Not the greeting I expected...

WOW so much happened in the last 24 hours...after a very pleasent flight over to Amsterdam ( I meet a young lady who was returning home to visit her family; she had been studying in San Fransisco), I was on the snelltren heading toward Amsterdam Centraal from the Schiphol Airport. I did not cart all my stuff down into a compartment where there were other passengers because it was a short ride to Amsterdam and I had been sitting for a near 7 hour flight across the Atlantic. I piled it all down in the corner close to the entry where a person would park their bike if bringing it on the train.

I was alone at the second to the last stop when the doors opened and this guy comes walking in looking at me and waving in the air a piece of paper with some printing on it. He was asking me something, eyebrows raised, and ponting toward the back of the train. He nevered showed me what was on the paper and I could not understand what he was saying. I'm pretty sure he was not speaking Dutch or German and it was not English or French. I moved a couple steps toward him...he did not appear threatening at all. Again he asked his question pointing to the back of the train and I shrugged my shoulders apologetically:

I'm sorry, I can't help you.

At that point he steps off the train just before the doors shut. I watched him standing there as the train started moving. After he was out of sight, I turned around to walk the couple of steps back to my things and noticed something not right. And then it registered with me:

Where's my daypack? Where's my computer? ...They're gone.

In the front of this car there was a door way to the forward car and a dark space where one could stand between them. I looked though the window of the door and saw nothing and then remembered another guy who walked past me two stops back and through that door. I did not want to lose my one remaining bag and search if anyone was in the forward car with my things and risk losing that too.

At this point, I was stunned and could not believe what had just happened. Within moments the train arrived in Amsterdam and I deboarded and looked for my things among other passengers. Nothing. I approached a conductor and told him my story and he told me where to go to make a report. I did that and had to go back today to make a detailed report.

Today when I went Centraal Police there was a straight couple from Canada there. We got to talking and came to find out that they had just been robbed on the same run at the same stop where I was yesterday! The difference being that they saw five guys, one of whom had a gun. They also had a witness who was actually a train employee and able to identify the bunch.

I don't know where all this will go if the stuff of value was fenced and probably irretrievable...it's only that there were some personal items amonst the stuff with my computer and camera, other assessories, my Deutsch learning books...of course there were credit cards that were cancelled right away with Jason's help. I feel sorry for Jason who I had called almost right away...thus waking him too early in the morning. He was right on things and supplied me information as well as words from home that I needed to get.

Starting out, I was in a real funk and depression...but I'm moving out of it. It hasn't soured me against Amsterdam for sure or other places in the EU...There many similar aspects in the United States. I'm moving through this and determined not to let this spoil my trip this summer and my heart yearns to be with my partner soon.

I am able to take some photos with my video camera so here´s some few in Flickr Amsterdam 4.26.2007