pinheiros. It has a flower market on Tuesday and Friday mornings and the rest of the week it's a giant feira - apparently very good for fresh fish. I will try and visit in the next couple of weeks, now that I can drive there!

An update (09/03/2015)
*CEASA is located on the Marginal just past Parque Vila Lobos in Pinheiros. It is one of my favourite places to take the girls early morning on Saturday or Sunday. It is enormous! You can find the trolley queue and leave an ID with them in exchange for a trolley, pop your kids in and go have a palmito pastel with a fresh coconut, eat watermelon or mangoes from the hands of the fruit sellers, let the kids pick bright red tomatoes or the crunchiest cucumbers. They also have the best chilli stand - you can buy jalapenos, hot red malaguetas as well as Bhut jolokia - the spiciest chilli in the world!

If you are looking for a market near you, check this link here.