Nothing much happened in Sao Paulo. I was mainly there for the first day of the World Cup to experience the atmosphere.
While at the FIFA Fanfest, standing among the massive crowds of fans dressed in their favorite team colors, I watched the big screen. I caught a glimpse of someone wearing Croatian colors whom I thought was Andrew, a friend I met in the Amazon. The camera panned away quickly so I wasn’t too sure. Next thing I know, the camera showed another guy wearing a Brazilian jersey. It was Brian. That was when I knew those guys were around and I went to look for them. Brian and Andrew were two friends who went to Ohio State University and both recently graduated. I connected with them because I had told them I lived in Akron. Plus, we all loved soccer.
Long story short, we hung out watching soccer, drinking plenty of beers, had a great time. We had dinner, went to have more drinks in Vila Madelena, watched the San Antonio vs Heat Game 4 (Andrew is a massive Spurs fan). Out of nowhere, yet another two friends from the Amazon tour, Samantha and Lorna, popped in. They had been walking around and saw us. We had a fantastic laugh at the coincidences of how we were meeting again, after thinking we wouldn’t see each other again after Manaus. I will miss these people. They were there for a moment in time, of which was a good memory.
