CULTURE SHOCKED!

Since I had previously spent two years in Brazil, I definitely did not think I would experience culture shock at all. But São Paulo is a totally different world, and now that I’m involved with the business culture instead of the everyday culture, I’ve had a lot of changes to get used to. Back on the mission, whenever my comps and I would see something out of the ordinary (which, honestly was almost every day!) we would hum the first couple of lines of the Brazilian national anthem. It was kind of like that movie Blood Diamond where they say “T.I.A. – this is Africa.” It wasn’t the most subtle or polite thing ever, but it helped us to stay in a good mood!

Luckily, in Sao Paulo things aren’t so strange. It’s an enormous city, and has almost everything American I could want. A medium pepperoni pizza from Domino’s may cost me $20 instead of $5, but at least I can get one! The part of the city I live in, Alphaville, is just as nice as any big city in the States. Despite that fact, I was still surprised to realize that I was experiencing culture shock.

Case and point -grocery shopping! I’ve lived on my own before, but always relied on canned chili and easy-to-make sandwiches. Even in 1st world Brazil I don’t have that luxury, but I never thought grocery shopping would be so hard! I walked around the block and went into three grocery stores without buying a single thing. Nothing looked appetizing, and I didn’t know how to cook any of it. It was a little overwhelming! My mom reminded me that she felt the same way when we first arrived in France. I finally settled on soda, bread and butter, rice and a roast chicken. But I never thought grocery shopping could be so hard!

Luckily after a few days I finally had some time to explore my neighborhood, and I found a ‘centro commercial’ and a mall that has a bunch of restaurants, juice bars, gelato, and a food court. My savior! I was especially happy to discover a place called Taco Villa that serves traditional Mexican food. But apparently traditional Mexican food includes enchiladas topped with ketchup and a side of fries. Later on I found some legitimate restaurants, like an Outback Steakhouse –I’ve never enjoyed a steak so much in my life!