que não mata, engorda

two words: brigadeiro and maracujá. if i don't make it to santiago, scan the washington luís highway for churrascurias (sorry, katie b, i've gone full-fledged carnivore on this trip). i will probably be outside in a food coma. if not, try calling around to bakeries in são paulo. be warned: there are many. tonight, i learned that the portuguese equivalent of what doesn't kill you makes you stronger is que não mata, engorda. it translates roughly as what doesn't kill you makes you fatter. yup. lest you think me only a glutton for good eats...

são paulo
minha familia brasiliera: sílvio lived with the fam as an exchange student when i was in 5th grade. between his abilities to roller skate backwards and add bossa nova flair to piano renditions of "a whole new world," sílvio single-handedly raised my popularity stock by 10 points. after nearly 20 years, it was wonderful to visit with him and his family. left to right: jim, leonor, sílvio, dad.

leonor, too, enjoyed the churrascuria.

ibirapuera park: riding bikes with leticia (leonor's daughter) was a highlight. the others made for pretty good company, too.

we obvi ditched our bikes upon discovering a labrinyth made from recycled materials.

meeting the saitos: dad became very close with the saito family while living in araçatuba. their daughter, marisa (2nd to back, left side), came to live with the fam in evanston when i was first discovering my love for monologuing and eating rice with italian dressing.

marcelo (3rd to back, left side in photo above) drove us to the são paulo temple, which was dedicated in 1978 and was the first in mormon temple in south america.

street art: what would travel be without a spontaneous rendezvous with a space invader?

thanks to a pair of friendly musicians, dad, jim, and i found our way to beco de batman (batman's alley). scott n and sam c, if you ever find yourselves in são paulo, promise me you'll have a photographic hayday in batman's alley.

favelas: lining the highway on our way out of town, these communities reminded me that i had a very privileged tour of são paulo.

são carlos
although it was a brief visit, i was thrilled to see gabriela in this beautiful college town 3 hours west of são paulo. i met gabriela when she was teaching free portuguese classes in detroit as part of a fulbright fellowship. after several weeks of classes, she made me promise that when i made my first trip to brazil, i would visit her. she sweetened the deal with a promise of homemade mousse de maracujá.

araçatuba

dad, jim, and i took in the fazendas and landscape as we continued west to araçatuba. 

senhora saito (to dad's right) welcomed us into her home, much as she did when mom and dad returned for a visit in 1979. hearing the senhora recount how she met dad as a young mormon missionary, and the influence that has had on her life, will be a potent memory for years to come.

it's long past bedtime and we have a big day tomorrow: traveling to buritama with the saito family to see what has changed since the days of dad's snake story...love from brazil!