Long Day

"You are in Russia, this is not like America. You cannot trust like maybe you can in America. And you are in Moscow, the center of Russia--you must be careful."

I don't like to think of Moscow this way. But I guess from now on, I will have to.

We have been warned almost constantly since we got here that we must be careful because we are American and things are different for us, we have to be extra watchful. And while we have certainly not disregarded those warnings by any means, over the last few months we have fallen so easily into our patterns and felt so comfortable in our surroundings and with the people we're with that the warnings have more or less, for me, fallen into the back of my brain. We go back and forth from our rooms to the classroom with little thought, we're in and out of each other's rooms with no problem. We're familiar with our hall and relaxed in our comfortable surroundings. I guess you could say that we have been lured into a false sense of security. Well, today Karlie and I paid the price for our complacency.

Today while we were in class giving presentations, someone came into our room and stole several items. Karlie came into the room after class and found it in a state of semi-disarray: random things were out of place, the wardrobe was open and clothes and boxes thrown around, Karlie's wallet was emptied out with coins scattered across the floor, and my sheaf of important information had been tossed aside. Nothing too serious (nothing was broken) but Karlie bore the brunt of the theft--her good camera, eReader and hard drive, and some money were stolen. My iPod which had been lying on my bed was stolen. Fortunately, our computers were in the classroom with us and I had by random chance kept my wallet with my documents with me today instead of leaving it in the room as usual. Fortunately, they didn't take any of our documents or credit cards, which was a relief. The frustrating, and disconcerting, part is that whoever took our stuff knew enough about us to know that we weren't in our rooms. Tonight, we were reminded that we cannot be so careless and that as Americans, we truly do stand out.

Although I would have appreciated a reminder that didn't result in today's kind of loss, I guess the truth is that it will help me remember to lock the door and double-check where I put my valuables in the future. It will make me remember to be more watchful.

But...I would rather it was a lesson I hadn't had to learn the hard way in the first place.