{"id":2906,"date":"2020-04-05T08:45:11","date_gmt":"2020-04-05T13:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/?p=2906"},"modified":"2021-02-06T18:24:35","modified_gmt":"2021-02-07T00:24:35","slug":"sao-paulo-winter-2019-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/?p=2906","title":{"rendered":"S\u00e3o Paulo, Winter 2019-2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In a city of concrete, this sight is repeated endlessly. Sometimes beautiful, sometimes foreboding. It is not an urban dystopia, but it has that side. See the seedy side of the Praca da S\u00e9 and the Metro in the second and third galleries. The first gallery shows the weekly outdoor feira<\/em> (market) in Moema, a truly beautiful place to revel in produce fresh from the rich farms in the countryside.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Market (neighborhood of Moema), Winter holidays 2019-2020<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
$\"Vendor\"$
A little boy watches customers as his father works<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The neighborhood of Moema has a weekly market, like many neighborhoods in the city of S\u00e3o Paulo. These photos are from several visits to the market. Every week vendors of clothing, housewares, repair of kitchen pots and pans, and food stalls for nuts, spices, freshly pressed sugar cane juice, and the ubiquitous pastel shop. The pastel<\/em> is a deep-fried pastry, a bit like long, flat empanada<\/em>, filled with cheese, heart of palm, artichoke, or meat. They can be delicious, dragged dripping with grease from the pan. The Brazilian heart association is silent about their health value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
$\"\"$
Fresh mangoes, papayas, oranges, and much more. It is December in S\u00e3o Paulo, summer in the southern hemisphere. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$ <\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$ <\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$ <\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$ <\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$ <\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$ <\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$ <\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$
Some demand that I take their picture, and cannot resist the ubiquitous Brazilian \u201cthumbs up\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$
Our favorite fruit vendor with the Brazilian double-thumbs up. That day he had a special on lichi nuts.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$ <\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$
This nut and dried fruit vendor was curious about the odd (fisheye) lens<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$
The Brazilian market is an exuberant place<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$ <\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$
Coconut and tapioca stall. Tapioca here is not the breakfast food I knew as a child, but a rich power that is typically fried into crepes and wrapped around cheese and other fillings<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$ <\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$
Among the surprising number of banana species, bananas \u201cprata,\u201d on special here, are smaller than the \u201cnanica\u201d variety which are more like the larger variety commonly found in the U.S. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$
The narrow market aisles, normally suburban streets, are filled with vendors, delivery workers, shoppers, children and dogs<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The S\u00e3o Paulo Metro<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The S\u00e3o Paulo subway system is brilliantly efficient along the many lines that are completed, though many areas in the sprawling city are still underserved. A day in the underground is not exactly like being in Cocteau\u2019s Orpheus, or in Pabst\u2019s dystopian Metropolis, but there is still an eerie feel when you squint a bit and see it as just movement within an unforgiving structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
$\"\"$
This reminds me of the surreal underground journey in Cocteau\u2019s 1950 film Orpheus<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$
Layers upon layers at the Praca da S\u00e9,<\/em> a major transfer point for several metro lines<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$ <\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$
In Fritz Lang\u2019s expressionist film Metropolis (1927) workers move anonymously through layers of elevators and stairs that take them to work, and back<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Pra\u00e7a da S\u00e9<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The plaza, also known as the Largo da S\u00e9<\/em>, is the home of the cathedral. It is also the middle point of S\u00e3o Paulo and a place, they say, from which all distances are measured. It is a famous cathedral, built and rebuilt over the years, and is a popular tourist destination. What tourists experience is different from the travel posters: the plaza is filled with small vendors and diversions of all sorts. You can sell gold there, and buy a vast range of dubious goods and counterfeit items of all sorts. It is a vibrant secondary economy with money being passed surreptitiously from hand to hand everywhere. People bathe in the plaza pool. Except for the Cathedral itself, the area has been given over to all the diversity of the urban area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
$\"\"$
The Pra\u00e7a from the Cathedral steps<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$
The Cathedral in the background, the secondary economy fills the plaza. Everything is for sale<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$
The pool next to the Cathedral, for bathing and washing clothes<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$
Cathedral at the left, a vendor sets up his table<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$
At the edge of the plaza (Cathedral to upper right) a cart with belongings and collected items<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Market (neighborhood of Moema), Winter holidays 2019-2020 The neighborhood of Moema has a weekly market, like many neighborhoods in the city of S\u00e3o Paulo. These photos are from several visits to the market. Every week vendors of clothing, housewares, repair of kitchen pots and pans, and food stalls for nuts, spices, freshly pressed sugar cane … Continue reading S\u00e3o Paulo, Winter 2019-2020<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2906"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2921,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2906\/revisions\/2921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

In a city of concrete, this sight is repeated endlessly. Sometimes beautiful, sometimes foreboding. It is not an urban dystopia, but it has that side. See the seedy side of the Praca da S\u00e9 and the Metro in the second and third galleries. The first gallery shows the weekly outdoor feira<\/em> (market) in Moema, a truly beautiful place to revel in produce fresh from the rich farms in the countryside.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Market (neighborhood of Moema), Winter holidays 2019-2020<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
$\"Vendor\"$
A little boy watches customers as his father works<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The neighborhood of Moema has a weekly market, like many neighborhoods in the city of S\u00e3o Paulo. These photos are from several visits to the market. Every week vendors of clothing, housewares, repair of kitchen pots and pans, and food stalls for nuts, spices, freshly pressed sugar cane juice, and the ubiquitous pastel shop. The pastel<\/em> is a deep-fried pastry, a bit like long, flat empanada<\/em>, filled with cheese, heart of palm, artichoke, or meat. They can be delicious, dragged dripping with grease from the pan. The Brazilian heart association is silent about their health value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
$\"\"$
Fresh mangoes, papayas, oranges, and much more. It is December in S\u00e3o Paulo, summer in the southern hemisphere. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$ <\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$ <\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$ <\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$ <\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$ <\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$ <\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$ <\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$
Some demand that I take their picture, and cannot resist the ubiquitous Brazilian \u201cthumbs up\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$
Our favorite fruit vendor with the Brazilian double-thumbs up. That day he had a special on lichi nuts.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$ <\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$
This nut and dried fruit vendor was curious about the odd (fisheye) lens<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$
The Brazilian market is an exuberant place<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$ <\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$
Coconut and tapioca stall. Tapioca here is not the breakfast food I knew as a child, but a rich power that is typically fried into crepes and wrapped around cheese and other fillings<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$ <\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$
Among the surprising number of banana species, bananas \u201cprata,\u201d on special here, are smaller than the \u201cnanica\u201d variety which are more like the larger variety commonly found in the U.S. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$
The narrow market aisles, normally suburban streets, are filled with vendors, delivery workers, shoppers, children and dogs<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The S\u00e3o Paulo Metro<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The S\u00e3o Paulo subway system is brilliantly efficient along the many lines that are completed, though many areas in the sprawling city are still underserved. A day in the underground is not exactly like being in Cocteau\u2019s Orpheus, or in Pabst\u2019s dystopian Metropolis, but there is still an eerie feel when you squint a bit and see it as just movement within an unforgiving structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
$\"\"$
This reminds me of the surreal underground journey in Cocteau\u2019s 1950 film Orpheus<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$
Layers upon layers at the Praca da S\u00e9,<\/em> a major transfer point for several metro lines<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$ <\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$
In Fritz Lang\u2019s expressionist film Metropolis (1927) workers move anonymously through layers of elevators and stairs that take them to work, and back<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Pra\u00e7a da S\u00e9<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The plaza, also known as the Largo da S\u00e9<\/em>, is the home of the cathedral. It is also the middle point of S\u00e3o Paulo and a place, they say, from which all distances are measured. It is a famous cathedral, built and rebuilt over the years, and is a popular tourist destination. What tourists experience is different from the travel posters: the plaza is filled with small vendors and diversions of all sorts. You can sell gold there, and buy a vast range of dubious goods and counterfeit items of all sorts. It is a vibrant secondary economy with money being passed surreptitiously from hand to hand everywhere. People bathe in the plaza pool. Except for the Cathedral itself, the area has been given over to all the diversity of the urban area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
$\"\"$
The Pra\u00e7a from the Cathedral steps<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$
The Cathedral in the background, the secondary economy fills the plaza. Everything is for sale<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$
The pool next to the Cathedral, for bathing and washing clothes<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$
Cathedral at the left, a vendor sets up his table<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>
$\"\"$
At the edge of the plaza (Cathedral to upper right) a cart with belongings and collected items<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Market (neighborhood of Moema), Winter holidays 2019-2020 The neighborhood of Moema has a weekly market, like many neighborhoods in the city of S\u00e3o Paulo. These photos are from several visits to the market. Every week vendors of clothing, housewares, repair of kitchen pots and pans, and food stalls for nuts, spices, freshly pressed sugar cane … Continue reading S\u00e3o Paulo, Winter 2019-2020<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2906"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2921,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2906\/revisions\/2921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}