And then, watch out for certain things.
Watch out for people who are asking time or asking directions.
They may be sizing up your purse, or your camera bag, or
your jacket to see what's inside.
It doesn't mean that you shouldn't help people to know what time it is, but
just be careful.
These people may have an ulterior motive to asking or
to finding out that it's 2:30 in the afternoon.
Money-changers and hawkers along the road or
in the markets, they always have a special deal for you.
[LAUGH] Be careful,
these special deals are something that can turnaround and bite you.
Just an example, you can be changing money, and
they can offer you a much better rate than you can get at the bank.
And you change to hand over your dollars, and
they hand over a large brick of money with rubber bands around it.
And if you look at it carefully,
later on you might find that the interior is made of worthless bills.
And the outside looked good, but there was nothing on the inside and so
you've lost out there.
If there's a fight that breaks out in front of you,
this is a trick I've seen in a number of countries, that people will pick a fight
right in front of you, and they'll fall down on the ground.
And while they're doing that somebody else will come around and pick your pocket or
relieve you of your bag or attack you physically.
So if you see that happening in front you think that's not a normal situation,
something is going for you.
Demonstrations of any kind, football celebrations,
any kind of group, it's a normal thing to be curious.
What's going on here?
What's happening?
But these things can really turn ugly for
somebody who's a foreigner, you may find that your life is in serious problems.
Then there's always people who are, for a better word here,
called hello my friend people.
And they'll say, you remember that you came on the bus from such and such?
I was on the bus there, how are you doing, and what are you finding everything let me
show you a place where we can get good deals on watches or something else.
And to these very friendly people have an ulterior motive in being friendly.
So just a bit cautious even though, a country might be renowned for
its friendliness and its generosity.
There are always people that are taking advantage of that and
may cause trouble for you.
And then a final point on this slide is, or two points,
is always trust your intuition.
Of course, as you stay in a place for a while and
you learn more about that place, then your intuition gets better.
And just trust your intuition and use your common sense, these are your best friends.
If something doesn't feel right to you, if you feel uncomfortable,
then it's probably not where you should be right then, and
you should figure out how to get out of there.
And a final item is that alcohol can really blunt your protective instincts.
So many, many overseas people have gotten into trouble with a bit of alcohol and
they lost their capacity to think in a common sense way and
fall on the foul of many unfortunate circumstances.
Let's think about moving around,
vehicle crashes are the top killers of Americans overseas.
There are many ways that you can die in vehicle crashes.
Buses are a number one thing, even a common cause of death in the US.
Buses where the driver goes to sleep, or the driver has alcohol aboard and
turns the bus over, are major problems.
In most countries there are premium buses, or executive buses, or express buses.
And these are often run by reputable companies and they tend to be very safe.
But the half price or less at a mini buses or over loaded buses,
be careful of those, those are likely to break down.
And if you have a choice don't ride in anything at night, whether it's driving or
whether it's on foot or whether it's in a vehicle.
Lots of bad things happen at night.
Sometimes bus stations are in dubious locations.
And this is a great place to have your purse snatched or
your pocket picked, so be careful in the bus stations.
And again, not displaying your wealth here, if it's an uncertain or
dodgy neighborhood, it might be worth just taking a taxi to
this particular bus station and then getting on the bus from there.