Michael Paulista, Part 2
I met my friend and associate, Lance (pronounced “Lancie” by the Brazilians) in the Club Lounge. Bruno came to let me know that my room was ready and drop off my key. The room was simple but provided a great panoramic view of the city. Later in the week, I decided that Renaissance, Sao Paulo was one of my favorite hotels (for business travel, of course). I refreshed myself and met lance for an introductory walkabout on Paulista Ave. Paulista Ave. is known as the business center of the city, housing numerous financial and cultural buildings. We traversed through an antique fair set up underneath the Museum of Art, MASP. We also passed by some sort of demonstration for women’s rights on the street that included loud music and some dancing. There was even a small section of native forest park nestled in amongst the high rise buildings, which provided a shady place to stop.
More of the story and another video after the cut…
After a few hours, we went back to rest before dinner. We were both tired out, and I had a few hours of work to do prior to the meetings. Happy hour started in the lounge at 5:30 pm, and we did not want to miss out. They offered complimentary Brazilian snacks, Bohemia beer and even the national mixed drink, Caipirinha. The Italian restaurant across the street was quaint and delicious. We sweated through dinner and called it a night.
The next day we met for our “Club Lounge” breakfast and made a plan. First, we needed to get to the meeting facility, which was at GE Healthcare a few miles away. We met back in the lobby with our gear and asked for a taxi. The ride around town offered more visuals than I could take in all at once. We passed by countless businesses and restaurants, people waiting for buses, and loads of taxis. I was glad we would get to take that trip each day. It was my first introduction to the traffic of Sao Paulo.
The next step was meeting setup. Our Brazilian contacts met us at the building and were extremely helpful with all of our requests. The room turned out just right for this smaller-scale meeting. Another associate from our team (the negotiation leader) flew in that day and met us there. We brought everyone up to speed on our process and called it a day.
Finally, we invited everyone to happy hour at a local bar. A small group of people joined us and exposed us to some local appetizers and beverages. The spread represented the best of deep-fried goodies, meat-filled treats and other snacks. Jimmi, the hot sauce as quite good too. To keep the beer cold, they bring it out in a bucket of ice. Everyone shares larger-sized bottles, pouring into small glasses in order to keep the beer as cold as possible.
Michael Paulista, Part 2 from Miguel Barbato on Vimeo.
Music in Part 1 : The Cinematic Orchestra; Part 2: Four Tet.
This is part 2 of the 3 part series, Michael Paulista.
Holga | 120mm
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