Flying over Sao Paulo doesn’t seem the least bit intimidating when landing in the international airport. But fly on a domestic flight, and your heart may miss a few beats as you maneuver through colossal high rises. This city can knock down Manhattan at rush hour and take home the gold medal for traffic madness. If you are in search of a peaceful meeting with nature, Sao Paulo may end up being the last city on your itinerary.
Courtesy alone will get you two inches down 9 de Julho Blvd. Lock your car doors because they won’t remain closed once you drive past the hundreds of street performers, motor cyclists and petty thieves that line bumper to bumper traffic. In a land of the very wealthy and very poor, a traveler must always be cautious of increased crime due to the economic inequity of the society.
This is a vertical city and its height may leave you wondering: just how many people are living here anyway? And why do its residents not expand housing into neighboring lands? In fact, so many people compete for road space to avoid the slums that surround this metropolis of those never-ending high rise apartment homes. Slums are miscellaneous pieces of material slapped together to form a home in a concentrated square. People do actually live in them and not always the poorest. For an American, this visual pollution may entice you to jump right back on the plane. But if that is your only reaction, you are missing out on the opportunity to meet what lies inside of these not so attractive facades.
Visit any Brazilian flat or house and you will be spoileda with a casual hospitality in a perfectly clean setting. Everything in its place and dusted to perfection, it is nearly impossible to see a smear on a glass window. Brazilians pride themselves in being tidy and impeccably clean. Add to this endless choices of palmito salads, papaya halves, seasoned meat loafs, panetonne and guava with cheese for a variety of culinary treats always available for tasting. Portuguese is an affectionate language that will charm you with its musical intonations and kinship to Spanish. Don’t be alarmed if you don’t speak a word of Portuguese as Brazilians will speak to you just as if you were fluent. The warm nature of the people inside of this stressful bubble are the gems of what makes a Paulista the type of resident Sao Paulo prides itself on.
For the Muslim "estrangeiro" (foreigner) Islam can be found behind closed doors. Much like the slums that line the city, the majority of these mosques will be found in dangerous areas. Large barred gates and barbed wire act like a moat to protect these places of worship in unpredictable surroundings. Once you enter the doors to a mosque, a new world awaits.
Brazil’s mezquitas (mosques) heal the economic injustice outside and invite all classes and races into a Moorish masterpiece of pillars, lanterns and geometric artwork. One does not carry a feeling of being watched or feel an invisible or sometimes very obvious curtain segregating genders. All are accepted into a place of worship just as they are. A community buffet will often follow the Friday prayer. Banquet tables hosts homemade Arabic food and halal meat. Africans, Europeans, Middle Easterners, Asians and Latinos share their afternoon siesta together each sexta feira, or Friday. As tables mix classes, economic levels and genders, you may feel as though you were invited to celebrate a family reunion more so than a mere community luncheon.
While Brazil is a mix of immigrants from all around the world, their mezquitas have given Latino Muslims a rest from the inequality outside its doors. If you plan to visit Sao Paulo for work or pleasure remember to get out of your car and go indoors. A world of cleanliness, hospitality and equity awaits your next visit inside.
