How to deal with gunshots, lessons learned from Brazil 2

Well, what do you do if you hear gunshots? Yesterday, I shared with you how to deal with this kind of emergency. Again, don’t run away, this is important.

I heard the gunshot as the second time in my life when I spent my new year in Brazil with my husband. By the way, my husband is a Brazilian from Salvador. He is African and is said to be Afro-Brazilian. Which one is the most dangerous Brazilian city?

When we talk about this, my husband always answers: The most dangerous city in Brazil is Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro! ! My husband answers this. But I think like this.

No, the most dangerous city in Brazil is Salvador. I think like this.

Because I have heard gunshots twice in my life so far.

Both are experiences when I was in Brazil. When I was in Salvador, I heard a gunshot.

The first time was when I was at my husband’s house. The second time was when I was outside.

Salvador is a town in peninsula spreading to the sea.

It is very close to beaches. If you drive for 10 to 15 minutes by car or motorcycle, you will reach the coast.  A few days before my returning to Japan, I went to the beach with my husband. There were some bars along the beach. And there is also a small live-house. There is a restaurant in the live house where people can have snacks, drinks and listen to live music during night.  Nearby there is a skate park for skateboarding and roller-skating.

In addition, there are some small playground equipment for small children, such as jungle gyms and merry-go-rounds. The kids were playing and the adults were drinking and hanging out while listening to the music from the live house. This place was quite busy at night.

My husband brought his own skateboard and started skating at the skate park. I started walking within the sight of my husband. I got to close to the live house and back and forth along the coast.

When I am in Brazil, I naturally become a positive “withdrawn” from the society. I stay in the house all the time and do not go out alone. I always go out with my husband or his family.

So sometimes I tell my husband, take me out, and I do walking where he can find me.

This is simply because the safety and security reason. I cannot basically go out alone. Because when I’m walking alone, I do look obviously a tourist.

On that day, I was walking near the skate park. He gave me permission to walk there because it was in an area where he can easily find me.

When I came close to the live house, I heard good live music. I stopped and listened to the band’s live performance. Watching the live performance, I felt the beat of Brazilian music as much as I could. I was really enjoying the music.

Bang!! Heard from the live house! ! I heard a loud noise.

The live music stopped .

The children ran and ran away screaming.

I felt “Oh, My god, is that one!?” So I ran at full speed and went to the skate park, to get to where my husband was. I climbed the obstacles in the skate park. I got him and hid myself on his back. My husband quietly tells me:

“I told you that you wouldn’t do that….”

. . . Oh, sure …

If you hear gunshots, you shouldn’t run away.

Again, I had a lecture from my husband on the spot.

From now on, when you hear gunshots, you should hide yourself in the shadow of the grass over there, lower your head, and hide yourself all the time! !

If you run as you did now, you would hit by stray bullets!!

I remember, but I was not able to react as you taught me… I thought.

In the end, what happened was like arguments between a guy and his girl. It seemed that the man got angry and snapped his handgun at the ground. People have immediately made a distance from that table.

Ah, this is Brazil. . . .

While listening to what to do if I heard gunshots, how to deal with gunshots, I realized where I was. I know it’s better you should not use those tips: how to deal with gunshots but it may be petit support in case you may encounter such unexpected event…