i was (almost) mugged!

yes, the rumours are true: i was nearly mugged on saturday. it was partially my fault: i was walking on an unfamiliar street in a less than reputable neighbourhood, and i'd just had my phone out to send off an sms. a male teenager came up to me asking for money, which, being in a city within the third world, i am used to. however, he was coming up much closer to my face than i'm accustomed to. i eventually vocalised to him that i didn't have any money to give, at which point he grabbed my arm and tried to swipe my belongings off of me. i was not having any of that, so i yelled at him to get off me. he told me to give him my money, at which point i pulled out my canister of pepperspray (which i'd been holding on to in my pocket upon entering the aforementioned lacklustre neighbourhood), sprayed him in the face, and sprinted away. luckily, i made it out of that situation alive, but more importantly, i retained all of my belongings! ;)

to be honest, i was neither terribly alarmed nor shaken up, and i feel like i walked away from the experience having learned a valuable lesson in self-awareness. i had a long talk with agnes over dinner that night on the subject of “self-imposed boundaries,” and we agreed that it was rather imprudent of me to be walking in such areas. i reasoned that i was used to having been able to walk around and explore on my own in dc, to which she retorted that i subconsciously avoid certain areas that i know are unsafe. i suppose that's true; after all, there are certainly plenty of areas surrounding los angeles that i would avoid, too! ;)

other than that, things have been going well for me. i’m looking forward to roadtripping up to namibia this upcoming saturday with brigid, sara, sean, and liz. i think it will be a lot of fun. :) also, apparently, uct is developing a course of study (i’m not sure if this will be an entire major or just a certificate) in canadian studies. obviously, i find this absolutely fascinating! :)

finally, it looks like unfortunately, going to accra after cape town won’t be in the cards for me (due to financial restraints). :( therefore, i’m flying back to los angeles, as planned, on november 20, and i will be returning to dc soon afterward (most likely within a day or two following thanksgiving). of course, there’s the ongoing dilemma of where i’ll live once i get back there... :(