Most people in Sao Paulo live in high-rise apartments that are gated in for security. Unfortunately, the vast majority of those are just a tall building with a fence around the base; there is no place to spend time outside. For the first week and a half we were here, before we moved in with Stan and KK, Rob and I were living in one of those apartment buildings. Coming from Cambridge, where parks and greenery abound, I was getting pretty stir crazy being cooped up inside.
Portal, on the other hand, is great. It is a group of about 14 high-rise buildings with lush gardens, multiple swmming pools, tennis courts, playgrounds and a sweet gym enclosed in the grounds. It feels like we're living at a vacation resort!
This is a picture of our building: Flamboyant. We live on the 22nd floor and have an awesome view of the western half of Sao Paulo. I marvel at the beauty of the sunset over the city every night! And when there is a soccer game going on at the stadium nearby we get to see fireworks going off all over the city whenever the home team scores a goal. These Brazilians love their fireworks!
And here is the wonderful gym. Rob is offsetting the many hours of sitting behind a desk at work by getting studly lifting weights and playing tennis in the evenings.
This flower is called a Bird of Paradise. Can't you just hear Mama KK's voice saying, "Ooo la la! Look at those colors!"
There are three outdoor pools (a kiddie pool, a circular grown-up lounge pool, and then this olympic sized lap pool) and one indoor pool. You can kind of see all three of the pools from the picture below.
It may seem obvious, but I feel so blessed to be living here. Heavenly Father really does care about what is important to us; He's helped us find an inexpensive, convenient way to get Rob to work everyday (1 hour each way) which was the main impediment to us living with Stan and KK and so we are able to be outside and really enjoy this beautiful place for the time we're here. 
More beautiful orchids growing outside our building.
The next adventure: Rob and I are going on a weekend jaunt to Rio de Janeiro! Who do we think we are having so much fun??
13 comments:
looks so fun. I'm jealous. Las Vegas just doesn't compare. It is HOT and dirty here, and we live in the Ghetto. Lovely. But Bill loves his job, so I guess it is worth it after all.
Wow! You can get in awesome shape in that environment! Lucky girl. So how does Rob get to work everyday? That is a long commute!
I'm a little jealous of your life right now. And I know you're probably loving it, but please come back soon!
People should read this.
I happened upon this website just today. My husband, son, and I moved into Portal do Morumbi when it was brand new in April of 1978.
My husband was with Caterpillar and we spent 2 1/2 years at Portal.
I enjoyed your photos so much ... a trip down memory lane. My son was only 4 months old when we moved in, so he doesn't remember it at all. I also noticed how much the landscaping has grown over the past 30 years ... it is beautiful. There really weren't many plants, trees, flowers around the grounds when it was new.
I can't remember the name of our high-rise -- we were in one of the buildings at the bottom of the hill -- jacaranda, maybe? Our condo was brand new and so nice.
Does the electricity still go off frequently? It did when we lived there and many times we walked up the 21 stories of steps!
I was Playing around google earth searching for locations I remembered from Sao Paulo when I was a child living at Portal do Murumbi. Then I decided to jsut look for images of the place and foudn your page. Jodiek wrote that she and her family moved there when it opened and so did my family, in the same building, 2nd floor. This is crazy. We loved the place - as a kid it was fantastic. I went to school at Graded just up the block. Enjoy if you are still there.
AWESOME!!
My wife and I are moving to SP in July, and were thinking about the Portal. Your photos sealed our fate... I think we're going to take an apartment there. Is it true that there is a walking/running path around the complex??
What are prices like?
we moved into flamboyant, apt 20c in july 1982 and lived there till july 1985, when we moved into a house in sp. Portal was a great place for our kids aged 11, 9, and 6 when we moved in and went to Graded - just up the road.
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Hey!!!
We live here now and it is still great! And yes.. electricity goes off frequently but now we have a elec-generator.. you dont have to walk up floors anymore.. Hope see more friends around here. ( By the way, we are in Araucaria. xoxo
Fabiola.
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We live in a lovely 2400 sq ft apartment/townhome in Lexington, KY (thorobred race horse countr)
We will be visiting Sao Paulo the first of December (2011). We once resided in Portal do Morumbi in Manaca bldg and are interested in a home exchange with someone currently residing there. Tho we will be in Sao Paulo in December, we are happy to offer our home at anoter a time of your choosing.
eeneland
We lived in 16B in Manaca from 1979 to 1983. Rode the onibus executivo to Iguatemi every day, office close to the shopping.
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