First impression of Sao Jose dos Campos

I need to learn Portuguese. Nobody speaks English. I finally got my internet working (they'd spelt my name Hobbys). I just ordered some food at the mega-mall and got a funny look. When the food arrived, it came with a colouring-in book. No llamas.

I'd pictured San Paulo as a massive city (perhaps like Barcelona) and Sao Jose dos Compos to be a small town (perhaps like Sant Cugat) where people lounged around in restaurants, eating Tapas and watching Tango dancing (with their llama tied up outside). I can't say much about San Paulo except that, from the air, it looked massive and the airport has a very friendly information centre lady who does speak a little English. Sao Jose dos Campos at first glance seems a bit like Brownsville, Texas. From my window (on the 7th floor of the Ibis), I can see a petrol station, lots of 3 lane roads, the Colinas Shopping centre and a few palm trees. The shopping centre didn't seem to have an entrance (just a large car park), but I found a way in through a supermarket in which I bought some Suco Tropical De Maracuja that is Oganico. There's a picture on it of happy looking people picking an unidentifiable fruit (oh, I've just found out that it is a type of passion fruit).

When I arrived last night, I discovered that nobody was waiting for me at the airport. This led to an interesting 30 minutes of trying to buy telephone cards and contacting someone. By the time that I had done this the driver had arrived. He didn't speak any English, but enjoyed listening to lots of Tango music.

I attach lots of photos from the flight (the picture on the ground is at Auckland airport). Dad, notice the small runway near the mountains!! I also attach a photo of Sha with a sheep.