A Little Shot of Reality

Well, there is nothing quite like having your bubble burst.

Today, after a long, satisfying day walking around Madrid, seeing some incredible sights, and buying some great souvenirs, I stepped onto the subway to head home and was robbed. Just as the day ended. Big boo to that.

And let me tell you, being in a foreign country with no cash, no identification, and no access to your bank account is really, really not fun.

So here's how things went down. Hannah and I are waiting to hop onto the subway, literally on our way home. It pulls up and we see that it's super crowded, which really isn't all that unusual. Yet this time as we step on there is a ton of pushing and shoving as people to try to get on and off. That should have tipped me off right there.

So all of the sudden I see this guy's hand slip into this lady's purse and I think to myself, "Oh man, the shit's about to hit the fan." Luckily the lady notices, turns around and slaps the guy across the face and proceeds to keep slapping him and screaming in his face. That's when I feel around my pockets to take account of everything and realize, "Well damn. My wallet's gone."

So I immediately look around to try and catch the guy and this old Spanish man points to this guy that was walking away and I take off after him. He turns around, sees me coming after him, and sprints off. The metro was so crowded that I lost him within seconds.

I guess I really only have myself to blame. I had my wallet in my back pocket, which I usually don't do. Except today I had on shorts that I was able to button the pocket on, so I thought the wallet was safe. Yet I forgot that Madrid has some of the most talented thieves in the world. I literally never felt a thing as this douchebag unbuttoned my pocket and slid my wallet out of my pants.

My only consolation is that I didn't have a single dollar in there. He did get my debit card, but I promptly called home and had it cancelled within minutes. And it's not like he can do a lot with my drivers license or student ID. Have fun with that stuff man. I guess there is a bright side to everything. :)

However, it's going to be a pain figuring out how I'm going to spend the rest of my time here without having access to cash. Things could get interesting as I get really, really cheap.

Another good thing that has come of this is that it was an important lesson learned. I was becoming way too relaxed in my life here and wasn't nearly vigilant enough. As comfortable and at home as I feel here, I'm still a foreigner and an easily visible one at that. I am always a target wherever I go.

Regardless, I refuse to let this ruin my time in Europe. I have had way too amazing of an experience here to let this trash everything. And I have too much exciting stuff coming up that I can't let this ruin as well. I'm so ready to see Anne that it's ridiculous and I know she's excited to see me, too.

So this experience really was a little shot of reality. It reminded me that there are bad people everywhere in the world, but that all I can do is persevere and keep my chin up. Things can always seem horrible and tragic, but in the grand scheme of life, it doesn't matter. What will matter is that I kept on chugging along and made the best of it and became a better person for it. That is my silver lining.

But still. Damn pickpockets.