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Had another chat with the "unnamed lady" across the aisle from me in the plane. She is Brazilian by birth and is travelling with her Canadian husband and their kids from Vancouver to Brasilia to take in some games as a family.
During our conversation she asked me several questions. Following my answers, her expressions and her responses did nothing to make feel better about what I was headed into. She asked if any of us spoke Portuguese ... I said no. She asked if we knew anyone down there, I said no. She asked how we were getting around and I said we were renting a car. At this last one I could tell that her feeling of mild pity for us was now teetering between amusement and genuine concern. "The roads are very bad and full of holes and even if you have GPS many streets have no name". If you are in Recife especially you need to be very careful, it is not a safe place. Then the standard warnings were issued "don't wear any jewelry, don't carry your cell phones with you, don't show any cameras and stay in large groups." She then added specific suggestions about making sure you fill up on gas before heading out so you don't have to do this at night. Stay close to the stadiums and do not wander away from large groups. If possible hire a driver if you can find one that speaks english (her facial expression said "good luck").
If I am going to enjoy myself, maybe I need to stop talking to people.
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