Eu gosto de Sao Paulo

I jumped in a plane yesterday and I landed in the city of Sao Paulo. I was welcomed by a winter afternoon of 24 degrees (centigrates, of course), wich was a nice change from the cold (12) in Foz de Iguazu.
Sao Paulo is a megametropoli, home to more than 1.5 times the Belgian population. But despite its size, it doesn't look that messy. A clean underground and reasonably moderm buses run round the clock. Cars practice some creative driving, but tend to respect the trafic lights and speed limits. And much less horning than in Madrid, by the way. From what I've seen, the city is full of "normal" people of all races. I say normal, because I haven't seen neither too much ostentation (megarich) nor very poor. Some of all kinds, of course, but the majority seems sort of middle class. Most cars are quite new, although still small (corsas, clios, 206s ..). But nothing to do with the old models of Porto Alegre, and of course Montevideo or Buenos Aires. The city is huge, as I had the chance to see yesterday when I went to the theatre. I was supposed to take a long combination of metro + bus + train, but seeing I couldn't make it on time I decided to take a taxi. The taxi driver didn't know the street name nor the neighbourhood, so he stopped to ask some other taxi drivers. They didn't know it either, but he could borrow a SP guide which helped us find the way. Just, we were running really late by then, so I earned the right to enjoy slalon driving through 9 lanes urban motorways and also through much smaller streets... you can imagine. We finally made it on time, and I could buy my ticket 1 minute before they closed the ticket office. The play was not quite what I expected, but I still liked it. I think I could understand about 80% of it, which was good. For your info, Peter, I understand beter the Paulistas, which makes things easier here. On my way back I took another taxi, and the driver decided to give me a treat: an extra touristic trip for which I had to pay. Still, I appreciated it, as I could see some other parts of the city, but of course he lost his tip.
Something that called my attention. About one in three of the ads in the street are about studying: universities, masters of all kinds, languages, ... In Montevideo one in two where about getting credits. You have an idea of what the people are asking for.
There's only one thing I miss in Sao Paulo, and they are the cafes from Buenos Aires. But maybe I'll get to see some tomorrow as I walk in the real centre. I also expect to see a different face of the city during the working week. Maybe it will not be as friendly as it's been so far.
About your concerns on my pictures, it's not always easy to find the software to reduce their resolution and upload them. I'll see what I can do. Finally, for Judith, most of the time I write my posts off line and type them whenever I find a computer. You see strange times because the blog is configured with Brussels time, and I am in a different time zone, 5 hours behind. Don't think I'm going to bed that late; even here I still keep healthy habits.