Thank y... Graci... I mean: Obrigado

I only really knew two things about Sao Paulo, Brazil, before we got there: 1.) It is gigantic and 2.) Our friend Mauricio lives there. Well, both are confirmed. Although we unfortunately didn't find a chance to meet up with Mauricio while we were there, I can verify that the city itself is terrifyingly large. So large, in fact, that all four of us fell asleep during our taxi ride from the airport to our hotel.

The city that never ends.

We only had a short stay in Sao Paulo and no definite plans, so we tried to fit in what we could. Our first night there we went to a pizza place we had heard a lot about. Listen, I know, I know... why am I going to pizza places in South America? Let me explain. Number one, this pizza was incredible... some of the best pizza I've ever had. Number two, when traveling with Sophie, it's kind of a requirement that you eat some type of Italian food every couple of days. However, most of all, this pizza is a big deal in Sao Paulo. Sao Paulo (and much of Brazil) has a huge Italian population. In fact, when we met up with Federico, Dan's friend from Milan, Italy, who is currently living in Brazil, he said that he is convinced that Sao Paulo has a larger Italian population than any other city in the world, even the cities in Italy. If that's the case, then they probably know what they're doing when it comes to pizza.

The Cathedral in Sao Paulo.

I wanted to buy EVERYTHING at this market.

Our second day in Sao Paulo, we explored the city center a little bit, visiting a few churches and a giant market. However, that evening was the main event in my book. Federico took us to a pre-Carnival samba troop practice. Much like how you will find dance troops in New Orleans that prepare and practice for Mardi Gras, there are samba dance troops in Brazil. The particular group we went to watch, the Rosas, has been around since 1971 and is something of an institution in Sao Paulo. People slowly filled the troop's auditorium and the show got started.

I want to be these ladies when I grow up.

To begin, these fabulously dressed older women started dancing, and they danced for hours. Simply watching them made me tired. They were adorable and incredible. Then the troop's dancers filled the center of the auditorium. It was a huge production. There were royalty of the troop from all age groups, alumni from the troop's earliest years, security guards, and long-time fans. And the dancers were incredible. I didn't know people could move their feet so fast. After the main show, it turned into one giant celebration with everyone on the dance floor trying their hands at samba. I hated to leave when we did, but we had an early flight the next morning, and I could hardly function I was so tired. We left the auditorium with the ringing of drums still pounding in our ears.

The beautiful samba queens. These ladies are intense.

The crowd went WILD at the end. Awesome.

Sao Paulo was an interesting experience for me. Although we had stayed in Brazil in Foz do Iguacu, we really didn't experience too much Portuguese. The people at our hostel and our tour guide all spoke to us in English. Foz do Iguacu was a tourist's paradise. However, in Sao Paulo, I don't think I saw another tourist. And whatever insane hopes I had of being able to understand a word of Portuguese were instantly dashed when I realized I could, in fact, not. In my defense, I can kind of read Portuguese, at least enough to know how to get around, but I can't understand a word of it when it's spoken. It's a beautiful language, though. We survived Sao Paulo on broken conversations of Portuguese, Spanish and English, and we got by the best we could. People were mostly very helpful and kind to the four gringos who were in way over their heads. What was most interesting, though,w as that it wasn't until Brazil that I realized how comfortable I was traveling in a Spanish speaking country. In Chile and Argentina I had no trouble getting where or what I wanted. So I think I must be learning Spanish, even though it doesn't always feel like it.