A whole different world of street smarts

The last 24 hours have really tested me. If I had thought I had a few street smarts around me and thought i was a fairly cautious person, all of those misconceptions are gone now. Above all, I realize what a blessing it has been to grow up in the United States and in more or less safe neighborhoods and be 20 years old and still naive as I am. Since yesterday, and starting to enter into poor neighborhoods, taking crowded buses, and being around people who see me as a wealthy foreigner (or simply a single young woman), i have struggled and struggled. To enumerate: yesterday morning i took the bus with a nigerian preacher to "G5", a notorious part of Rabat for immigrants, and someone sliced the side of my bag (which i knew was ridiculously big and had been thinking even that morning how i needed a new one) and stole my wallet. just like that, no cell phone, no cash, no id card and no new flash drive that i had just bought. also no phone calls from the dozens of contacts i had just made. thank god, my keys, my research notebook, passport, etc - all the essentials - are still in my possession. perhaps it was simply a wake up call, because today again I was told to watch out for the people in these areas. don't give your number, dont meet them anywhere without me, the pastor told me today. and i've actually had to learn to do the opposite of what all the americans have done since day one and what i had thought eager study abroad students did. everyone at first was so open, talking to everyone and they meet and practicing the language, making friends, and being overly kind and gracious to make good impressions. however, those good impressions, at least for me, have turned into ceaseless phone calls, twenty people asking to have coffee on the same day, former friends who are suddenly hitting on me and following me when i try to walk away, and a general outrage over how men allow themselves to treat women here. its a funny thing to learn to gauge how friendly to present yourself; of course you need to be cordial but dont give away too much at one time, or ppl will take advantage of your kindness. a funny thing to learn, but Rabat is a world away from Minneapolis, Minnesota.