Friendly Brazilians

I’ve been baffled in my attempt to understand how on one hand there is this perception that Sao Paulo is a dangerous city yet still I’ve had a few experiences where I’ve been completely amazed with how friendly people are here. On several occasions Brazilians and foreigners alike have warned me that I need to be careful in Brazil. The other day I had my camera out in an Information Kiosk when an older Brazilian woman approached me and warned me that pickpockets would snatch my camera so I had better put it away. Then the other night Marcel and I were trying to find the Shopping Frei Caneca, which we weren’t sure how to get to. When we asked the first person that walked by us if she knew how we could get there. Instead of giving us directions she just said she would walk us there since she had nothing else to do and wanted to go for a walk anyways. In the states when I think of a place that is considered unsafe I don’t think of random strangers taking time to show you around or stopping to talk to you at great length then wish you farewell.

Shopping here is also a different experience. It’s taken me a while notice, but it seems like shopping, at least in Sao Paulo, doesn’t involve the hard sell. When Marcel and I walked into a store that sells wine and cachaça, after having a brief conversation with the salesman about cachaça we asked we asked him to recommend a really good bottle of cachaça he showed us a bottle that cost R$20 even though there was a R$400 bottle right next to it. It really is nice to shop like this even if the prices are still higher than I was expecting.