To begin our city
tour of Sao Paulo, we visited the Mercado (market), a place filled with sights
and sounds and lots of delicious things.
Every fruit stand affords a new opportunity to realize how little I know
about this part of the world. The fruits
themselves are both exotic and delicious.
Caju, maracuja (passion fruit), one that looks like a little red sea
urchin, and numerous others broaden our apples-bananas-oranges perspective with
every stall we pass.
A short sidebar for a moment… Daniel, my incredibly friendly and welcoming host, informed me a few nights ago that he needed to stop by the supermarket on the way home. I was interested to see what that locale would have to offer in Brazil, and so prepared myself to enjoy the trip - maybe to do economic-minded things like compare prices and product selection. What ensued was an slightly different type of exploration. Any fruit I could not identify was quickly tossed into the cart. When Daniel asked what else would be different, I naturally suggested we review the candy selection (this may not be surprising to many of you). We went up the candy isle and back down the cookie isle, again with nearly everything I couldn't identify ending up in the cart. Daniel's lovely wife Erica had planned to meet us at the store before heading home, and she joined us right about the time we reached the checkout. We were given more than one sideways glance with raised eyebrow as we proceeded to unload a cartful of just fruit, cookies, and candy. I think we went to the store primarily for the lone loaf of bread hiding at the bottom. So much for sending the boys to do the shopping :)
Back to the market
in Sao Paulo. I snapped this photo from
the mezzanine just prior to our massive
bologna sandwiches, from one of the deli shops that rather ingeniously blow the
delicious aroma out into the air with large mist-enhanced fans. I had to chuckle at the appearance of a
fruit-stand standoff between the vendors.
All day long, staring at each other,
"Those guys in their blue shirts, they think they stand a chance??"
"Look at them, standing around like they're guarding the place. Do I need to show ID or something? I bet they don't even know if their mangos are fresh."
Meanwhile, the only
customers to be seen are crowded around the stand without a vanguard of vendors
ready to assist. Ah well, it is Sunday
morning, and a lazy one at that. I imagine
Monday at noon would be a different story.
A final note from
the market - dried cranberries are $20 per pound (roughly). Our mini boxes of Craisins to give away seem
a little more extravagant than they used to!
That's about when my camera battery died, so I'll leave the rest of our
Sao Paulo tour to the others.
--
To continue my
commerce-themed recount of our adventures, I must explain that Daniel (my host)
runs his own factory for the production of cleaning chemicals. Fabric softener and bleach are two examples
of his products at "Creative Quimica".
In this good example
of a Brazilian small business, he has eleven employees. Starting from a very small operation, he has grown the facility into one
with a solid customer base and the beginnings of more significantly automated
systems. He is actively investing in
capital to improve productivity, and he has to constantly navigate the
challenges of strong labor laws and renewal applications for his chemical
production permits from the local government.
Here he is on the factory floor.
This is a
rapidly-developing country, and Sorocaba appears from many angles to be in a
prime position for continued growth. The
city already produces wind turbine blades, Campari liquor, and even zippers! (the zipper factory strikes me as a
particularly good one for an episode of Mr. Rodgers or "How it's
Made") But, social conditions,
infrastructure, and legal institutions all play a role in determining both the
pace and the character of change. One
can say with complete confidence that the environment is a dynamic one, and
I've been lucky to receive such an in-depth, first-hand introduction.
--
We are all sad to be
leaving Sorocaba, but we have been incredibly fortunate to have such wonderful
hosts and facilitators here. We have
been greeted with warmth and genuine appreciation everywhere we have gone. I'm looking forward to the next stage of our
adventures, and I look back with a smile (and a hug and a "beijo"!)
to all our newfound friends. I'm quite
certain it won't be the last time we have the chance to say "Tudo
bem!"
The red sea urchin fruits are Rambutam - a type of lychee fruit. Tasty little buggers!
ReplyDeleteThat's what I was going to say, Melissa!
ReplyDelete