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Olá São Paulo!

10 Dec 2018 by Becci Velzian

Microsoft Ignite the Tour, Sao Paulo

Our next stop on Microsoft Ignite the Tour is São Paulo, or as the locals have affectionately dubbed it as ‘Sampa’. The metropolis city and home to 33,747,866 people makes it Brazil’s largest city and the eleventh biggest globally. ‘Paulistanos’ meaning inhabitants of São Paulo, speak Portuguese as their first language, so if you’re visiting it is well worth picking up some of the local lingo. São Paulo is a big multicultural city and home to many Portuguese, Arab, Jewish and Italian descendants. The city has the second most number of Italian decadents just behind Rome. Prego!

Learn the lingo

The Portuguese language is quite unique, and unless you’re a regular visitor of Brazil or Portugal, it’s unlikely you’ll know much. Our São Paulo team have been brushing up on their Portuguese here, so here’s a few words and terms to help you get around.

Hello – Olá
Hi – Oi (quite funny if you’re British as this is a word used to get someone’s attention in a negative way)
Thank you – Obrigado
How much does it cost? – Quanto Custa
Please – por favor
Please I want to go to… – por favor, eu quero ir a…
How do I get… – – como eu chego em…?
Credit card – Cartão de Crédito
Money/cash – dinheiro
Beer – cerveja
Food – comida
Restaurant – restaurante
Taxi – taxi

Comida!

Now, more importantly, food. Brazil has some great traditional dishes and drinks, here are some of my personal favourites I recommend trying whilst in São Paulo.

Churrasco

Churrasco is Portuguese for “barbecue”, and Brazil is famous for its perfected barbecued meats. From the type of cut, to the seasoning, to the way it’s cooked, the Paulistanos have championed this. One of the most popular premium cuts is known as the “picanha” which is the sirloin cap of beef. Another popular barbecued dish is “queijo coalho” which is a type of squeaky cheese served on skewers. An unmissable style of churrasco dining is provided by the steakhouses who serve large portions of different meats on skewers.

Acarajé

If you want to experience true street food from São Paulo, then look no further than Acarajé. This delicious, traditional deep-fried pastry is a beloved dish from the city. The bahia native is made by frying black eyed peas in palm oil and then it is filled with either seafood or chicken.

Cachaça

If you’re looking to blow off steam after Ignite, then order yourself a Bahia-favourite cocktail, a caipirinhas! The zesty drink has a delicious sugar and lime kick, perfect for quenching your thirst after a day of speaking to people. The drink is made using Brazil’s most renowned spirit, Cachaça.

Places to see

You need to be careful when travelling around São Paulo as there is a high risk of crime, you can find out more information here. With that in mind, here are some top spots to visit whilst in the city.

Ibirapuera Park

This prize-winning park has been compared to Central Park, New York and has often been rated one of the best parks in the world. Its popularity saw 14.4 million visits in 2017. The park is also an ‘instagrammable’ location, so definitely take your phone to get some pictures.

Look for the bulls!

As always, we have lots of treats up our sleeve, so come and find us at booth GP3.

We have a brand-new game available and we will be giving out Amazon vouchers daily to our lucky winners!

We will also be giving out a free copy of the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook (2019 edition) which is normally worth around $60! In order to win this book, we want you to come and stop by our booth (GP4) and answer the following questions:

What is the biggest city in Brazil by population?
What is Quadrotech’s Reporting tool called?
What is your biggest IT struggle?

Or, if you’re not interested in grabbing yourself some swag or an eBook we will be scheduling meetings to discuss your data migration and management challenges or projects and how we can help.

You can book a meeting here.

See you there, tchau!