Re: Security/crime in Curitiba/Brazil
Hi, I was going to write a long discourse about this, but others have already done so, and given good ideas of how to stay safe. I have traveled to over 100 countries, most of them more than once, and quite a few dozens of times. I had my passport taken out of my pouch in the Netherlands (it was in a leather container and they probably thought it was my wallet), someone tried to pick my pocket in Costa Rica (I felt it and stopped them, but they got away). I have traveled to the famous favelas of Rio de Janeiro and while there may be areas that have gangs and guns, what I found was just people that did not have much money and needed a break. Curitiba is, in my opinion, relatively safe if you follow some of the guidelines that people have given here. I might add that while marriage equality is the law in Brazil, and Curitiba is a relatively tolerant city, there is still a strong homophobia shown by some groups, so same-sex couples may want to be somewhat discrete. Along the same lines, in Brazil "Motels" are not just a horizontal "Hotel" like in the USA. "Motels" are places where you can be very discrete with your partner (either opposite-sex or same-sex), and rent a very nice room for short periods of time (like three or four hours). "Hotels" are what you find in other countries. Stay away from political arguments. Brazil has just gone through a very rough political election, and people are still touchy about it. Polite discussion of political topics are probably ok at Deb* itself, but wearing political pieces of clothing (even historical political figures) may cause more than conversation afterwards. Holding your very expensive Samsung or Pixel 3 XL up at any event to take a picture may find your camera snatched out of your hand. Finally, there are lots of other things to see in Brazil, and if you have the time and money you may want to add a couple of extra days to see areas like Foz do Iguassu, or Florianopolis.But I am sure the organizers will tell you about them. Looking forward to seeing you all in Curitiba. maddog On Tue, May 7, 2019 at 10:52 AM Ondrej Novy wrote: > Hi, > > according to Global Peace Index [1], we have this trend: > > DebConf 17, Canada, rank 6 > DebConf 18, Taiwan, rank 34 > DebConf 19, Brazil, rank 106 > DebConf 20, Israel, rank 146 > > Anything we should be afraid of? :) > > But without kidding: Is there anything we should know about security/crime > in Curitiba and Brazil? Rate of crime (robberies, kidnappings and > homicides) is really high (in compare to for example Europe). Any > recommendations for foreigners? What we should do and what we shouldn't. > > Thanks a lot. > > [1] > http://visionofhumanity.org/app/uploads/2018/08/GPI2018-A2-poster-art-1.pdf > > -- > Best regards > Ondřej Nový > >
Re: Security/crime in Curitiba/Brazil
Hi, On 07/05/2019 12:50, Jonathan Carter wrote: > >- Never leave your things unattended, if you need to leave a room, > ask someone to keep an eye on it for you, if there is no one there, > rather pack up and take your stuff with you. When I go to events here in Brazil, and I want leave my laptop alone on the table, I alwayes use a locker like this: https://images-submarino.b2w.io/produtos/01/00/sku/26620/4/26620409_1GG.jpg Its not the "most safer locker on the world", but its better than nothing. I've never had a problem with someone cutting the cable. >- Install Uber. You might not like them, there's probably many good > reasons for that, but being able to press a button on your phone > and a car will show up in ~2 minutes is a great safety net that > can be useful for a wide array of emergencies. There is also "99", a national app. It works for regular car (as Uber) and for Taxis. >- Print out your international medical insurance details and keep it > in your wallet, you want to minimize any time doubting how you'll > pay for a medical emergency if it should happen. (not sure how > the hospital system works in Brazil, but always best to play it > safe) We have public hospitals here. And the venue is cover by an emergency company. The hotel is very close from the venue. And there is a Mall between them. We are finishing a map, you can see a draft here: https://salsa.debian.org/debconf-team/public/data/dc19/raw/master/artwork/map-around-venue/map-around-venue-A3.png Don't forget read and contribue in our FAQ: https://wiki.debian.org/DebConf/19/Faq Best regards, -- -- Paulo Henrique de Lima Santana (phls) Curitiba - Brasil Debian Developer Diretor do Instituto para Conservação de Tecnologias Livres Membro da Comunidade Curitiba Livre Site: http://www.phls.com.br GNU/Linux user: 228719 GPG ID: 0443C450 Organizador da DebConf19 - Conferência Mundial de Desenvolvedores(as) Debian Curitiba - 21 a 28 de julho de 2019 http://debconf19.debconf.org signature.asc Description: OpenPGP digital signature
Re: Security/crime in Curitiba/Brazil
Hi Ondrej On 2019/05/07 16:36, Ondrej Novy wrote: > DebConf 17, Canada, rank 6 > DebConf 18, Taiwan, rank 34 > DebConf 19, Brazil, rank 106 > DebConf 20, Israel, rank 146 Coming from a country that ranks 125 (too bad DC16 didn't fit in the pattern above) and having traveled in just about 20 different countries, I would say: * Blend in and don't look too much like a tourist, this includes things like: - Don't wear a giant camera around your neck all the time - Don't have a wallet hanging half-way out of your pocket stuffed with money (you think this would be obvious, but I've seen lots of this in Paris in an area which is known for pick-pockets) - Wear casual clothes, it will be a mild winter, pack some clothes with long sleeves * Take care of your stuff - If you have an older laptop that you can get by with, it might be better to travel with that - Never leave your things unattended, if you need to leave a room, ask someone to keep an eye on it for you, if there is no one there, rather pack up and take your stuff with you. Some slightly less obvious stuff but very important: * Make some preperations - When traveling locally, be more or less sure where you want to go to. Even if you have a local sim, network coverage might be spotty, download off-line maps so that you can always figure out which way 'back home' is. Store the location of your accomodation on your phone. - If you can, get a local sim, imho it's nearly always worth every cent if your home sim doesn't let you roam (or is really expensive) - Install Uber. You might not like them, there's probably many good reasons for that, but being able to press a button on your phone and a car will show up in ~2 minutes is a great safety net that can be useful for a wide array of emergencies. * Even when you play it safe, be prepared for minor bad things: - Don't carry all your cards with you, if your wallet does get lost/stolen, lose just one credit card instead of a credit card, debit card, drivers license, library card, etc. - Keep the minimal amount of cash with you, this is relatively easy these days anyway. - Leave your passport in a safe where you stay, also keep a copy in your laptop bag just in case something goes wrong and you need to explain to your embassy. - Store the emergency numbers listed on the DebConf site on your phone, along with some numbers from Debian friends. For worst-case type of things, store your embassy's number too. Also your credit card cancellation number. - Print out your international medical insurance details and keep it in your wallet, you want to minimize any time doubting how you'll pay for a medical emergency if it should happen. (not sure how the hospital system works in Brazil, but always best to play it safe) * Be careful who you trust: - There are scammers everywhere. In Hungary some of the people got lured into a restaurant and everything was just fine. When they got back home, they realised that they got charged 1000's of dollars on their credit cards. It looked fine when they signed it because of currency conversion, but they were clearly targetted for this. If any offer or deal looks to good to be true, consider just walking away especially if you're alone. * If you want to drink, do it in a safe place, don't get drunk and disorientated in public. * Don't start fights. Also, pockets that zip up are great! If you have those, pack them! And also, don't panic and pack your towel. -Jonathan -- ⢀⣴⠾⠻⢶⣦⠀ Jonathan Carter (highvoltage) ⣾⠁⢠⠒⠀⣿⡁ Debian Developer - https://wiki.debian.org/highvoltage ⢿⡄⠘⠷⠚⠋ https://debian.org | https://jonathancarter.org ⠈⠳⣄ "Safe is a relative construct" -Spock
Re: Security/crime in Curitiba/Brazil
Hi, It will be very rare/difficult for you to do anything if you are walking during the day or as a group. In Brazil, most capitals or cities that present a level of risk, are always related to lack of lighting (nocturnal accidents on deserted streets) or to space fights/places that frequent (gangs, points of sale and drug use) . I quickly looked at 2 reports on Violence in my Country; I can tell you that Curitiba does not appear among the most dangerous cities; And from the capitals (27) it occupies position 17 of the 2016 ranking. But it is no alarming fact, the experience I have to travel outside Brazil is that in Brazil, as in other developing countries, it is good to walk with the bag closed, not to leave things on the floor or on the table. Reports in pt_BR: https://www.mapadaviolencia.org.br/ http://www.ipea.gov.br/portal/index.php?option=com_content&id=33410&Itemid=432 https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viol%C3%AAncia_no_Brasil#Cidades_mais_violentas Em ter, 7 de mai de 2019 às 10:52, Ondrej Novy escreveu: > > Hi, > > according to Global Peace Index [1], we have this trend: > > DebConf 17, Canada, rank 6 > DebConf 18, Taiwan, rank 34 > DebConf 19, Brazil, rank 106 > DebConf 20, Israel, rank 146 > > Anything we should be afraid of? :) > > But without kidding: Is there anything we should know about security/crime in > Curitiba and Brazil? Rate of crime (robberies, kidnappings and homicides) is > really high (in compare to for example Europe). Any recommendations for > foreigners? What we should do and what we shouldn't. > > Thanks a lot. > > [1] > http://visionofhumanity.org/app/uploads/2018/08/GPI2018-A2-poster-art-1.pdf > > -- > Best regards > Ondřej Nový >
Re: Security/crime in Curitiba/Brazil
On Tue, May 07, 2019 at 04:36:25PM +0200, Ondrej Novy wrote: > But without kidding: Is there anything we should know about security/crime > in Curitiba and Brazil? Rate of crime (robberies, kidnappings and > homicides) is really high (in compare to for example Europe). Any > recommendations for foreigners? What we should do and what we shouldn't. dont be an idiot. be considerate where and who you are and when. dont show off all your devices everywhere all the time. talk to locals. listen to them. (*) curitiba is a nice town. go biking. I enjoyed the city in 2018 a lot and am really looking forward to come back now, even though for a short time only again. (and short means two weeks :) (*) and with 'talk' and 'listen' I mean these offline activities... -- tschau, Holger --- holger@(debian|reproducible-builds|layer-acht).org PGP fingerprint: B8BF 5413 7B09 D35C F026 FE9D 091A B856 069A AA1C signature.asc Description: PGP signature
Security/crime in Curitiba/Brazil
Hi, according to Global Peace Index [1], we have this trend: DebConf 17, Canada, rank 6 DebConf 18, Taiwan, rank 34 DebConf 19, Brazil, rank 106 DebConf 20, Israel, rank 146 Anything we should be afraid of? :) But without kidding: Is there anything we should know about security/crime in Curitiba and Brazil? Rate of crime (robberies, kidnappings and homicides) is really high (in compare to for example Europe). Any recommendations for foreigners? What we should do and what we shouldn't. Thanks a lot. [1] http://visionofhumanity.org/app/uploads/2018/08/GPI2018-A2-poster-art-1.pdf -- Best regards Ondřej Nový
