Advertisement
Published: January 12th 2009
I have now left Rio de Janeiro, my visit there having been tarnished by an unfortunate event.
Yesterday being my last day in Rio, I decided to go into the centre for a visit. Little did I know that the centre is not actually inhabited and simply contains businesses which are closed on Sunday, naturally. Whilst I started walking in some fairly empty streets, a young man, probably younger than myself, walked towards me from bahind and grabbed my bag, pulling me down. As I turned around, his drugged-up face nodded towards a sharp knife he was carrying. Naturally, I let go of my bag, and as he asked for money I told him I had none, which seemed to satisfy him and he walked off with my belongings. Fortunately this was only my smaller bag, and did not contain any valuables except for my camera.
I then went to a cafe to explain my problem, and was pointed towards a policeman who was on the phone. He was less than interested in my story and carried on his conversation. So I then went to a police car in which was a helpful policeman who then took me to a police vant to wait whilst he patrolled the area vainly searching for the thief. The police was professional, if incredibly slow, and by the end of the proceedings it was so late I almost missed my 23:30 bus for Ouro Prêto, in Minas Gerais, to which they drove me.
Naturally this was an upsetting incident, but I don't want to overdramatise it. I will, however, be more careful in the future, and reorganise the way I carry my belongings so as to hide my camera and only have to give away trivial stuff were this to happen again. It also is a sharp reminder that beyond the luxurious beauty of Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon is a highly fractured society within which a large section lives a desperately poor and dangerous lifestyle. It would have been a mild consolation if I thought that the sale of my camera was to improve the thief's quality of life, allow him to eat better or perhaps help out his family. However I suspect that it will end up being exchanged for more drugs, increasing his dependancy, and certainly not live any longer or better. So in reality I have trouble feeling angry towards him, his life being in no way enviable; perhaps do I feel disgust, however, towards a system that breeds and perpetuates this sort of misery.
The question of whether to mention this on my blog did arise, as I do not want to make friends and family too anxious, and generally it is more agreable to read accounts of and see photos of the fascinating places I will see here. However, the goal of this blog is also to inform people and reveal Brasil in all the aspects I observe, and this type of incident is, sadly, a daily reality here.
On a more cheery note, I am now in Ouro Prêto, in the State of Minas Gerais. It is a beautiful (and very safe) town. I visited the town with and extremely friendly francophile Brazilian, but will spend the rest of the day mostly resting - I have sprained my ankle slightly yesterday so best not to overdo it. Financially, my insurance should cover my losses, so I have bought a new camera which I will use with great care.
I should thus bring you better news tomorrow and some beautiful pictures.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.104s; Tpl: 0.009s; cc: 11; qc: 56; dbt: 0.049s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
mo
non-member comment
glad to read about you
I am sorry to hear about your little brush with lawlessness ..but it makes a chapter in the voyage.. but seems things are slowly getting back to normal and i hope to see some photos soon.. all d best and take care.. Love Mo London xx