Vampire City

We have a routine going. We wake each morning about an hour later than we intend. I open my peanut butter cache and make myself a sandwich. Dani eats fruit. We run around the city taking care of little errands. Returning home, we make dinner for ourselves and maybe a friend of Dani's visits. Then, as darkness sets in, we lock all of our locks, close off the windows and safely tuck ourselves away from the big out there.

I've visited Brazil twice before and even now that I live here I still haven't gone out at night.

I've always been fully aware of the dangers of this country. I was most nervous before my first trip down last March. All the horror stories ran through my head in the weeks leading up to it. Then I arrived, looked around, and realized that Rio was a normal city filled with normal people. It had more crime, yes, but that could be avoided almost entirely with common sense. The trip went off without a hitch.

And maybe I got too relaxed after that. My first week here in Sampa has been hard on me. The fun started our second night when I awoke at 4:00 am to what was clearly the sound of someone trying to pick their way into our front door. Dani and I cautiously approached it trying to decide what to do. She softly lifted the receiver on the wall-mounted phone. She pushed the numbers for security, but couldn't get a signal. The door clicked again. We were honestly terrified.

Turns out it was the refrigerator. Standing directly beside the front door, the-innocent-enough-looking-appliance makes these random noises that are unnerving at the wrong hour. Even now that we know it's the culprit, we still hear it late in the evening, get out of bed, walk into the living room + kitchen just to make sure everything's cool. It's that realistic sounding.

We laughed about it the next morning on our way to the Metro. In the tunnel, before swiping our tickets, we stopped at a small pharmacy counter for some eye drops. I handed the cashier some money, got my change and immediately there was a guy standing beside me wanting some of it. I said nothing, stuffed the money in my pocket and we walked swiftly away. The disheveled guy followed us a short distance and yelled out some random threats at our backs as we refilled our Metro cards. Then he disappeared into the crowd.

Dani translated his comments for me later. She said he was, "Going to get you." He apparently also called me some names. I asked what they were and Dani had to grab a Portuguese-English dictionary. "Shoddy," she said, "and a hustler." Neither of which struck me as particularly strong insults.

The crime rate in Sao Paulo far exceeds the average city in the US. I've searched for stats to illustrate just how much, but consistent data is hard to come by. One thing I do keep seeing is that the murder rate here is down about 60-75% in the last 15 years. What this place was like around the turn of the millennium I can only imagine.

Walking the Metro tunnels and city sidewalks, one hand clutched to my bookbag, the other tightly in my pocket, I've had a difficult time functioning the last few days. The streets have more shady characters wandering aimlessly than I remember from my first two times here. Then I duck into a library and see a group of older women greeting each other with cheek kisses and laughs and wonder how they can be so relaxed. Don't they know what's happening out there?

Earlier today, I saw Dani off to the Metro for an appointment she had. I decided to swing by a corner store before returning home. Traffic came to a stop and I crossed the street. A few steps in front of me was one of Sampa's one trillion beautiful women. I looked from her to the traffic we were crossing in front of. I saw four side-by-side motorcyclists and watched as one, two, three, four of their heads turned as she passed.

I don't know why, but something about that moment broke a lot of tension for me. They weren't leering at her, it was just a glance. Very Girl from Ipanema style. I could tell in that moment each of them thought, "This is a great city." And for a second, I felt it too.

I'm not worried about the guy from the Metro and neither should you. He looked like a guy who has a lot of problems in life, none of which have anything to do with me. Don't worry about the refrigerator either. I think we're almost used to it.

Sao Paulo has its problems and its beauties. But if you're only looking around for one of them, you're going to have a very difficult stay. Sometimes it's a vagrant loitering on the sidewalk. You get tense and tuck your chin towards your chest. Then a bus comes to a stop beside him and he gets on. You've misjudged him. 

It's okay to relax. I'm learning this now.

That first night out with Dani is coming soon, probably tonight. She's lived through thousands of them. It's what you do here in Brazil--enjoy the safer, wonderful parts of the city, filled with some of Earth's best people. And always stay alert. Always stay alert.