An unfortunate story

I was contemplating whether to blog about this incident or not, and ultimately decided that this is basically my journal and it is something that I wanted to record. So here is my unfortunate story.

So, I have had my first bad experience in Vietnam. Yesterday I got mugged. Let me start off by saying luckily everything that was lost is replaceable. It was my camera, Vietnamese cell phone, and the equivalent to about 7 USD. It was the typical mugging, the kind you see in movies (I am reminded of a scene from some awful Olsen twins movie) where a motorbike came roaring by me and ripped my purse from my body. True story. Me being me yelled something that rhymed with duck and took off after the motorbike. After a good sprint (secret ski training) it dawned on me that there was no way I was ever going to catch up to him. It all happened so quickly. My friends didn't even realize what was happening, not that I had a clue of what was going on until I felt the strong tug at my side. At first I thought it was one of my friends grabbing my bag and then I felt the strong pull across my shoulder and saw the motorbike. I think he must have been following us for a while because it was absolutely flawless. The position that he came in from and everything- it just seems like it was too perfect for it to happen without him putting some thought into it. We obviously stick out in Vietnam, we are big white giants (actually, I am always the tallest person) and just being foreign immediately suggests money. However, I am not blaming my appearance for being targeted– I was not doing a good job of concealing my belongings. Although I had the strap across my body, the actual bag was on the side of my hip, which is the grabbing level for someone on a motorbike. Usually I do a good job of keeping my hand on my bag, or making it hang in front of my body but I think I just got too comfortable.

I feel very violated but I also feel stupid that I was the victim of a mugging. I think I was getting too relaxed and really should have been more aware about how my purse was hanging. But the more I think about it the more I realize that the situation could be so much worse. Everything that was in that satchel was replaceable (I had even just uploaded all of my photos onto my computer). I also could have been seriously hurt had the purse not broken so easily. Our academic director warned us about people snatching things while on motorbikes, and she says leather purses can be really dangerous because they don't break easily and they can actually drag the person along. I have also been thinking about how I am lucky that the motorbike didn't hit me. If at the moment he swooped in right next to me I had taken a step towards him I would have been run over, and he was going fast when he went by me. So I guess in a sense I am lucky. And I learned my lesson and am going to always keep my guard up and remember that those things happen often and that I can't allow myself to become so comfortable leading me to be careless.

This is how wonderful Co Thanh, my academic director, is: This morning I told her what had happened and only a few hours later she surprised me with a beautifully woven bag with a new cell phone and SIM card inside. I am so fortunate to be in a program where the administrators actually care about their students. We also had a group discussion about what happened and Co Thanh told me that she has been mugged three times and that it happens to locals everyday. It makes me feel a little better about myself, like I wasn't being just a super naive Westerner. I think that this incident was a refresher course on safety and security for the whole group. I know that I learned my lesson and am going to be more cautious with my belongings and where I place them on my body.

I really wanted to post a picture of this cool fruit I bought and since I don't have a camera anymore I have resorted to photobooth. New camera will be purchased shortly. We are headed to the beach for the weekend so I will definitely borrow some friend's pictures for the next post.

RAMBUTAN YUMMMMMMYY!!!