Brazil

Coming from Liechtenstein and going to a country like Brazil, naturally, I was facing a lot of unfamiliar things. But besides communicating in a language I was just starting to learn, dealing with people, who did not seem to feel responsible for their jobs and being immersed in the relaxed and open mind-set of the Brazilians, there was one thing that ruled my days for a long time. The probably most unfamiliar thing or situation I had to get used to, was the criminality in São Paulo and Brazil. Before I started my journey to Brazil, it already was the biggest topic I was thinking about every day. How will your daily routine look like, if you have to be afraid that something may happen to you any second? What IF something happens? If you think that my fears sound a bit exaggerated – let me tell you about my experiences in this regard. It is a fact, that in the streets of São Paulo you have to be alert at all times, day and night. The university telling us on our first day about the high daily risk of armed assaults, did not really still my fears. By traveling through the country, I found out that São Paulo was even one of the safer big cities in Brazil. In Rio and Salvador for example, some people say you should not walk alone at all as a white person. Although I know now, that all these things are true, I also learned how to deal with it. You do not always have to be afraid! If you just follow some important, but basic rules, I am sure that nothing will happen. Everyone who told a story of mugging or something similar, always ended the story with words like „but I was stupid to go there, I should have known better “, or „it was my fault, I just thought this one time I would try“. Probably, awareness is one of the keywords of a daily routine in São Paulo. I have been thinking a lot about this topic and also after being in this a country for a whole semester, I think that even in the countryside, where I am from, something could happen at any time. Times are changing. But we must not be afraid of every step we take. When I arrived in São Paulo, for the first two weeks I did not dare to take a step outside the house alone. Neither day nor night. I have to add that in the beginning I was not staying in the most beautiful and safe area. But you have to know that in this city, the world can literally change for the worse or the better by just turning around the corner. Fortunately, I was not going around alone at that time. But in the last month of my stay, I got used to walking around all by myself. I knew exactly where I could go without encountering any problems, also at night. If I wasn’t sure about a certain area, I just took an Uber or avoided those streets. My self-perception and self-confidence changed completely after four months of living in this huge and amazing city. It is a great experience to stay in an unfamiliar place for more than one or two weeks like one would during a holiday. Learning from the locals, really experiencing their daily lives by yourself and trying to behave like them is an incredible experience no-one should miss. Definitely, this semester helped me a lot in my intercultural learning and understanding.