I decided to write about what happened to me yesterday because I want everyone to be aware of the fact that while living abroad, unexpected things can happen and you should always be prepared. In addition to this, this is relevant for anyone who plans to visit/work in Brazil.
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Ever since I arrived in Brazil, my friends would tell me stories about how they were robbed at gunpoint. Their mom was threatened to handover her handbag with a knife at a stoplight. They were attacked by a group of teenagers in broad daylight and their phone was stolen. I always listened to their stories and tried to learn from them. However, it was hard to a certain extent because I had never seen anything like this happen in front of my own eyes.
When I first arrived in Brazil, I was very cautious. I used to never use my cellphone in the street no matter where I was. I used to always look around me one hundred times per minute and check for any suspicious activity. I did everything the textbook tells you to do.
However, what they don't tell you is, that when you live somewhere - you get comfortable. Going four months without ever having to personally deal with a dangerous situation, I never really thought anything would happen to me. Everyone I see in the "safe" neighborhoods uses their cell phone on the street and blasts music into their earphones, so why can't I?
Yesterday I was leaving my job at the school where I teach English thinking about what I was going to make for dinner. It was still bright and sunny out since it's summer and well - the sun sets later on now. In addition, this neighborhood is essentially one of the safest in my city. Everyone always has their phone out, there's usually a lot of people on the street, etc. I ended up talking to my mother on the phone about my day, like I always do around this time. You already know what's gonna happen right?
All of a sudden I heard someone yell "EY" from behind me. A large hand grabbed mine as I clenched onto my phone and two older men surrounded and assaulted me. They continued struggling with me for a few seconds to grab my phone and they yelled for me to hand it over to them... when I remembered something my friends always told me:
Never fight back when someone is trying to rob you here in Brazil. If they have a knife or a gun, they can kill you.
At this point I gave up. I was flustered and I did not immediately see a weapon, but for all I know, they could've had something hidden in their pockets.
They took off running with my phone towards the nearby park and I, without thinking, took off running behind them. As I ran, I yelled to everyone on the street "HELP ME THEY STOLE MY PHONE" pointing at the bandits.
To my surprise, nobody really did anything. They just stared awkwardly. This was weird for me because I feel if this happened in most major cities in the United States, during the day around a large group of people, that someone would provide some assistance. (I later learned this is because bystanders usually do not know if the assailant has a gun or other weapon on them and do not want to end up as victims as well)
The two men ended up running across the main avenue and disappearing out of sight. I was sweating and full of adrenaline when I realized that people were yelling at me that there was a police car nearby. The policemen told me to jump in and we went on a high-speed chase to find the crooks.
We ended up driving against traffic and going over sidewalks as everyone on the street kept telling us which streets the men turned onto. They actually made it pretty far into the city center.
As we turned onto one avenue about 8 blocks down, we saw them slow down because they perceived they were safe. The policemen jumped out of the car and quickly put them in handcuffs.
"This is them right?" "Yeah I believe so."
I mean when you get attacked and robbed how easily do you really remember the faces of people? I just remember a bright red shirt, which one of them had taken off and carried in his hands.
The policemen retrieved my phone from one of the men and I ended up hugging everyone. They were telling me "No! Hug that officer, he's the one who found it!" We ended up laughing and I ended up quickly going into the car to text my mother that I was ok.
For anyone who wasn't following, I was on the phone with her when I was attacked and they ran off. She heard everything and, understandably, was freaking out. In fact, I ended up receiving tons of texts from random friends I had not talked to in a while asking if I was ok. My mother had published a long post on my Facebook Timeline telling everyone about the phone call and asking if anyone in Brazil knew where I was.
I came out of the car to find that, somehow, one of the criminals had punctured a hole in one of the tires and flattened it. Shocked, the policemen led me into another van and we left to the police station.
As we arrived, I sat down - still trying to process everything that happened. I went into an office and a policeman who was not originally with us turned to me.
"So, you came from the United States all the way here to commit a crime? What a shame"
I looked around confused, maybe I understood him incorrectly? "Uh sir, I'm not the criminal here. I'm the victim."
He apologized and everyone laughed. Then he asked me for some information for processing the paperwork as I talked to all of the policemen in the room. Everyone was extremely kind and seemed shocked that I spoke Portuguese as a foreigner. (Note: I can only imagine how much harder this entire situation would be if I didn't speak Portuguese)
I ended up in that room for a good two hours. Then I ended up sitting outside in a different waiting room for another four. My phone was on 1% and they kept asking to use it for evidence processing so I ended up pulling a book out of my backpack and reading. At the same time, a lot of the officers who kept filing into the station asked me how living in Hawaii was and why I was living in Brazil. I actually really enjoyed talking to everyone, but at the same time, I was dying of hunger because I had not eaten dinner.
My housemate ordered a pizza that arrived at 11pm but I was not even back home yet. At 1am, a woman called me into her office for more processing and paperwork. She then told me:
"Look, I'm going to give you my phone number on Whatsapp. If you need anything, let me know."
At the same time, a lawyer who happened to be in the office as well started giving me a sales-pitch for his company and we talked for a good twenty minutes about how he wanted to expand to the United States.
At the end, the woman told me "Oh hey! We might go out this weekend with some of the other officers. Would you be interested in going to a club with us?"
Wait. A bunch of police officers invited me to go out to a club with them? Ok this definitely is not a thing back in the United States.
I said we'd keep in contact, but I was shocked more than anything. Then she offered me some snacks as I waited to give my final statement to one of the officers.
Afterwards, they released me at 2am. I ended up calling an Uber with my nearly non-existent battery and getting a ride home.
The Uber driver's name was Mike as well.
"Você foi assaltado?" "Yeah"
As I got home, I heated up some pizza and fell asleep at 4am. I had to wake up at 8 to work the next day.
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At the end of the day, I am not trying to say that Brazil is a crazy dangerous place. Like I mentioned in another post, Brazil is essentially a compromise. Here in this country, terrorism is non-existent. Additionally, there are never any natural disasters such as hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes to worry about. However, you always need to be wary on a small-scale about what is happening around you because large wealth disparities have made street crime and robbery very common. A good portion of people I know have been assaulted and robbed at least once, many with weapons.
I was lucky that a gun was not drawn on me and that I ended up retrieving what was stolen from me. Many people are not as lucky. If you ever do come to Brazil, just like anywhere, you need to always take precautions and not get too comfortable. I can safely say I will not be using my phone on the street at all for the remainder of my time here in Brazil. It is always better to be on the safe side.
Regardless of what happened yesterday, I still love this beautiful country and I believe everyone should come here at some point to visit. There will always be setbacks when living abroad but I am taking this as a lesson learned and making sure it never happens again.
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