Gringos 4 Life

Well, everything that you wished never happened to a skinny white gringo in Chile...I got a sunburn and I got robbed! Whatcha gonna do? Or as the Chileans say..."las cosas de vida". Actually that's not what the Chileans said, it was more along the lines of: "You crazy gringos didn't anyone ever tell you to look out for your stuff, people will rob you idiots blind!" Okay, with a little change in the translation, I was more consoled by everyone on the bus after they two guys took off. A couple guys slid up into open seats behind us at a stop, and saw that my bag was jammed under my seat. While the old lady next to Doss saw this, she tapped him on the head. Confused, we both turned around to see the woman screaming and pointing in the other direction. The poor lady was trying to help, and probably actually helped them get away by distracting the idiot North Americans who didn't understand what she was saying. So when I understood "mochila" or backpack, I grabbed it and saw it was open and took off after the two clever fiends...so I traced their scent all the way across the street into a dark alley where I showed them how we settle things on the streets of Spokane, WA...actually thats a lie...I realized my masculine prowess has never come in handy and why would it save me now. That and they were dodging traffic as I ran out to chase them and screamed "Ellos robome camera..." or something like that, I don't speak espanol very well when I'm stressed. So, I got dumb looks from a bunch of locals who figured it out and then began patting me on the shoulder and telling me I need to be careful. I knew all that, but as the gringos discussed later, we didn't expect the bus to be a dangerous place...should've seen that one coming!

But, I have since dealt with the sorry fact, and am glad that Doss has been periodically saving my pictures to this lovely computer and I'm only missing a few good shots of Valparaiso from yesterday. I'm pretty sad because that was one of the best gifts I have ever received and I've taken it all over the world...but I guess I'll just have to start the new saga of photography...as soon as I get some frickin' income...don't you get a free camera for getting into this teacher business? No, alright...I guess I'm not doing this for the money or fabulous prizes! And the other positive was that my bag was so jammed in the seat that the only thing they COULD pull from it was my camera, so the rest of my well being is intact (including my passport and credit cards....yes...all is well!)

But, now comes the imporant part that EVERYONE MUST READ...in no way are you to panic that Katie, Gina, Doss and Jake are in terrible trouble. We have spent the ENTIRE trip being worried and cautious about what we have around us and what people can steal, especially in big places like Valparaiso and Santiago. I am pretty good at this being adult stuff and I take full responsibility for this...it in no way reflects our travel abilities or the proportion to which you all should worry about us (because I can already feel you people getting more scared and motherly for us, and I already have a mother...oh by the way...Mom...don't call my professors panicked about me...because they don't know how to contact us any better than you do!)

Alright, does everyone feel better? Good, cause I do...and I'm sure I'll realize a valuable lesson about worldly possessions along the way. Actually I think I had a theological discussion about forgiveness with a lovely Chilean woman in the bus afterwards. She kept saying "excuse them" and then pointed to her rosary..."por que El" which I knew immediately was something along the lines of...forgive them because He forgave you! Such a great woman, and she walked us to the subway and blessed us after we got off the bus. So, I'm pretty sure we're good for the rest of the trip!

Alright, well I'm going to leave you with a couple happy pictures from Valparaíso because that is the most important thing to remember. We all had a great time and that didn't change. We are headed out to dinner tonight with one of the head people from the Ministry of Education and we aren't sure how much english she speaks, but we're pro at this now! Enjoy the photos and don't worry about us, we can manage for two more days...just be glad no one stole your gifts!