Mugged

While I still believe in the philosophy of what I said in my last post, about being proud of my country and my culture, I don’t know if I agree with my tactics anymore for security reasons. My friend Emily and I got off the subway and were walking in a well-known town during the afternoon, and a man and a woman were standing on the street where we were about to pass by. The man did some sort of weird jump (maybe to distract me?) and before I knew what was happening, the woman sprinted to the side and ran behind me, grabbed me by the neck and put me in a headlock. My mind was frozen and I had no idea what was going on; it seemed like a dream. At first I had an absurd thought that she was hugging me. Now we know where my mind goes in a life or death situation. I was making some sort of loud noise, I don’t know if it was screaming, but I gave her my purse and they both ran off. I was dizzy and confused and couldn’t stop crying. My friend was freaked out too; she tried to help me breathe and stay calm. Two young men from Israel came up to us and asked us if I was robbed. They were very nice and walked us to the subway stop. In my purse was: my phone, my camera, my apartment key, directions to get to my apartment, and my wallet (200 pesos, $20, my health insurance card, and my debit card). Oh and they also ripped my bandana off my head. Was that really necessary? I liked that bandana. It was red, my favorite color.

Anyway, that completely sucked but I guess it’s pretty common. It happens to Argentines too, but it’s a lot more common with North-Americans. No matter how hard I try to speak Spanish and fit in, it doesn’t matter. And since it was daytime and I was with a friend, I honestly don’t know how to prevent something like this from happening again. I don’t think I was being stupid about anything. I guess in the future I just won’t carry my debit card around.. but my camera? Maybe I will just bring that in large group situations. My mom at home is canceling my debit card and we have to change the locks on this apartment. That sucks but now I totally understand when people who get mugged say they are glad that they still have their lives. I think it was also more terrifying at the time than it is a bummer. Of course this means more hassle and lots more money, but that’s nothing compared to how much worse it could have been. Since I am from the suburbs of Chicago, I am not used to this kind of thing. It is common in big cities, so I know that I shouldn't be completely terrified every time I walk out the door. But the best part is that I have my life and my friends and family. That sounds completely corny but I really do consider myself lucky right now. The things I lost are things that can be replaced. And now I will take a long nap.