My 8:30 alarm came way too fast this morning. I still hadn't quite recovered from the long travel day yesterday, but I knew that if I could just force myself up, I would be good to go. I brought myself up to the breakfast buffet and was not disappointed; eggs, toast, baked goods, fruit, juice, yogurt... and something i had not had since back in Canada that had been a staple to my diet since longer than i can remember - breakfast cereal. I actually had two bowls when I saw it. A little taste of home. While I ate, I looked up the nearest Catholic church and mass times. Turned out, there was one about a 10 minute walk from here and had a mass at 10am. Very convenient. I finished my breakfast, got changed and went. The streets were pretty dead, walking there this morning. Because it was sunday, this wasn't surprising. I arrived quickly to the church and noticed it right away. It was small, but super extravagant. Statues, artwork, pillars and detail everywhere. The mass followed the same procedures as back home, and since my portuguese reading skill is the best part of my language knowledge, i was able to read beforehand and understand the readings. It was just like being back home in mass. Afterwards, I made it back to my room and chilled for a little bit, but didn't let myself rest long since I knew that this evening would be full of that. I got myself up and decided to walk up to avenida Paulista, the main street of the area. It was a steep, uphill hike to get there, but it was a piece of cake compared to where I was hiking before (this was paved road). I made it up fast and was amazed by the size of this street. Several lanes both ways with bike lanes, and massive sidewalks on both sides. Skyscrapers towered above on both sides and stores lined the bottom (although many were closed because it was sunday). I walked a little ways until a starbucks caught my eye - of course I had to finally get a real black coffee. It was better than the other coffee by far, but still wasn't as good as home. Their wifi was down too, so I carried on. I walked all the way to the end of the street, walking into the odd mall every so often to check out mainly the food courts for anything appealing. Nothing was a great find so I carried on. I walked to an area called paraíso, where i decided to try out the metro system. I asked the ticket seller for a map, and he gave me one with the metro lines on one side and a cartoon city map on the other. Thinking this map was at least somewhat to scale, I jumped on a train to where i figured their central park was located. Turns out, I was way off, and since it would be dark fairly soon and i still hadn't eaten, i decided to head back to the hotel area. Across the street, I had a plate of common brazilian food (thin steak, rice, beans, salad and flour). Afterwards, I bought some bread from a nearby place so that i had something for later. I spend the rest of the evening lazing around in my room. I called a few people and watched some TV, but i really have to rest up and get healthy (i'm still not quite at 100% yet) before WYD. It's been kind of random, so if it gets worse, I might go in to see a doctor for a checkup. Hopefully it's gone by tomorrow though - i want to see some more of the sites tomorrow!
Av. Paulista
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