LEX

un hombre me robo!

camille, royce and i have been taking public transportation all week because our not so reliable jeep is in the shop...again. taking public transportation quickly uses up small change, so this morning i was frantically looking for what i could use today. i was about to take a 500 peso bill (appx. $15) and hope and pray i could break it somewhere before i needed to use it. then camille decided to check the MAK money to see if there was a smaller bill i could borrow. there was a 100 peso bill (appx. $3), so i took that instead (don't worry sharla, i'll replace it!).

so this afternoon when i was finished with classes in chichigua, i boarded a guagua at the main road. i'm sure i've mentioned this before, but just to refresh your memory - because it's important to this story - a guagua is a 12 passenger van used for public transport on which they often fit up to 30+ people. when i get on, i'm one of the last people who can actually sit down. in front of me is a middle aged man who he helps me get situated. he's sitting directly behind the passenger seat facing me. we're so close that our legs are touching (yeah, a little creepy).

once i get settled, i get my money out to pay for my ride. after i put my wallet back in my backpack, the man in front of me continues to help me get situation, though i no longer need any help. he also has a manila envelope in his hand, which he proceeds to let lay across the top of my backpack - over the zipper area where i keep my wallet. since i am no fool, i pulled my backpack closer to me so he wouldn't have access to anything inside.

when i arrived in pancho mateo, i decided that i wanted to buy a tostada for lunch. so i reached in my backpack to get 10 pesos out of my wallet. but alas, my wallet was not there. after searching my whole back about 5 times, i decided that, yes indeed, the man had stolen my wallet, despite my precautions. how in the world he was able to get it, i will never know.

the positive side of this story: my wallet only had about $3 plus my debit card.

the moral of the story: don't keep lots of money or other important things in your wallet when riding public transportation.

posted by Alexia & Jeffrey @ 1:02 PM