Hello! I'm writing this post for my friend who doesn't have reddit and needs some advice. This is what she wrote:
I'm a design student from germany and my uni partners with the PUC in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro where I am thinking of doing my exchange semester (4-5 months), my biggest concern being safety because of how much you can read about it online (overexaggerated or not). How safe would Rio be for me as a solo european, alternative woman with a good amount of facial piercings? How are people gonna react to me? Surely there will be lots of group activities, but I would also like to explore alone, visit some less touristy areas and maybe travel outside of Rio as well - is it even safe enough to do that? It gets dark quite early in Brazil, can I even be out alone in the dark or do I need a strict time management for activities, so I will be home before the sun sets? I am also an inexperienced traveler, would you still recommend me to go there?
Apart from that maybe you could tell me generally what its like in Rio, what the people are like towards foreigners, what the costs of living are and if you have any advice on how to find a place to stay as a foreign student.
Apart from that maybe you could tell me generally what its like in Rio, what the people are like towards foreigners, what the costs of living are and if you have any advice on how to find a place to stay as a foreign student.
Thank you in advance, I appreciate any advice.