Come with us in this (online) adventure! Check why we had to change our plans and follow our expedition starting in São Luís.

Author: Ana Rosa
Leia em português.

Last year, in 2020, we were all taken by surprise with a global pandemic. And we know that even after this period, some impacts will continue on our lives – especially on how we meet and connect. In addition to increasing our familiarity with online video calls, I like to think that this period is teaching us to improve the quality of online meetings, to avoid unnecessary flights and to value our offline connections.

As connection between different continents as an important part of our work at Meli, this was a good opportunity to reflect on *the future of connections*. We believe that it is increasingly easy to connect without being physically present. That is why we decided to “travel” around the region in the Amazon where our activities are being focused and thus connect you with the local reality. In the coming months we will bring texts related to places on this route and today we begin our journey through the island of love: São Luís!

It is important to start by remembering the current pandemic situation in the Amazon region as a whole. This was the reason for the various changes in our plans and the fact that we are not physically visiting any traditional communities currently. Gabriel Costa wrote about how the Covid pandemic is being disastrous in the Amazon region.

But going back to São Luís, I visited this city periodically during my childhood. In this text I tried to show a little of my perspective of first contact with the region, in an almost naive way.

Bringing us a little closer to the present, Haroldo Barbosa shared with us a part of the São Luís diaries (originally posted on Bit Autônomo), about his trip to the island in 2018. He addressed the Bois and Casa das Minas in his São Luís diary.

And we close our monthly magazine with the report of Laís Souza, a resident of São Luís (and dear friend of mine), about a cycling trip during the Easter holiday. It was 60 km experiencing the city by bicycle and visiting two very special places on the island: an unexpected cafe surrounded by nature and a bath on the beach called Mangue Seco!

I look forward to sharing with you about our next destination, still in Maranhão: Imperatriz.

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