Post 3: Paulista Avenue

Today we went to Paulista Avenue, a street in Sao Paulo that is completely blocked off for pedestrians every Sunday. The street is filled with artisans, musicians, and performers, and locals looking for a relaxing walk and morning. At one of the market areas, we stopped at a stand selling juice, or "suco." I decided to try "Abacaxi com Hortelã", or "Pineapple with Mint,"  a classic brazilian juice. The drink was a bit intimidating at first because it was green, but it ended up being amazing and I am definitely going to order another before we leave.

We walked through a park right on Paulista Avenue before heading to lunch. This park was full of palm trees and jungle-like greenery. We also saw a pretty large spider as well, which was slightly terrifying but kind of cool. 

My favorite part of today was lunch. We stopped at an alleyway full of street food carts a block or so away from the main avenue. I decided to try something from a cart serving food from Northern Brazil, or "Amazonian" food. I went with a soup called "Tacaca," which had shrimp, a broth that tasted like chicken broth with good spices, and spinach-like leaves that had an interesting flavor I had never tasted before. The leaves leave your mouth feeling numb, a bit like very weak Novocaine you might have at the dentist. It was odd, but I really liked it. 

We left here in the afternoon and headed back to Vila Madelena for our first class, where we were introduced to Energy Systems. We got a good idea of the differences between the cost of fuel and energy consumption in Sao Paulo vs. Boston. It was interesting and I am excited to learn more in the upcoming month.