You have no idea how glad I am to be moving out here today [leaving for the airport in two hours actually] after the concierge just told me this:

On Sunday night my neighbor from downstairs [a very nice man, the only one actually I always talk to when I see him] came back from walking his dog, and downstairs there were two men outside the door. They came inside with him and told him they were visiting a tall, blonde girl in apartment 2.1. They got in the elevator with him, and mugged him.

I would have never expected something like this to happen here. It’s a good [reasonably good, I mean it is still downtown Barcelona] neighborhood and I never felt really unsafe here [though not as safe as in Munich or Heidelberg].

The weirdest thing is that they supposedly said that they were coming to visit a tall blonde girl in 2.1 which is my apartment. I am the only blonde girl here but not tall, but I was not even at home and had not been for over a week. It may be a coincidence, because they might have just said that. I doubt they hung out around the house for weeks before this to know where I live, or to see me walk into the building [and even then, how would they know my apartment number]. Might also be that the concierge made that part up [maybe they just said they are coming to visit a girl in 2.1].

But of course, either way, my neighbor didn’t suspect anything, I feel so bad for him. That must have been such a scary experience. I’m glad I am moving out of this building now. I don’t think I’d feel that safe anymore knowing something like that happened here while I was living here [I do know an apartment was broken into before in this building before I moved here].

Okay, I know I said I would not post again before my trip but this is something I have to write about.

Anna and I went to Barceloneta tonight for tapas at a bar I know through her. [And I ate meat. But it was the last time I went there and I thought I would make an exception to eat the pinchos again before I leave.] Afterwards we walked along the port to the Ramblas and went to Burker King there [I am a sucker for their brownie with ice cream.]

We sat on the top floor, and there were three tables right next to each other, we sat at the one closest to the window. When after a while a guy sits down next to Anna. Which was weird. He was sort of facing us, and it was just odd because there were plenty of empty tables, so why sit next to Anna? I thought that maybe he wanted to hit on her or me, or steal something from her.

Then he kind of looks at us, not sure how to describe it, a bit like a sad puppy maybe, [remember, I was facing him as I was sitting across from Anna], and then it looks like he took something from the chair behind Anna. I didn’t see what it was because the back of the chair was blocking my view. And then it looked like he wrapped whatever it was in his jacket. All the while he was looking at us and making a face like ‘please don’t say anything’. Anna and I were just looking at each other like we couldn’t believe what we had seen, and the audacity of that guy!

So when he got up and walked towards the stairs, and I also saw the woman who had been sitting behind Anna [so whatever it was he took must've been hers], she was walking towards the guy. I yelled, “Oye, él ha robado algo!!” [Listen, he stole something!!] She didn’t react but luckily the guy had dropped what turned out to be her purse in the moment I yelled at him through the room. [Which by the way was a bit awkward as no one knew why I was yelling across the room.] Which I didn’t see because it was again blocked by a chair / table. But another guy got up and picked up the purse to give it to the woman who still had no clue. [Turns out she was a tourist and didn't understand what I had said because she said 'thank you' in English to me.] By the way, she did not leave her bag completely unattended, her husband [I assume] was sitting across the table from her but he didn’t notice anything!

But I do wonder why it took me so long [and Anna too, she didn't say anything at all] to react and say something! I am glad I did, and on time this time! And that nothing was actually stolen. But I don’t get why it took me so long. Maybe it was that I couldn’t believe that the guy would actually steal something while we were watching. And he knew we were! He watched us watching him, and actually seemed to expect us not to say anything! Luckily I had the presence of mind and could even think of the right thing to yell in Spanish. But I hope that if this happens again, I will react more quickly.

I just wonder why it took me so long? Is it because I couldn’t believe what had just happened? I never actually saw what he took but I knew he had to have taken something from the way he acted. Maybe I was under shock? Just amazed at how fucking unbelievable that was that someone would steal something knowing we were sitting right next to him and watching him? I mean, how fucking audacious is that?! I don’t really understand it. But you know, the fact that he even tried this tells me that he has done this before, and that often enough it works. And that often people really do not say something!

The situation was a bit different than in Valencia as I had actually paid attention to him this time [in Valencia I was reading my book, not watching the guy take the camera bag, only after he left and I saw him with a bag in his hand and that he had left his coffee on the table had I realized what happened].

And you know the funny thing is, Anna and I seemed a lot more upset / shaken by the situation than the lady who almost had her purse stolen or her husband.

But you know this is also why I a) never leave my purse with a friend when I go to the bathroom in a bar or café or restaurant [in Germany I would do this sometimes] and b) hate when a friend leaves their stuff with me. I usually take the purse then and hold on to it, or at least move it a little closer to me, because I would hate to be responsible for it getting stolen. [Can happen more quickly than you think. One guy asks you something, you turn your head and attention to him, in the meantime another guy takes the bag.]

By the way, my box was picked up today by the woman who works with GLS. She gave me a little sticker with the tracking code for my package, as well as her full name and DNI [national ID] number. I also have a sort of blurry picture of her I took through the doorviewer and a picture of her driving away with my box visible in her car and the number plates legible. May sound a bit… paranoid, but I’d rather be safe than sorry. But I do really not think this was a fraud. She told me she would take the box to GLS on Monday but she also told me that on Monday French truckers will go on strike [and Spanish truckers still are on strike as far as I know] so the transport of the box may be delayed.

Anyway, I still need to finish packing and I should probably try to go to sleep soon-ish.