I made it!

The flight was a breeze and the airport in Sao Paulo was mostly deserted. I'm now in my hotel room. There's a problem with the check-in system, so none of the lights or phones in my room work. I don't know why the internet does, but I'll take it. My plans for the day include loafing around, tracking down food, and taking a shower once the lights come on and I can see in the bathroom. The hotel is actually super nice and very classy, so this light problem is weird. I'm right downtown on Paulista avenue, which is I guess the main street in the city. I don't know how something the size of Sao Paulo has a main street, but I won't question the nice cabbie who tried to show me around. My Portuguese is a lot worse than I thought, but most people in the airport and hotel speak a little English, so we get along fine.

The drive to the hotel was pretty cool. The most obvious thing is how rundown all the buildings are, even in the shopping areas and stuff. The whole place just looks a bit grungy. There's graffiti all over every available surface. Downtown most of it is artistic and pretty cool. We drove through a kind of industrial section to get here, and there the warehouses were tagged with these weird spiky sort of pseudo-rune looking symbols. If Mom were here she'd tell me they're gang signs. Some had little kitty faces drawn on them, though. I don't think Brazilian gangs are that whimsical, but who knows?

It's warm but mostly cloudy, with occasional drizzle. I'm not really hot, just damp. The humidity is insane.

I miss everyone, especially Fred. Off to loaf, I guess!