Becoming Paulista
I took my time in Sao Paulo, for which I gladly blame Natalia, who runs an independent news agency and is the face of Wikileaks in Brazil, using my days on a few projects that came my way, while enjoying bits and pieces of what Sao Paulo has to offer. For one, we spent a weekend on the beach, finally giving me my first swim in the sea after two months in Brazil.
We missed the celebration of Kingsday. The Dutch embassy is 1000km to the north in Brasilia, which is a bit much. There are consulates both in Rio and Sao Paulo, but it was the Dutch society of Rio that threw a Dutch party in the party capital of Brazil. We didn't feel the six hour ride was worth it. Instead, a week late, we visited the Dutch colony of Holambra, the name a contraction of Holland, America and Brazil. The town, founded shortly after the second world war, has become the largest flower producer in the country and still has a very dominant Dutch community. And sports the largest windmill in the Americas.
Sampa carnival, or, the biggest gay pride in the world
Attendance numbers ranging from 2.5 to 5 million, the Sao Paulo gay pride parade is the biggest in the world, even though only six floats participated, basically just trio electronicos with some gay and transexual dancers on the top, making the whole event more like a huge bloco than an actual gay pride.
Still, a lot of fun, even though in our party of three, two of us had their cellphones stolen. I thankfully had left mine at home.