This One Time...

Our objective for reflections this week was to tell a story. Sometimes you just can't expect the unexpected!

I studied abroad in Valladolid, Spain during the spring semester of 2007. During our Spring Break, a friend and I traveled to Naples, Italy because it was "the most beautiful city ever" as stated by several friends. After visiting Pompeii (awesome!) we boarded the metro train to get back to our hostel. We had to switch trains and that went smoothly... until we noticed it was going the wrong direction. We weren't concerned because we had experience with the Light Rail in Minneapolis so we knew that at the end of the line it would just reverse and come back. WRONG. Instead, we found ourselves riding along the coast of Italy, past the volcano we had seen hours earlier. Picture two 20-year-old girls, who don't speak Italian, who don't have passports or much money (because we had just planned to hike at Mt. Vesuvius and come right back), and who are freaked out! Luckily, there was one man who spoke English on our train and told us just to get off at the next stop and get on whatever train is heading "back to Naples"- yup, we weren't in Naples anymore. We did as we were told and joined a random family since it was now getting dark. We loaded the first train we saw going back to Naples and quickly realized this wasn't your average metro train; it was a long-distance passenger train. Our wimpy metro tickets definitely wouldn't work on this train! The train was very full so we just stood near the door. As the doors were closing, a young man jumped on the train and dropped a large black duffle bag by our feet. In the next moments an older man began pounding on the door from the outside. My friend and I quickly wandered to find a seat. The next thing we knew the train had been turned off and police officers swarmed the train. My friend and I were now as scared as we had ever been in our lives! We didn't have valid tickets, a passport, or any money. Our professors had warned us of the very strict transportation laws of Italy- we could have certainly gone to jail if we were found without tickets or a passport! Luckily, a young couple sat near us and tried their best to keep us calm with their broken English. They were doing a good job until I heard commotion behind me and turned to look. The young man tapped my leg and said, "Don't watch. They are dealing with the bandits." I had my one and only experience with Bandits. Italian bandits. Awesome. Thankfully, we made it back to our hostel in one piece. We didn't even explore "beautiful" Naples because we were so scarred from the night before. That was a story that my parents didn't hear until after I returned to Minnesota :)