Sao Paulo - finding your way in the concrete jungle

Ah we have arrived! Finally a moment of peace and quiet and a chance to be about as useful as tits on a nun. We decided to blow a few hours and good percentage of our piggybank in a bar on top of Sao Paulo's Edificio Italia (one of São Paulo's tallest buildings) observing the buildings that make you want to call the architect in question to tell him not to drink and draft transform themselves from daylight horror into a magical machine of lights at night. Okay yes sure the caipirinhas & live jazz also helped make our life less miserable. This machine doesn't stop; it seems the local hobby is commuting and let me tell you they like bragging about it these oddballs. We overheard one of those things with two legs, cellphone and laptop bag (whadda you call em again? Employees?) show off by saying she takes 2 hours to get home... Ha! Beginner! I left home two months ago and I'm still not there! Take THAT!Who believes all the stories they tell about Brazil and the omnipresent violence? We do. We got to our hostel and the first thing I hear is a couple of loud bangs. Rest in peace I think as I make a mental note to lock all doors a go hide in the closet for the rest of our stay in Brazil. Then there is my ladyfriend who squeezes my hand to pulp every time she sees something suspicious. Like 30 cops dragging one single homeless woman to her new address (two blocks down the road). I thought I was pretty safe with all those policemen around, but no, my hand is still hurting. Bedtime. I slept perfectly, but if I can believe Sandra our hostel got teleported straight into Baghdad as soon as I fell asleep. All night big bangs outside because of...soccer. The paulistas are on their way to conquer the most prestigious South America cup. All in all Sao Paulo is a big city as safe as any other where if you look and behave like a tourist you really ask for some extra attention. You'd be unlikely to find a dutch tourist here as prices are considerably high; who said South America was cheap? We already miss our 0.65€ coffee, fresh sardines and tasty grilled meat in Castelo! Thank god for the Brazilian cachaça (and the 2.5€ caipirinhas) which help us forget about home. Forget about bargaining as well as here you either pay or you leave or get shot if you happen to find yourself with a debt in a favela, a refreshing concept one should introduce in India... That is the not bargaining part off course...what were you thinking!?