A Learning Experience

*Hi guys. Sorry about not posting in awhile! I had some issues with accessing the blogs but now I’m all set, so expect more blogs in the near future. The following is a blog I wrote back in mid-August while I was still in Tours. Enjoy and I’ll talk to you all again very soon!*

Hey! I’m back with another blog. A lot has happened since I last blogged so I’m going to go ahead and dive right into it.

Just this past Wednesday evening I was pickpocketed on the street here in Tours. Before I tell you more, I just want to be clear that first, I am totally fine, and second, what happened should not reflect poorly on Holy Cross at all. I must admit I was a little nervous to write this blog but in an effort to paint an authentic and truthful picture of my study abroad experience, I’d like to tell you about what happened.

So two of my friends and I were walking home when we were approached by a group of seemingly normal, harmless guys who looked to be around our age. They spoke to us in English and gave us high fives, which then escalated to an odd handshake of sorts, followed by what I can only describe as an odd jig. After about ten seconds of this odd interaction, the men ran away. As I put my hand on my front pocket to feel for my cell phone, I quickly realized it was gone. Luckily the men did not take my wallet, which had a decent amount of euros, my license, and two credit cards.

While yes this whole experience has been a bit unsettling, over the past few days I’ve been trying to see a silver lining in that the whole experience could have gone far worse. For those of you reading this who might be freaked out, please don’t be! The reality is that in Europe pickpocketing is something that happens. It’s at times unavoidable, however there are definitely some precautions you can take:

1. Keep your volume of English conversation to a minimum. Americans are often targets of pickpocketers if they are found speaking English at a high volume surrounded by a crowd of Europeans. Keeping conversation volume to a minimum in public is a simple way to avoid being targeted.
2. Try to blend in when you can. If you carry yourself with the confidence and look of a local, you’re far less likely to be targeted.
3. Always be aware of where your valuables are on yourself. No back pockets! Just be aware that my cell phone was taken from my front right pocket (crazy, right?!). A crossbody bag is a great place to store items like a phone, wallet, etc. and know that they are safe and sound.
4. Don’t touch anyone who you don’t know and don’t let anyone who you don’t know touch you. This one sounds simple but sometimes, like in my situation, pickpocketers can get up in your face and this can be uncomfortable to refuse. Simply repeating “no” or in my case “non, merci” I’ve found to be the most effective method when dealing with persistent people on the street.

After all this that has transpired over the last few days, my new phone should arrive tomorrow! I’m lucky enough to have parents who were able to help me through this rough patch during my experience abroad. Although this experience has been a small setback, I’m happy I’m able to share it with you and hope I can educate those who may find themselves in a similar situation. Anyway, thanks for reading guys. À bientôt!

This entry was posted on Monday, September 14th, 2015 at 5:01 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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