What a weekend....

So I have been getting a lot of questions, and I think I have told this story a million times, so I figured i might as well just write about it. This past weekend we decided to stay in Toledo. Thursday night I hung out with my intercambio, which is a guy from here that I get together with so I can practice my Spanish. His name is Cesar and he is great! He brought us to the botellon, which is just outside of the walls of Toledo and everyone our age goes there to meet new people and drink before going out. It was a great night!

The next day we spent the day writing papers, and then we decided to go out again that night. Saturday was Jamie's birthday, one of the guys in our group. So we were going to start at the botellon and then go out to a discoteca. When we go to a botellon we have to bring our own alcohol, and Daniella and I were the only two with big purses. So we brought the alcohol in our purses. Otherwise we NEVER carry our purses on us at night. The botellon and the discoteca were a good time, so when half of the group wanted to go, the other half (myself included) stayed. Most of the people we were with lived with host families, so when it came time to walk home it was just Claire and I that lived in the Fundacion. So we were almost back, I mean in the alley of the fundacion! I heard some people run up towards us, so i grabbed Claires arm. Claire is my sweetmate and she is a bigger girl, like almost 6 foot, but she is from a small town in south Carolina. Then someone grabbed my purse, so i turned around and there were three guys. Two where is darker clothing and one was in a white zip-up sweatshirt with his hood up. The one in the white had my purse. I wouldn't give them my purse, so the guy in the white took his other hand and grabbed a gun. He had the gun on my back kind of holding me because i was also pulling on my purse, so i didn't see the gun at first. Claire freaked out and told me to just give them my purse, but I still wouldn't. Then i saw the gun, but right away I realized that it was fake. It looked just like my little brother's airsoft gun, and Dan has real guns, so I know what they look and feel like. I was yelling at Claire and at the three guys that I knew the gun was fake, so I wasn't going to give them my purse. Then the guy with the gun started shooting me. He shot me twice and once was when the gun was on my face. Thankfully, I was too worried about not letting go and my adrenaline was pumping that I didn't even feel it. I was still yelling that I wasn't stupid and I knew that the gun wasn't really going to hurt me that bad. At this time i was face to face with the guy that had my purse and the gun (which makes me made because i can't remember for the life of me what he looked like) and I remember thinking that he looked worried because he shot me and i still wasn't letting go. I could tell that they didn't want to physically hurt me (like beat me up) because he didn't touch me at all and the two other guys just stood around me. BUT, my new, expensive camera was in my purse so i wasn't about it let go. After this, I looked back at Claire and realized that they had pulled me really far from her and she looked like she had no idea what to do. It was then that i decided i should probably let go of my purse because I didn't want to be alone with these guys, and they almost had me out of the street already. I thought about trying to punch him or, as Dan always tells me, kicking him in the crotch, but I realized that I was on my own with three guys. If i would have hit the one, the other two would have had to step in. And as much as i would like to believe I could have taken them all, I know i probably couldn't have. They were quite a bit bigger than I was. So what do you do in that situation? We are always told to kick or go for their "weak spot," but what do you do when there are three of them?!!? Needless to say, I lost my phone and my camera....$400 at least. Makes me wonder if it would have been better for them to have just taken my credit card because that i could have canceled right away. But there is nothing i can do now. I'm ok, and although it doesn't feel it, i know that is all that matters....

The police were called that night, and i had to explain everything. The next day I talked to two detectives, and told them everything. And then I went to the police station to get it all in writing. i doubt they will find the guys, but they are making a good effort. They have under-cover cops in our plaza during the night time hours and they are attempting to trace my phone. Hopefully something comes up!

I wasn't about to let that ruin my weekend though. The next day we went to this huge market in Toledo that happens once a year. I didn't get anything but it was still really cool. That night we went out, and i had a boy on each side of me when we walked. I eneded up have a good time. And then on Sunday we went to watch the Toledo soccer team play, and they won. Good ending to a crazy weekend.