General Safety

Time and time again I would get asked the same question about Brazil: "Is it dangerous?"

The answer is that Brazil is not as safe as the U.S., and yes you should take certain precautions, such as:
- Don't walk alone at night
- Don't walk with a laptop bag around
- Don't take pictures with your camera for long periods of time in public
- Don't put your purse somewhere unattended
- Don't wear very expensive jewelry

You basically want to dumb down your appearance when it's dark out so you don’t look like you’re wealthy. If you drive an expensive car and wear diamonds, you're much more of a target. (See the "Kidnapped!" posting and it's moral of the story.) It's unfortunate that you have to be this careful. When my Dad asked me if I could live here long-term, I answered no because of that reason. Personally, I could see myself living in Brazil for up to 6 months, but never with a family.

As with many other countries, the discrepancy between the “haves” and the “have nots” is huge. Poverty is severe and widespread, and there’s much more within the class extremes than the middle class. This makes for a lot of people who strive to even that score and simply make ends meet by stealing.

With that said, the danger factor in the country is overestimated. It's not as bad as most people think. If you're careful and take taxis around at night instead of walking everywhere you should be fine. For me, I lived in Itaim, a nice area of São Paulo, and generally the more wealthy areas see less crime, as one would expect. So if you're visiting and concerned about safety, stay in the nicer neighborhoods.

Before my friend Betsy visited, she got some tips from a girl who used grew up Brazil. The tips about safety included don't talk loudly and don't laugh, because that alerts people to the fact that you're American and may have a lot of money on you. Don't laugh? I thought this was hilarious and a little overboard on precautions. Apparently I wasn't the only one. Felipe is a guy we met at Vaca Veia (one of my fave local restaurant/bars), and he loved reading that printout with tips so much that he begged and convinced Betsy to let him keep it. He said if he visits America he won't speak or laugh; instead he'll just use sign language.