Day 20, 21, 22 – São Paulo – Progressively Louder Laughter

I’m back in SP, and I love it. I feel like I am getting a much clearer sense of the city, despite the somewhat frustrating and mostly funny language barrier.

On my way from the airport to my hostel, I passed TWO record shops!!! I arrived at my hostel, threw my backpack off like it was on fire, and hurled myself towards the record shop. I think the owner and I are now friends because when I returned today (a few days later) he called out ‘Kathryn!’ and then proceeded to give me the lowdown on all of the Brazilian music I should check out. It’s one of the real joys in collecting music- getting to see other people get excited about something they are passionate about.I’m realizing that colour and design go a long way for me, and in this way, São Paulo is incredible. The city is covered in vibrant street art and stores and restaurants that have unique and beautiful designs. It’s a total feast for the eyes. On Tuesday I went to the Museum of Art with some girls from my hostel. I was very intrigued by the curation of the museum, as it was one massive room with the pieces all facing the entrance in rows. The pieces were in freestanding glass panes, secured in cement blocks.

The artist name and description were on backs of the painting, meaning you had to walk around the painting to get any information about the piece. It made the experience more interactive and memorable, forcing you to spend more time with every piece. I used it as an excuse to test my old art history knowledge which is in dire need of a refresher.

I won’t go into the history of the Guerrilla Girls but I bought this poster which is really cool:I’ve been lucky to have incredibly sunny weather this week, it makes São Paulo so easy to walk. On Wednesday I went to the Ibirapuera park with a friend from the hostel.

While we were there we visited the Museu Afro Brasil which was an amazing museum. Unfortunately, it was all in Portuguese so we left feeling no wiser and maybe even a little confused.