how lucky i am

I sort of debated writing about this, but I feel like it's probably going to be one of the more memorable experiences I've had in South Africa. So, here goes.

I was mugged by two men while walking to the gym in Rondebosch yesterday. Before I go any further in this story, I should mention that I'm perfectly fine and unharmed, sitting here in my nice warm bed blogging about this.

Anyway, around 3:30 yesterday afternoon I was on my 15 minute or so walk through my neighborhood from Mowbray to Rondebosch. Sometimes I walk on the main road to get there, but recently I have been walking in a more residential part and crossing under the train tracks to get to the main road. I walk alone to Rondebosch several times a day and have never felt in any danger. In fact, as I was walking yesterday, I even thought to myself how safe I have come to feel even though the realization of what I am doing, walking alone in one of the most dangerous cities in the world. But I never feel that fear here.

So, as I was walking, I felt my cell phone vibrate in my bag. I took it out to see who had texted me. I should probably mention that I have been using a really shitty phone here, and it can't be worth more than $10. It was an indestructible black Samsung decorated with holographic colorful smiling boat stickers. Read: not anything of much value. Before I could check the text and put the phone back in my bag, two men approached me. One of them came close to me, and as I tried to dodge him, he blocked my path to get away. In the few seconds that I realized he was blocking me, it hit me that I was about to be mugged, attacked or killed. I think I screamed, I don't remember. The one who blocked me grabbed my right arm while the other one grabbed me from behind. The one behind me tried to rip my purse off of me, but had a hard time since it was a cross-body bag. I struggled with them for probably less than a second, then I remembered the advice my dad and others had given me about just giving them what they want. The guy's grip on my arm hurt enough and I didn't want to be in the presence of these guys for any longer so I released my phone, screamed for help and took off running in the other direction as fast as I could.

As I was running I was guess I was pretty visibly upset. I saw an older black woman walking in the opposite direction. She looked at me, asked me what was wrong, and put her arms out to me. I immediately ran to her and hugged her. She calmed me down for a minute and offered to walk me back to my house. I honestly could not have been more thankful for her presence. As we were walking we found the police, who later came to my house for information. As we were walking, I found out the lady's name was Ferena, and while she has lived in this area for her whole life, she's never been a victim of crime. I asked why anyone would want such a piece of crap phone and she said that "they'll kill for one rand." (if the exchange rate is R7=$1, you'll know this is hardly anything). She said that the people like the ones who mugged me don't live around here. Instead they either come from the Cape Flats or live on the streets and come to where they know there's more affluence.

Ferena walked me back to my house and a few minutes later the police arrived. Given what I have heard about the complacency of the South African police, I was actually surprised at their willingness to help me, even if there isn't much they can do.

I'm angry and still freaked out by what happened yesterday, but most of all, I feel incredibly lucky. I am lucky that I only had my phone stolen, and not my purse or my ring. I am so lucky that the only thing that hurt me was the twisting grip of their hands, not a knife or a gun. I'm lucky that they gave up after getting my phone and seemed to have no other interest in stealing anything else from me. I'm lucky that I had the ability to take off running as fast as I could, and that I wasn't dead on the ground. I am lucky that I found someone as wonderful as Ferena to take me home and that the police were making rounds through the neighborhood just as it happened. I'm also lucky that I made it to the gym finally last night for a kickboxing class where the only thing I had to kick and punch was a stuffed mitt. All in all, as pissed off as I am about what happened, I am infinitely more grateful that it turned out the way it did.