RIO DE JANEIRO // don´t bullshit a bullshitter

Rio de Janeiro. That exciting city. A dangerous one. It treated me well. It´s people – strong, awake, willing to make the change this place so urgently needs. They took me in to celebrate Easter with their family, treated me like one of them and made me feel at home for that day. May I dare to say, that would have never happened in Germany? To invite a stranger into our homes on a sacred day. Are we too organized to allow an “incident” like that to happen?

More than 4000 people a year are killed in Rio alone and mostly it´s not the bad guys. It’s a war between drug dealers and too many corrupt policemen. Imagine what it is like to be young in a place like that right now. There are so many problems we haven´t even heard about. What we consider a “normal” life, there, is not the norm. You have to fight for everything.

Exciting times of change in Brazil. Be strong.

 

I learned some good advice from an honest person: don´t bullshit a bullshitter. Be honest with yourself – it´s a tough one. What do you really like? What makes you sad? Do you do what you do, because you love it? Or are you scared of letting go?

I was on this trip for 4 weeks with my backpack and I had nothing planned. No decisions as where to go, what to see, I didn´t even know where I was going to sleep the first night I arrived. I lived day by day. It was the best thing I could do and I´ll do it again.