Handshake #13 - Visiting Manaus, Brazil? Have a handshake with Kriszta Szabo🫱🏼‍🫲🏻

Six Word Handshake Story #13: In Manaus, ups, downs, twists, growth.

Experiencing my first robbery with Kriszta

I initially met Kriszta from hosting my weekly crewmember fitness classes. She enjoyed working out and fitness while working on the Seabourn Quest. She is originally from Budapest, Hungary, and has taught me several Hungarian words like egészségedre. This is used for toasting when drinking. 

Later in the evening, Krista decided to leave the ship overnight and walk the city after midnight. The town had a empty and eerie feeling. All the shops were closed, and there weren't many people around the port. We walked to the plaza next to the opera house. It was beautiful as the opera house was lit up at night and looked magnificent, and at this moment, I would have loved to attend a show in the evening and take in this unique place with the energy it creates with live performers. After we spent time walking around the opera house, Kriszta and I sat on a park bench, where Krista then took out her phone to show me pictures. 

And then it happened!

Within a split second, we were surrounded by three strangers. All three were shouting at us in Portuguese, and one was holding a knife and pointing at us. They were asking for the purse of Kriszta and anything else we had on us. My initial in-the-moment reaction was to remain calm and give the attacker's body language to stay calm. Then one of the attackers reached into my pockets and forced himself upon me to grab my cellphone. I then stood up, protected my pockets, and attempted to push him off. The other attacker then joined me, and they both began to kick me in the legs, and I became separated from Kriszta.

Kriszta then was left with the attacker with the knife and was holding on to her purse while the attacker was attempting to pull it from her. I eventually pushed and distanced myself from the two attackers, and while doing so, the attacker with the knife pulled the purse from Kriszta and ran. I did my best to chase him and even thought about finding and picking up an object off the ground, a rock to throw at him, but he was too far ahead of me. I followed him through the street until he left my sight, and then a random motorcycle pulled up in front of me. The driver was a man, and the rider on the back was a woman. The woman got off and could speak English. she told me she heard screaming from our direction and wanted to see what happened. I quickly explained what happened, and she told me her boyfriend on the motorcycle was a police offer and had him lift his shirt to show me he had a gun. They then offered to drive Kriszta on the back of the motorcycle to see if they could find the attacker, but I quickly responded by saying that she won't go. And told the boyfriend and girlfriend to go looking in the direction where I last saw the attacker. They did and returned, saying they didn't see anyone who would be our attackers. Fortunately, I didn't lose any of my possession during the attack. Although Kriszta had items from her purse taken and her phone, she canceled her bank cards before anyone unauthorized could use them and could continue her travels to India (as this was her last night working on the Seabourn Quest before vacation).

What can be learned from experiencing a robbery?

This experience provided me with understanding and mindfulness to not be mad at our attackers and to give thought to why these attackers would attack us. It speaks to the limited economic opportunities in Manaus, and the attacker's only financial option at that moment was to aim at stealing possessions from tourists and hope whatever they stole could be sold or used to turn into cash. This can occur anywhere in the world but certainly is more common anytime you are in part with less economic opportunity or activity. I'm grateful for this experience and the lessons it proved, along with teaching me to take responsibility for my life and decisions. If you want to walk the street of Manaus at midnight, you have to be ready and expect that you are going to face a higher likelihood of being targeted and potentially robbed. Robberies happen in cities all the time all over the world. Manaus is no different, and it shouldn't prevent one from wanting to explore the area. There is so much rich cultural and scientific research in this area of Brazil, and it is well located to access the Amazon river. I ended up going on a night tour the following evening after the robbery and did a river tour for finding and holding caimans (a predator of the crocodile family). I hope you get the opportunity to travel to the Amazon rainforest and see this part of the world to learn more about yourself and gain a deeper perspective on human beings. 

You can connect with Kriszta on her Facebook page and Instagram page.

Also, Kriszta has a baby crochet brand that are handmade in Croatia and are of baby safe materials only (OEKO-TEX Standard 100). Check our her crochet brand Baby Star Line on instagram.