AltSci Blog

For those who read too much Reddit, you've probably seen this fly to the front page: Nightclub fire kills at least 245 in southern Brazil. My heart goes out to those affected by the fire. I hope that this event will encourage more safety in construction of venues.

Sunday was so different than any other day. Bicycles were abundant, most shops were closed, and São Bento Metro station was closed. But that isn't close to all. I went to a samba party in República and afterward (I was more tired than I have ever been) we went to a Carnaval preview party in Anhangabau by Vai Vai. It was so incredibly packed that I could hardly believe it. It filled the street for a block and a half. It was at the bottom of a large hill, so you could hear and see it for blocks despite the buildings.

Carnaval is not universally loved however. It is mainly a thing for lovers of samba and lovers of big crowded parties. Who doesn't like samba? Many paulistas (people from São Paulo) have specific musical tastes, like anywhere. Some people just don't like big crowds. I can sympathize, I don't like crowded dance floors any more than they do.

I'm thinking about going to the beach next week. That probably means Rio de Janeiro or Florinopolis. It will be a pretty big diversion but I'm not getting a lot done in São Paulo.

Jan 17, 2013

I'm in Brasil now. I already posted a blog on my Brasil blog.

Short story time. Twitter doesn't work in the subway and I didn't want to write interesting stuff to Twitter after it ate a message, so here are a few notes about Tuesday night in New York.

Customs in Brasil is way easy. They confused me for a moment speaking too quickly but switched to English when I failed to respond. They weren't impressed by my clif bars. The bus to Paulista is hourly and 30 real. A cab would have been sixty in comparison. The bus would have held my bike, I'm regretting leaving it in Seattle now.

It's warm and wet in São Paulo now and the forecast is wet too. I need a plastic bag to put my stuff in because my bag isn't waterproof.

I'm glad to be back, but I must say that I'm wondering why I'm here. To learn, to make friends and to improve my life by using my vacation wisely.