World Cup
It is true that in Brazil things really do stop for the world cup. The first match (the first of the three qualifying matches) was at 4pm on a Tuesday, yet as I was told everything stopped. From the MC office we could hear the car horns, hand gas horns, bangers (some as loud as bombs), cheers and rushing cars in the 4 hours leading up to the opening match against Croatia. Work stopped at 2pm, giving people a chance to get home for the match. The city transport department reported 174KM of traffic jams in the hour before kick off.
For the weeks preceding this the shops have taken on the colours of green, yellow and blue as everywhere has national flags, streamers or painted strips. The streets have been painted in green and blue, flags hung from lamp-posts, large paintings of the Brazilian flags and images of Brazilian footballers. The number of street sellers seems to have tripled with selling anything Brazilian (flags, horns, t-shirts...).
So, at kick off, the loudest bangs as people set of the bombs, and then silence as the whole country observes their national religion performing its miracle.
95% of things closed. The stock exchanges of Sao Paulo are closed, the large department stores, the petrol stations, the international banks, the police are inside the office watching the match, schools stop teaching, even McDonalds is closed! Along the busiest roads of Sao Paulo the only things running are a few buses. Giving the rare few (very few) who are not interested in the World Cup the chance to get a rare (very rare) chance to skate board along Avenue Paulista, as the Media take photo's of these extreme moments. The city has a strange atmosphere, like one would expect if an alien attack was likely.
The only things open were a few chemists and bars. However, to my surprise the bars were not too busy, as most opted to watch at home (a very visible example of the family unity in Brazil!). The whole city was on the same roller-coster, as all together you would hear a "ahhh, uhhhh!" or "Yeeeeee, nahhhh!!!", echoing from the department blocks of the houses.
For the weeks preceding this the shops have taken on the colours of green, yellow and blue as everywhere has national flags, streamers or painted strips. The streets have been painted in green and blue, flags hung from lamp-posts, large paintings of the Brazilian flags and images of Brazilian footballers. The number of street sellers seems to have tripled with selling anything Brazilian (flags, horns, t-shirts...).
So, at kick off, the loudest bangs as people set of the bombs, and then silence as the whole country observes their national religion performing its miracle.
95% of things closed. The stock exchanges of Sao Paulo are closed, the large department stores, the petrol stations, the international banks, the police are inside the office watching the match, schools stop teaching, even McDonalds is closed! Along the busiest roads of Sao Paulo the only things running are a few buses. Giving the rare few (very few) who are not interested in the World Cup the chance to get a rare (very rare) chance to skate board along Avenue Paulista, as the Media take photo's of these extreme moments. The city has a strange atmosphere, like one would expect if an alien attack was likely.
The only things open were a few chemists and bars. However, to my surprise the bars were not too busy, as most opted to watch at home (a very visible example of the family unity in Brazil!). The whole city was on the same roller-coster, as all together you would hear a "ahhh, uhhhh!" or "Yeeeeee, nahhhh!!!", echoing from the department blocks of the houses.
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