We repeatedly heard two worrying themes - that Brazil was unprepared for the games and that there may be crime, violence, or protests against the games.
Although I've seen a few reports on TV and read about issues in other cities, in Recife, nothing could be further from the truth.
To put some things in perspective, Recife is a city of 1.5+ million people (some sources say 3.75 million in the greater area), not some tiny backwater. It is also a three-hour plane ride from Sao Paolo. Brazil is huge geographically--a little bigger than continental US--and has almost 200 million inhabitants.
Would it make sense to say, "the US is in turmoil," if there was a riot in LA? Does the gun violence in Chicago make me feel unsafe working in New York? (Now I sound like a T. Rowe Price commercial.)
Still, we didn't fully know what to expect...
Wednesday, we made an easy connection through Sao Paolo. Despite a long layover, there was a great FIFA lounge at the airport, where we could watch games, get information, and recharge ourselves and our cell phones.
There was much less security than you'd see in a US airport, and about what I see every day in NY Penn Station (which, BTW, is the best Penn Station...sorry Baltimore, et al). Customs was a breeze (no line at 8:30 in the morning). Security screening was quick and painless.
The biggest hassle was having to take a bus to a mini-terminal in the middle of the tarmac, where, like Hillary Clinton, we did not have to dodge sniper bullets.
When we landed, we were met by some friends in Recife airport (thanks Nina and Bia!), where everything was clean and efficient. Someone approached us to take a customer satisfaction survey while waiting for our checked bags. We instinctively said "no" because we were told to be on our guard, but it was a harmless airport employee. Imagine someone in the US asking if you were happy while waiting to get your checked bags!
We did wonder if anything had been stolen from our checked bags. (In Sao Paolo, you can pay to have your bag shrink-wrapped as a deterrent against theft by baggage handlers, so it clearly happens...or an enterprising capitalist has convinced people to be paranoid.) FWIW, my custom carbon-fiber knee brace--expensive if not valuable to anyone who doesn't possess my left knee--arrived unmolested.
Everyone has been extremely friendly and eager to help. We have encountered enough people who speak some English or Spanish to get by with minimal Portuguese. That said, having Portuguese-speaking friends (thanks Vanessa!) has proven invaluable when having to do something complex or technical, like buying a phone SIM card with the right data plan (thanks Raphael!). We try to pay it forward by helping people one day removed from our current cluelessness.
We went to our first match (Italy-Costa Rica) on Friday at Arena Pernambuco outside Recife.
Once we took a taxi (thanks Easy Taxi) from our apartment (thanks Nina!) to the metro, the Brazilian volunteers stationed at the station made it very easy.
There were several who spoke English, and they directed us as needed.
At the transfer station, when we mistakenly walked through the exit turnstiles, they happily let us back in and directed us to the right metro line towards the arena. The subway car was crowded, but no worse than NYC. The cars were new, clean, well ventilated, and ran every five minutes like clockwork.
At the arena, they were very well-organized. Dozens of buses were waiting to drive us a few miles from the subway station to the arena itself.
Both the subway line and buses passed through some very poor areas. Occasionally, people looked on wistfully from the houses lining the road, but mostly, we saw no people, or children waving eagerly back at us.
There were some police along the route but no sign of protest.
Once at the arena, everything was very well-organized. Again, security was present but not over-bearing. They had separate female-only port-a-potties, but they were BYOTP.
There were empty "mini-jails" set up by the police. They let tourists take turns posing inside the jail cells.
Security at the gates was efficient, light, and speedy.
There was an airport-style scanner for our bags (no manual search), which went really quickly.
No need for ID when presenting our tickets.
Easy to find our seats.
Beautiful, friendly, comfortable stadium, featuring the dulcet tones of the incomparable Sérgio Gusmmão.
Plenty of short lines for bathroom, drinks, and snacks. The one US-style comfort lacking was pretzels.
After the game, there were dozens of buses to take us back to the metro. Line was long, but it moved and was well-organized.
We got off the subway in Recife's City Center and got a bit lost. It was after dark. We were guarded, but didn't feel unsafe, even though we were obviously tourists.
Eventually took a taxi home. It is really easy to talk to taxi drivers. Just mention something about the Copa Mundial and they'll do all the talking.
For those here, I am sure they are enjoying it.
For those who are not, weather is beautiful, wish you were here..
Update: We went to the "Fan Fest" in Recife's City Center to watch the US-Portugal game.
This was probably the most uncomfortable we felt anywhere yet, and it was still entirely fine. There were lots of drunk, smoking Americans, and occasional people picking up discarded cans.
I did go all Mrs. Weasley on some poor, drunk local looking to take my teen's inflatable Coke-themed fan hand clapper (see artist's rendering). But I undoubtedly over-reacted, and we should have just given him the damn toy.
It is just a lack of cultural understanding. We were meeting a Brazilian friend in the town square, and he happened to be carrying a tambourine (who doesn't?). A twelve-year-old, assuming my friend was a tourist if he was standing within 30 yards of me, walked up and just asked to have it. In the US, such an approach would be considered very aggressive and threatening, but here, it is easily dismissed with a firm "Nao, we have many tambourines but none to spare."
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