Dental plan

Another Brazilian cultural difference I was tipped off to before coming, was the importance of dental hygiene here. Back in the States, more than once I've witnessed visiting Brazilian co-workers in the office brushing their teeth in the bathroom after lunch. Reminds me that Lisa needs braces (ibiza interpretation).

Now as an American, when traveling in Britain or Europe sometimes people wouldn't be too happy about my country's foreign policy or the decisions of our Presidents of the past, but one thing the Brits and the Euros always seemed to admire about us Americans is our white and straight teeth. I don't know who me and my fellow Americans have to thank for making dental hygiene a priority in our everyday lives, but I'll just go ahead and thank the ADA, American Dental Association.

However, the Brazilians put us to shame! I mean, brushing after lunch? At work here there's even toothpaste and dental floss in the bathroom. When I've talked to Brazilian co-workers about this difference, they've told that they feel gross if they don't brush after lunch! Wow!

And check out this Dentist's office:

It's located and this major Boulevard, Avenida Ibirpuera, and can you see the dentist's chair right there in the front window? I think the last thing I would want when I'm held captive in that chair with my mouth pried open by 7 different tools is a city of 12 million people being able to see me at my finest hours, but you got to admit, that office sure is shiny!

Getting into town

So I went to Brazil with a healthy sense of apprehension. Everyone says it's a pretty dangerous place. One Brazilian advised my co-worker when she same to São Paulo to always leave her laptop in the office, and if she walked around only go with a group of 15 people.

So when I got off the plane, I was completely disoriented. I had to stand in line for like an hour and a half at customs, baggage claim, and finally at the exit. While in line, I stood out like a sore thumb. But not because I was a foreigner, but because of my age and because I was a woman. I guess I'm not the typical business traveler to Brazil. My Sunday night red eye was filled with middle aged bussiness men (I saw one savily dressed woman) and there were definitely no young backpackers or hippies. I guess this bodes well for Brazil's economoy? And yeah, there werew certainly no other young online-advertising-coordinators arriving in SP on this Monday morning. It really makes me stop and say, wow, what a crazy opportunity this is!

Anyway, I was completely relieved that someone was waiting for me at the airport. I don't think after that flight and with my Portugues I would've been able to find my way into the city very well, without maybe getting ripped off. My driver was a nice guy, 30 years old, who spoke great English -- having only learned it here in Brazil (which I'm always really impressed with.) I told him I was learning a bit of Portuguese and we spoke a little bit.

It took about 45 minutes with the traffic to get into the city. From the outskirts you can see the skyline of SP. It's very impressive. I've never seen an stretch of skyscrapers that wrap around almost like a panorama. São Paulo is a city with 12 million people in the city, and 20 million in the metro area. This is bigger than the American metropolises in NY or LA. And it's fascinating! SP feels like a combo of those two -- it's got the verticality of New York and the horizontal breadth of LA. So far, I love it.