We had arrived in Sao Paulo after a 12 hours flight. This is a view from the Marian Hotel, where me and J. were staying, in the downtown. The city is a huge and fascinating metropolis, specially if you can speak or understand Portuguese, but even if you don't, anyone would feel at home in such a place, surrounded by such wonderful people. Wherever we looked at, we would find signs from our colonial past in the buildings, the streets, the landscape. My family and J.'s have lived in the old colonies of East and West Africa, India, and in J.'s case, also Brazil. What a waste that we had waited 30 years to finally see what remained of the Empire, and Brasil - which gained independence from Portugal almost 200 years ago - is a fusion of all these influences. A country with a breathtaking beauty, a vibrant culture (its literature, media, arts, music...). And just like North America remains the Promised Land to most of humanity, Brazil will always be the Promised Land for any Portuguese speaker, wheter he is from Portugal, East Timor, Mozambique, Goa...