"You're Going to a Dangerous Place! There's so Much Crime There!"

Telling people you're moving to Brazil gives them anxiety. 

Mostly because they've never been there and must construct the idea of Brazil's reality in their head through what they've seen/herd from the media.

This becomes problematic because people have been conditioned to be fearful of everything and they don't understand "danger" nor "crime".

(Thank you Concordia's Sociology of Fear class for the clarity on the matter!)

Danger is the possibility of something happening. 

This possibility of something happening is possible anywhere. 

It's possible for a person to be assaulted, mugged, raped and even murdered anywhere. In your own country, state/province, city, neighborhood, street and even in your own home!

Danger is something we live with everyday. 

There's different types of danger:

• Basic Survival: Lack of accessibility to water/food/clean air and war.
• Human: People who have the emotional ability to harm another.
• Animal: Getting bitten/eaten by animals. (Dog? Snake? Bear? Shark?)
• Weather: Extreme hot or cold conditions. Earthquakes, Mudslides, Typhoons, Hurricane, etc.

It's through the media that people are most likely to be informed of the existing dangers of living on earth. It's through this means that fear begins to be instilled in people. 

They'll see fellow humans describe the conditions they are in when something has happened. 

• "Ethiopians are starving." (This is sad and true.)
• "School shootings are disastrous!", "Murdered through bullying!", "Assaulted because he's gay!"
• "Bear eats human!", "Bitten by shark!"
• "Hurricane kills 100 people!", "Freezing conditions kills 5 people!"

On a large scale, the world becomes represented a truly scary place to be walking on! 

On a small scale, people always say that the world is dangerous because there's "so much crime!".

The truth is, crime is a small part of life!

Crime is participating in an activity that is punishable by law. 

Everyone's done it.

Ever ran a stop sign or the beginning of a red light? How often do you go back to the store to pay for an item you forgot at the bottom of your shopping basket? Ever smoked illegal substances? Ever drove after a few too many beers? Ever been publicly drunk? Ever jaywalked?

These are all "crimes". They are petty crimes, but crimes none the less.

Just like there's different type of danger, there are different types of crimes. 

I'll name a few.

• Assault.
• Cyber crime.
• Senior Abuse.
• Drug Possession.
• Murder.
• Rape.
• Robbery.
• Stalking. 

These are all real crimes that happened inside and outside of anyone's home country's boarders. 

The problem with crime rates, is that they're tricky in assessing properly. 

1. Not all crime incidents are reported, so in fact there are probably more crimes happening than those that are calculated and shown.
2. From the crimes committed, it's most likely that it's done by people the victim knows and has had altercations with before, from which arrises a motive to carry out a crime in the first place!

(Survival) Life anywhere is about not giving people a motive to harm you and taking necessary precaution.

I know that Brazil is perceived as a dangerous place because of it's high crime rate. 

I'll just do my best to not be part of it, by logically avoiding the possibility of being in a bad situation!

I don't own (or wear) a lot of jewelry, so I doubt they'll rob me of those. 

I wont walk by myself at night,  I'll take a taxi.

I wont be participating in gang activity nor in drug trades. 

I don't dress to be 'pimped out'.

I'll genuinely avoid dangerous situations in the same fashion that I do so here in Montreal.
 This is common sense anywhere one goes!

So before people begin their discourse on a place being dangerous and full of crime, please take a minute to understand and evaluate what the danger and crime really is and if there's even reason to be fearful instead of exercising just basic precaution. 

Telling People You're Leaving.

If you've ever gone away for a while, you've had to tell people you were going to go. 

At first they express how happy they are for you. They outline all the benefits of your adventure.

They express how they'll miss you. They point out past situations that you've lived together and get all nostalgic of the time spent together.

Then... they want to see you again (before you leave). 

It's sweet, except it seems as if they don't realize that time is running out and to re-schedule a meeting with them keeps you from seeing other people or getting things done.
And you don't reject the opportunity, because it's rude and unlike you... because you enjoy their company in the first place.

First Post

I'm about a month away from leaving.

Here is the to do list:

• Buy "professional clothes".
• Put things I don't want/need in boxes.
• Gather all my important documents.
• Tell people I'm leaving.
• Transfer cellphone to Mom.
• Pack (and realize I'm trying to bring too much stuff!)