This is my first draft of these show notes but I am planning to add links and photos when I have more time but just want to get something posted before I pick up my kids from school.

10. Guarana Antartica – my new favorite soda!

9. The colors! People warned me that São Paulo is grey but that was not my experience. Yes, there’s plenty of concrete as one would expect from the fourth biggest city in the world, but I’ve never seen so many murals packed into a city.

8. The music, especially while visiting Avenida Paulista on Sunday.

7. Biblioteca Parque Villa-Lobos, an absolutely gorgeous vibrant library that was a wonderful gathering place and teeming with life on a Sunday.

6. Ibirapuera Park

5. The museums! Especially the Jewish Museum, the Portuguese Language Museum, and MASP.

4. Getting the chance to really practice my Portuguese. Brazilians are so encouraging and they did not make fun of my redneck accent.

3. The food, oh my god, the food.

2. The literature of course! Brazilian literature is the side quest for my Read Around the World project and with every book I read, I fall in love with it even more deeply.

1. THE PEOPLE. Brazilians are warm, friendly, enthusiastic, and just ridiculously awesome. The world can learn so much about being human from Brazil.