A trip to Sao Paulo is always a good time, especially when the city that you are living in (Seattle) is getting inundated with rain every day.  This was more of a business trip this time, but still had time to enjoy the great restaurants and good friends.  The weather was sunny and the temperature stayed in the mid-seventies.  The last time I was in Sao Paulo was 2008 and I can’t remember the traffic being so horrendous.  It would take us on average a couple of hours to get anywhere in the city, you would spend half of your day just driving. 

The area is exploding with economic growth, you could see manufacturing buildings going up representing America, Japan, China and South Korea.  The taxes are so high here that you almost need to have your company here instead of importing; taxes are higher than the cost of your product you are shipping.  Cars that cost $25,000 in America, will cost you over $50,000 in Sao Paulo because of taxes; maybe it’s a deterrent to keep cars off the road.