Michael Paulista, Part 3
On Tuesday, the meeting started quite early by Brazilian standards. Only a handful of our group arrived in time to start, so we delayed things a bit. As each one came in late, they made a comment about how bad the traffic was. The coffee flowed like water all through the day. The catered food consisted of light sandwiches and pastries. This was a contrast to the generally heavy snacks we consume during our US meetings. Doubletree cookies anyone?
A side note about my role in the meetings: The group I support represents transportation and sourcing across all GE businesses. As a corporate-level team, we negotiate the price of shipping products and materials with a select group of freight carriers (or [forwarders]). I build analytical tools that are used to compare pricing and impacts in “real time” as the negotiation progresses.
The meetings had us in the office from 7:30 AM to 5 or 6 PM each night. There was still time afterwards to check out some local restaurants. Tuesday brought us to a buffet style place with a huge variety of Brazilian cuisine (primarily meat). On Wednesday we went to a very cool place built around a huge fig tree.
The most popular beers served were Bohemia and Chopp Brahma. Caipirinha was a fun drink made by adding cachaca to a combination of sugar, ice and fresh limes crushed in the glass.
Our meetings on Thursday ended a bit earlier in the afternoon, giving me the chance to walk around the city and experience some of the attractions. I stopped by a delightful café called Suplicy for a high quality café Americano. MASP, the art museum was an inexpensive treat. In the evening I came across some live Jobim being played in the hotel’s lobby bar.
My return flight on Friday was not scheduled to depart until the evening, so I had time to explore. I took the opportunity to visit the Museu do Futebol. It was a well-designed place full of exciting soccer history. King Pele was on the monitor greeting me as I entered.
Ari showed up at the hotel as planned to take me back to the airport. The lines at Guarulhos airport were not the most invigorating experience, but they were easily ignored as I remembered the highlights of my voyage to Sao Paulo.
Sao Paulo was a massive city. Knowing that I only explored a tiny piece of it leaves me wanting more…more of Sao Paulo and more of Brazil.
Michael Paulista, Part 3 from Miguel Barbato on Vimeo.
Music in Part 3: The Cinematic Orchestra
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