Scream Really Loud and Bad Men Will Go Away

Before leaving, I wish I had taken a refresher course in self defense. The only move I remember is entitled "Monkey grab peaches, twist and turn". Thankfully, I haven't employed that technique although I almost had to last night in Xela where I am now.

I wouldn't normally go out alone at night in Guatemala, but my Spanish School is only a couple short blocks from the Guatemalan family with whom I am staying. At 8:45pm, I walked a couple blocks and turned down the street the school is on. A car stopped and 2 men got out. One started to follow me and when I started to run, he started to run after me and indicated that he wanted my bag. He began to pull something (most likely a knife or gun) from his back pocket. I tried to talk some reason into him by screaming as loud as I could . I couldn't believe how much volume these lungs can bellow. He got cold feet and turned and drove off. I ran back to my house and called it a night.

In all my numerous travels around the world, this was definitely one of the scariest moments besides the time I had to save a German girl from a mugging in South Africa. I promise to exert more caution especially since I was only on day 2 of 365. I also refuse to let muggers define my impressions of this beautiful country and its friendly people. Gladys, the school maestra came over and brought me special tea to calm my nerves. I will explore Xela today during daylight hours.

My temporary cell phone number until I can get one that allows for international texts is 502 43608200.