One of best days ever. Arriving to the Vatican, I notice an audiance waiting on something to happen. Minutes after I place myself in a very good spot, the Pope comes out. How incredible is that? One of the most influential people in the world was right in front of me. My whole trip to Rome was worth it at that point. After a 3 hour tour and 500 steps to the top of the Basilica de St. Peter, my day couldn't get any better. Wish I had paid more attention to my History teachers in school.
Trying to stay one day longer in Rome to attend an event at the Vatican, I had to change my train ticket. Stood in line for 2 hours in the morning with no success and came back in the afternoon. Waiting, a guy came and stood next to me asking friendly questions. After a short exchange and his offer to direct me on the right direction, he asked me for money. Why was he helping me? There is no such thing as a free lunch. Shocked, I declined. He insisted. I declined. He became rude. I moved back. He moved towards me and insisted more. It was making me really uncomfortable. I know the trick. You open your wallet, they see how much you have and they grab what they want. It happened to a girl I met earlier. When he satated reaching out for my bag, I started talking louder. With my broken Italian, I chose to go off on him in Spanish. A Colombian guy noticed the situation and reached out for me. Asked the guy to leave me alone and pulled me towards him to keep me safe. Who should I trust at this point?
The bad guy became really rude and almost got on a fist fight with the Colombian guy that stepped in to defent me. Was this really happening? How did the situation escalated so fas? Should I just run?
After a few threats, the bad guy left. On the corner of my eye, I could still see him looking at us from far away. I decided to leave and head back to my hostel. A few steps later, I could still see the bad guy behind me. Was he really following me? Scared, I walked around the train station hoping it was just a coincidence. Sure enough, he was following me. Scared to leave the public place and head home by myself, I went to the police. Of 5 officers, only one of them spoke very little English. I explained the situation and asked to be walked to my hostel. Their quick answer was a "no, we cannot". What?? The look in my face must have been really hopeless, that after some insisting, one of the cops decided to walk me only one block.
So far on this trip, I had never felt so alone and far away from home. If anything happened to me there was absolutely no one that I could call. At the other cities, at least I had a new friend or a host that I could reach out to. This time, I felt unsafe and unprotected.
After talking to my mom and a good friend about it, I was calmed and determined to give a report to the ambassy in case anything happened. I thought it was an exageration to do that, up until the moment when I was walking a few blocks away from my hostel and I saw the guy again later that evening. After the second encounter, I was speed walking to the ambassy, just to arrive and find out that none of the officers spoke English or Spanish and the office would open until the next morning. Holly cow!! Was this really happening? No questions asked, I headed back to the hostell and left Rome first thing the next morning. I was uneasy and unconfortable and did not want to let that guy ruin the trip for me. It was best for me to move on to another great adventure and not leave with fear one more day in Rome.
Despite the experience, Rome is a stunning city and I cannot wait to go back to experience some more of it. It would probably take half a year to really get to see everything that it has to offer. I wouldn't consider it a "relaxing" city at all. There is too much to do and explore. The wine was not as cheap as Venice, and the city is definitely more complex than Florence, but it has it's own magic. Just be aware and do not trust anyone.
Daniela Guevara
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