Get your paws off my bag!

For all the malas noticias about the dangers of Mexico, I'd like to report that our first encounter with thuggery happened in Buenos Aires. The last time we came here, I glowed about how safe it was -- how I could walk down the street without having to bear-hug my bag -- but I take it back.

Nick and I were walking through a very nice neighborhood on Monday, and I felt something wet spray across my back. A man walked up from behind to warn me about water dripping from an awning. Really? It sprayed horizontal, sir, like from your direction. The man tried to reach out and show me where I got wet, but I immediately got in attack mode, and started yelling. Something about the situation didn't seem right. I called his bluff, identified the squirt bottle hidden in his right hand, and told him to get away. And he ran across the street behind a car like a scared cat. Yeah, that's right, don't mess with Asian girls -- we may be small, but we can be vicious! And, FYI, this Asian girl doesn't have any Louis Vuitton or anything even close, so take your eyes and your paws off my bag, and move along.

Anyway, the moral of today's post is: crime is everywhere. But you knew that already, right? Even in this charming, Paris-of-Latin-America, you can never hold your bag too tight.