The Day I Became a Statistic

Alright...Barcelona, Spain...

I arrived in Reus, Spain, because Ryanair only flies to small airports, so after an 1 1/2hr bus ride into town. We made it to our hostel only to find out that the reception desk was a bar. We then understood why the name was Bar Hostel La Ramblas. The reception desk and bar had the same cash box and when I say cash box I mean they didn't even take credit cards. We stuck it out two nights in a disgusting room. We figured it was safe enough, but it fit every stereo type of what people describe hostels being like.
The next day it rained. Not just a little, but poured. We were told it would clear away by noon, so we went to the Picasso Museum. It was nice, but Picasso is a little weird for me. We went to an indoor market that had every kind of food imaginable. Then we ate at a little mom and pop shop. Lunch was excellent! A rice and seafood combination very similar to jumbo and Sangre (the local drink). Later we had a siesta. We found out about a little underground club that local people came and played Blues music open mic style. It was fantastic. Rebecca, some of the people that played the sax were incredible. I recorded one guy, don't let me forget to play it for you. We also met a local Spanish guy, his name was Victor. He had come to hear his brother play the guitar. He ended up showing us on a map some great places to go the next day. He literally gave us our own personal tour of Barcelona. It was fantastic! We got to see some of Gaudi's works, they are all hand crafted mosaics. Afterwords we headed to the beach...
Me and Christy set our bags, shoes and jackets in front of Ruby and Anne and went to take pictures by the beach. A man came up and Ruby and Anne bought coconuts from him. When we looked back my bag was gone. Now if you remember my description of our hostel, all my stuff was in that bag and when I say everything I mean everything. Thankfully we had switched hostels for the last night, because the new one had internet and Skype. I called home and began the process of figuring out what to do with no money and no form of ID in Barcelona. It was Friday evening and the embassy didn't open until Monday morning. So basically I was a refugee in Barcelona for 2 days. Dad was able to wire me some money, so that problem was solved and there wasn't anything I could do about my passport until the embassy opened back up. Lucky I had a friend/sorority sister studying in Barcelona for the semester and her host family was gracious enough to let me stay with them for 2 days until the embassy opened. So I had a place to stay, money and a game plan. The next step was filing a police report. After getting false directions and wandering the city for an hour me and Ruby found the police station at about 1am. I filled out the paper work and we were on our way with a report in about 30 min. I learned that being an American has its advantages. I was among 7 or 8 people that had also had things stolen and my files were recorded the fastest out of any ones. There was a man from the Netherlands that was there long before we arrived and was still waiting by the time we left.
A some what funny story: a woman was in there filing a report, because her cell phone had been taken out of her hand mid-conversation. We couldn't hear the whole story, but we saw the hand motions of her explaining talking on the phone then, poof, it was gone.
Staying the two extra days in Barcelona were nice, but really stressful not knowing for sure if I could get a temporary passport. I got to see what local life in Spain is like and see a few sites we had missed earlier. It would have been better if I had known the outcome of getting a new passport.
Monday morning I was at the embassy at 9am filed my paperwork with them and waited. I was there with at least 6 other people all getting new passports, because they had been stolen as well. Thinking about it now, its almost comical how many people are pick-pocketed in Barcelona. An insanely high number, truly sad...
I was able to get a passport! It looks fake and like a high schooler made it, but it has gotten me on 2 planes so far, so it is accepted.

Lessons in Barcelona:
1) Never have all forms of ID in one place.
2) Never have all credit cards/money in one place.
3) A copy of your passport is only good for 2 things:
a) When you need your passport number
b) The US embassy accepts it as a form of ID
*No one, let me repeat, NO ONE takes a copy of your id as a legal form of id. It is pointless except with the US embassy
4) When looking for a hostel make sure it has "security" lockers in the room. The Bar Hostel had lockers, they just didn't lock.
5) Never ever, ever set your bag down/let it out of your sight. Its crazy how careful we were being. I had even set it in front of my friends knowing they were watching it. I would have had to set it in Ruby's lap or had worn it into the ocean. I guess I should have risked getting my purse wet.
6) Sorority sisters are always there for you, no matter what
7) Know a few basic Spanish words before traveling to Spain.
8) I am not to cool for a money belt that I wear around my waist. I now have one!

This is a little hard to write and pushing the publish button is going to be harder, but I do feel like I have learned so much from this experience. I feel like this was almost a test. I keep saying I want to be a world traveler and this experience really tested that. A one point in time I was ready to call it quits and just give up, but now with this in hind sight I'm not sure I would change anything. I survived and I enjoyed the scenery on the detour. I feel like I can handle a lot more than before. I ended up doing a little more traveling by myself than I originally intended and I managed it all successfully.
One good thing that has come about is the change in my travel itinerary. I had originally planned to spend 2 days in Berlin and then 2 in Prague and then go back to Salzburg, however, with limited funds and my train ticket to Prague in the hands of someone else, that idea didn't work out. I'm now staying 4 days in Berlin and so far that is going to be a much better experience and I will go to Prague some other weekend. 4 days will not be long enough in Berlin.
Others need the computer at the hostel, so I will explain Paris and Berlin later.