Sao Paulo’s arts, craft’s, and flea markets.

Sao Paulo’s arts, craft’s, and flea markets.

During the weekend, Paulistas likes to stroll by the arts and crafts flea markets spread around the town to grab food, listen to folk music, observe the street artists and off course shop.
There are at least six good arts and crafts/flea markets to go! I choose stop by Republica and Liberade at this time.
Repulbica square is locating in downtown Sao Paulo; easy access by subway and the best day to go to shop arts and crafts is on Sundays.The place where you should buy your souvenirs or little gifts for the folks back home… outrageously beautiful amethysts to put anywhere in the house for just esthetical reasons, bookends, wind chimes, key holders and much more, made out of “sliced” stones that look like nothing from the outside but are fantastically beautiful from the inside…. and so much more that it’s hard to mention all of it here…. well, paintings, leather goods, there’s good food too and massage chairs where you can get a quickie back massage ( right there in the public) for peanuts….. It works only on early Sundays (like 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM)
Right after checked out Republica I took the subway and head to Liberade flea market Oriental Fair at Praça da Liberdade, almost exclusively dedicated to oriental (in this case Japanese, but also korean and chinese) food and a huge variety of arty and gadgetery items ranging from clever wooden kitchen and massage utensils, incense, dolls, clothes more…

Strike and violence at USP the biggest University in South America

USP is one of the largest institutions of higher education in Brazil and Latin America, with approximately 75,000 enrolled students. It has eleven campuses, four of them in the City of São Paulo.
The Times Higher Education 2008 World University Rankings ranks USP as the 196th top university in the world, with a top ranking in Latin America
It is very unfortunate that our country is worrying about 2014 World Cup knowing that we lack in education which is extremely crucial for the development of Brazil.
Professors, campus workers, students, are all asking for a decent raise, improvement of the campus and worker’s benefits.
It is shocking that the police react with violence! This reminds me the dictatorship times when students used to be beaten up and killed for protesting. If all the Brazilians thought and acted as an USP student this country would be a better and different place to live!

Fashion Industry Thoughts and Vanity at the 25 Edition of the Creator’s House In Sao Paulo

The creator’s house is a partnership of the fashion journalist Andre Hidalgo
and young upcoming designers to launch their collections to Brazilian main markets. The event has also art installations and a stage with live bands performing.
Created in 1997 has brought up many Brazilian designers such as Fabia Berseck, Cavalera, Carlota Joaquina, Marcelo Sommer etc
The 25 edition marks my return to the journalistic/fashion field.
Fashion will always be one of my favorite pleasure able things in this world, however I find the vanity and ego in this field very discussing and I have being thinking a lot of the consume in excess that fashion leads people to do it.
Running around the backstage to find colleagues and friends, I could notice the weird vibe in the spot, especially in the bathroom where the models compare themselves with another models and check out normal girls.
I could not stop seeing situations around me, when I realize some people I worked with long time ago were very different and snob because of the visibility to be on a TV show, it made more sense to me why I don’t feel the same about working in the fashion industry.
Checking the runways was fun and I could get some references for my upcoming production jobs. Some of student’s collections from the Project Lab are better than they main line up.
I really liked the Project Lab of Arnaldo Ventura I heard some people were running after the show asking where to buy his clothes!
I wonder what will report in fashion history books some years from now what the designers in our times were trying to express and bring to the people during through fashion in recession times?

Brazil’s mysteries discovering Ayahusca

Man and woman are separate in two sides and stays eyes closed/ silent for a long self discovery

Man and woman are separate in two sides and stay eyes closed/ silent for a long self discovery

Shamanism; a journey for the ayahysca knowledge

Ayahuaska was introducing to Master Irineu Serra by the rainforest Indians. In these early experiences, he encountered the Virgin Mary (the Queen of the Forest) and began receiving the guidance, which developed into a religious doctrine throughout the remainder of his long life.
The use of ayahuasca under a variety of names is a widespread practice among various indigenous aboriginal tribes endemic to the Amazon Basin (Schultes, 1957). Such practices undoubtedly were well established in pre-Columbian times, and in fact may have been known to the earliest human inhabitants of the region. Iconographic depictions on ceramics and other artifacts from Ecuador have provided evidence that the practice dates to at least 2000 B.C. (Naranjo, 1986). Its widespread distribution among numerous Amazonian tribes also argues for its relative antiquity.
The medicinal tea prepared principally from Banisteriopsis Caapi is a Malpighiaceous jungle liana found in the tropical regions of South America.
Ayahuasca is used widely used throughout the Amazon for healing and spiritual exploration.
In Brazil, a number of modern religious movements based on the use of
ayahuasca have emerged, the most famous of them being Santo Daime
and the União do Vegetal (or UDV), usually in an animistic context that
may be shamanistic or, more often (as with Santo Daime and the UDV), integrated with Christianity.
Unfortunate some of these leagues use the daime as an excuse to take advantage of people’s faith and make profit of it. The Cefluris is a case famously known for combining drugs such as marijuana and cocaine with ayhuaska. They also are famous for taking advantage of the foreign people who visits Brasil interested in the ayahusca.
It is very important to research and make sure to visit a trustable place to try the Ayahuasca.
My younger brother has been into shamanism for over two years at the Instituto Espiritual Xamânico Céu Nossa Senhora da Conceição.
I decide to go to a shamanism ritual with him and I have to confess my life has not being the same since…
I arrived in Brazil in December 2008 knowing I needed a brake from everything in the extreme capitalist world. After eight years far from South America, I knew this trip was going to lead me to a deep change before I hit my thirties.
I already went to four-shamanism rituals and I have found so much about myself.

Vila Magdalena Art Alley’s and Galleries

I went to Vila Magdalena couple of days ago to check out few art spots I have being interested since I arrived in Sao Paulo. The first place I checked is near Benedito Calixto Square (famous for the Saturday’s flea market).
Shock Cultural is a known graffiti/urban art spot in Sao Paulo. It is locate in an old all graffitied 50’s house. The current show has artists from many countries including Japan, USA, Germany and Brazil.
After Shock Cultural, I went strolling though the famous Batman Alley. It is seriously an open graffiti museum to admire! Unfortunate I missed out the open studios and art galleries on Vila Magdalena couple of weekends ago! It happens once a year!
Vila Magdalena has one of the best street art/graffiti I have seen in Sao Paulo so far! Enjoy the pictures!

<img src=”http://acrosstheuniversebycibelebossi.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/dsc03255.jpg?w=375″

This where I live. This is Who I am.

This Where I live. This is Who I am.

I grew up in Sao Paulo and lived in the city until I was twenty-one years old. From an Italian immigrant family we always lived in the West side of the town. Butanta is a low-med-high worker class neighborhood next to the University of Sao Paulo.
Located only 15-20 minutes from Paulista Ave, Jardins and the central parts of the town I never complaint of living there until I was an teenager and needed to stay out of the house more often close to the central happenings.
It was interesting to meet people during college time and get to know how was their lives growing up, since Sao Paulo is so huge and cultural rich, some neighbors can be the size of a European country.
Our days since I been back I notice that the neighbor where I grew up started to kick out all the families and build new apt/condos for the students of USP. Just in my street about six families sold their houses and immediately constructions started. There is about five students condominium in my street and unfortunate the neighborhood is losing the living family feeling. A metro station is on the way and more students apt as well. In the middle of all this change, I could find some spots that did not change it all; the main square (Praca Elis Regina) and the long stair near the square (called escadao)
I like to walk by the Praca Elis Regina and watch the senior’s playing cards/domino in the early morning. There is also a lady in a Volkswagen Kombi selling pastel and caldo de cana (Brazilian drink made by sugar cane), (pastel is an fried dough stuffed with meat, cheese or vegetable)
The escadao (the long stair) is a great place to meditate and stay quiet. I saw couple of cute houses along the way up. I like to go up and down in the escadao couple of times for exercising.
Sometimes you have to stop and appreciate what you can have near you and explore it! Where you live and grow up defines who you are.

Sao Paulo is still dreaming of a clean river. Or no?!

Pinheiros River by Vila Olimpia Train Station

Vila Olimpia Train Station near the river

No signs of life only sadness

Would you be ok in buy an 3mi apt right next to a favela?

Dreaming of a prettier river

Sao Paulo has two main rivers crossing the entire city:
Rio Pinheiros and Rio Tiete.
I have being dreaming since I was a little girl for the day I will see live fish and nature in those rivers. For about 20 years, five different governors passed and billions of dollars including foreign capital have been spend in revitalization projects. Not much has changed. It is so ashamed that our governors spent 20 years of our tax money, (by they way we pay after England one of the highest taxes in the world) promising a clean and safe river for the population of Sao Paulo.
Paulistas urge more green areas and improvement of eco environment-healthy life style since the living in the concrete jungle is harsh and full of social-political problem.
Lately the powerful Globo TV channel (we call Globo the fourth power in Brazil) have started to show interested with the river situation and even helped financially to build an expensive cool design architecture bridge (Ponte Staiada) located at the marginal freeway behind the studios. It probably looks good and hides the river in the background of the news.
Globo TV is pressing the governor and the population using it is own media to do something urgent about the Sao Paulo River conditions. I actually despise Globo, however I think this is a good cause and subject of my interest as well.
By train, I stroll near Pinheiros river couple of times per week to go to my classes in a financial district. It is very unpleasant to smell and see all the dirty around the river. It is also absurd watch the insane reality in the third world and just accepts. There is favela near rich neighbors, and now near supper luxury condominium in construction.
For a small price of 3 million, the apt comes with a privileged view of a polluted river and just one elevator to premises of the new Cidade Jardim Luxury Mall. Welcome to our reality!

Graffiti in Sao Paulo

People touring around Vila Madalena for some graffiti open art

Subjects range from family portraits to commentary on São Paulo’s social and political circumstances, as well as Brazilian folklore. Their graffiti style was influenced by both traditional hip hop style and the Brazilian pixação movement.

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Subjects range from family portraits to commentary on São Paulo's social and political circumstances, as well as Brazilian folklore. Their graffiti style was influenced by both traditional hip hop style and the Brazilian pixação movement.

Sao Paulo Graffiti

When you arrive in Sao Paulo, there are two main things you will notice: The traffic☹ Unfortunate does not attract me much, however is a harsh reality in the entire city and affects the paulista society living. The second and actually most attractive in my opinion is the graffiti art you see all over town.
One of my favorite pieces appears along key avenues: a large stern block-like face, accompanied by the sentence: “Você é um escravo do trânsito.” [You are a slave to traffic.] I always chuckle when I see it because it captures one of the inevitabilities of living here.
You can also see terrible graffiti made by gangs that competes exclusively against each other trying to achieve impossible, high, public historic locations. Those gangs are all over the city. They usually write messages or their gang names just to owe the spot.

Sao Paulo x Rio= Brazilian Social Differences

Concrete Jungle living

Vida Loca in the place where all you need is a cup of pinga and a girl.

I have been back in Sao Paulo/Brazil since December of 2008. Totally estranged to the city, I have lived in the USA for 8 years. Now I found myself lost in the chaotic life of a society in development. My view is different, a bit more critical, however more understandable to the current society. I have found many interesting situations, places and daily routine to share.
Sao Paulo has about 18 million people. It is not a tourist destination people search to visit in Brazil. Is ugly, crowded and people are always stressed out running around. Paulistas are not as friendly as cariocas or have their relaxed life style (including manners and fashion style). Paulistas usually work a lot, spends half of their time stuck in traffic and drink more than anyone else in Brazil. Trust me they drink a lot at night!

Another interesting fact is that we are divided in small groups, scenes, witch turns us very close and stuck into to the same spots. Normally paulistas like to go to the beach on holidays or crowd the shopping malls for the latest piece of consume.

Sometimes I admire cariocas for their lifestyle, however I find very sad how that city is exposed worldwide. Probably one of the capitals of the sex tourism. In part, the government has a huge contribution to the situation selling the country’s image in very sexual propaganda with girls in thongs.

Unfortunate we have a huge social difference . Brazil is still an illiterate country making people (specially girls), suffer, and work and dream of a better life in a gringo’s arms.
Is interesting to notice since I been back home, running into foreign people and chatting, many of them tells me that the main reason they come here is to get girls and drink pinga!
I feel sad and empty inside, however 8 years away from my country made me forget about a strange reality that is actually a reality to some people.
What Brazil is about it? What can we show you that do not have sexual interests?
Living in Sao Paulo, educate, a traveler of the world I found myself thinking what Brazil is in your eyes?