Me Robó

The title sounds like I’m telling you that I’m a robot, but it actually means that I was robbed. Which I was, unfortunately.

Thursday morning began like any other. I wake up 2 hours before I have to go to work. I surf the net for 90 minutes and hurriedly get ready to go and eat breakfast in the last half hour. I checked for my wallet in my jacket, and noted that my travel pouch with my passport is under a pile of clothes in my hotel room. I leave the Villa Rica and walk down a block to catch a bus. On the bus I sit alone, but then a man sitting somewhere behind me moved to sit next to me. It’s not so unusual as I figured that he had a stop coming up and wanted to be closer to the door. He was kind of large so I was squished against the bus window. I wrapped my arms around my backpack, which had my computer and camera and was on my lap.

The man jostled a bit. He had a large yellow plastic bag with him with some cardboard or something inside. He got off a few corners later. I myself hopped off the bus a few more blocks past that. I started walking to the museum when I noticed that my jacket’s pocket was open. I put my hand in and nothing was there. I patted down my pants pocket, the other place I put my wallet. Nothing there either.

Just like that, I was professionally robbed.

After some fast, frantic thinking about my options I decided to hop on a bus going back towards the Villa Rica. I searched my room for my wallet, in case I had left it there. I got online to tell Kristin what happened. As I chatted with her I looked online for advice about what to do in this situation. I checked the US Embassy in Lima, wikihow.com, and then my online banking site. When I saw the statement I noticed that there was already a new charge: around $3.50 at an inn in Lima. I was excited that I had a lead already so I bolted downstairs to ask the hotel staff what I should do. They got me a cab to the nearest police station.

The police station was like any other building in Jesus María. It was made of brick plastered over and had alternating sections with and without a ceiling. Florescent lights made everything green. After explaining to several officers that my wallet was stolen and my card was being used, I was led to a room where they took my statement. Jesus María is not a tourist district so it must be rare for them to deal with foreigners (or was it…). The officer I was assigned was nice even though answering each question seemed like its own confusing ordeal. He hand-wrote the statement and directed me back downstairs. As I left, a group of police officers called me to another corner of the room. I had no idea what was going on.

They asked me if I spoke English. I said yes and they led me into the circle of officers. In the center was a white-looking person dressed in a t-shirt and shorts, hardly appropriate for a cold wet morning. They wanted me to talk to this guy, and get the basic information from him. Following their instructions I asked the man for his name, where he came from, and his birthday. He answered all three with a slight grin and a shake of the head which to me said “Whatever, dude.” It dawned on me that this guy didn’t come here on his own for help; the police brought him in for something!

I put myself on alert as I was a foot from this strange guy. The police tried to get me to engage him in conversation but the man wouldn’t comply. They sent me away again. Downstairs an officer was typing up my statement into an old PC. When she was done she had a printout stamped and signed by another officer and I was told I could go. All told, my first real experience with the police was very positive.

Back at the Villa Rica, Kristin told me via chat that she had cancelled my Columbia cards. On her advice I took a nap to rest. I got up to have lunch and went to work finally at 2PM. When I told my coworkers what happened they were very empathetic. I have something of a reputation for just leaving my valuables hanging around while I run errands so they cautioned me on my lax personal security (I’m actually careful, I swear!). They affirmed that that would be last experience with crime here in Lima.

One aspect of my personal security practices that paid off was that I keep money and documents in separate locations. I had around $8 in another pocket, which sustained me for the two days before I could reach Bob for help. My passport is safe. It’s just $30, some credit cards and ID cards which were taken. Actually, that sounds kind of bad. Maybe I should re-evaluate my plan. Hmm.

1 thought on “Me Robó

  1. Keith says:

    Not to toot my own horn (though, who’s horn would I toot but my own*) but I liked how this post started. If you didn’t know what happened beforehand you’re hopefully wondering which of my items got stolen: the passport at home, my backpack with computer and camera, or my wallet.

    Also, post some comments people! I need sycophants and yes-men. I’d even settle for trolls and detractors.

    *Don’t… don’t answer that.

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