Today was a bad day in terms of my foreign relations. Prior to leaving the States, it seemed impossible to have a conversation regarding Europe with anyone without being subjected to repeated warnings to ´be safe´. Receiving this advice hundreds of times, coupled with additional 1st- and 2nd-hand accounts of people being mugged, robbed or taken advantage of, has left me on heightened alert the entire time I´ve been in Europe (of course, this annoys/amuses David to no end).
Today, I was walking back to the hostel in the middle of the day and was approached by a group of gradeschool children. One of them had a folder open and started to ask me a question about a paper in the folder; instinctively I tensed up and turned away from them, saying, "no, no gracías" and made my way to the door.
The second I was inside, I quickly realized how ridiculous I was being and that these innocent kids were in no way going to harm me. This, of course, left me feeling like quite a jackass given that I blew a perfect opportunity to talk to and interact with some of the local residents. Further, they probably now have the impression that Americans are rude and neurotic.
3 Comments:
At 12:06 PM,
Michael said…
Obviously, you haven't seen the movie hostel. The children who travel in packs are up to no good. At least in bratislava. I would still pratice caution, but you can win these children over with your charm. ;)
At 7:32 AM,
Anonymous said…
Dude, you just avoided some suicide bombers. Consider yourself lucky.
-The PoPo
At 7:31 PM,
Spare! said…
Now if you were in Sao Paulo...the kids might have had a .45 under the folder.
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