street 'neath these beaten up shoes

I woke up at an unearthly hour to go give an English lesson, but I ended up having a full day. The day still isn't finished and I feel complete. First, I went to get some Starbucks, just so I could sit in those comfortable, purple velvety armchairs. I spent about an hour writing in my journal, listening to Sleeping at Last, dreaming about different things, especially him : )

I left Starbucks and began my long trek on Paulista Avenue, which is basically the financial heart of Brazil. It's downtown São Paulo, and it's just a really long avenue, which would be to you a Boulevard. I love looking up at the buildings and seeing the variety of architecture. Most of them are interesting and you wonder how they can even stand.

I found a little cultural center, tucked in between a huge hospital and huge buildings, called "Casa das Rosas" (House of Roses) It's being perserved by a live-in poet who lets you enter for free. He also advertises courses and different expositions. I went in to find that a visual artist, Jun Yokoyama, did several "flash stories" in memory of several amazing literature authors. For example, Goethe who wrote, "Faust" and of course, Edgar Allan Poe.

It's almost as if I was one of those hippies on the sidewalks, wandering around with no sense of purpose. It's quite marvelous.

I'm often awe struck at how huge this city is, I'm always discovering new places and getting to know new areas of town. There's so much culture in one place, that it's really quite extraordinary. Sometimes, when I'm squished like a sardine in the buses, I wonder how I can live in such a hectic and rushed city. I really like it though - at times I want to slow down, but usually I'm anxious to be out again exploring.