Scammed

  Monday was a travel day.  After a quick breakfast, we took an early bus for the hour-ride to Pereira, a larger city with more options on getting to Medellin.  We bought our tickets for the supposed four-and-a-half-hour ride and proceeded to wait a bit before boarding.
  When I got on the bus, Mama and Dad were already talking with a man (in English).  We all thought he worked for the bus company.  He came over and offered to take my small backpack (the one I never let go of) and put it on the top shelf.  Stupidly, I let him have it knowing that as soon as he left, I would take it back down because that's where all my valuables are.  In the ten seconds his hands were on my bag, he was able to grab and hide (who knows how he did it) my Kindle, phone and wallet.
  Luckily, I found out before the bus departed and was able to alert the police.  Obviously, there was no way they were going to find the man, but I needed a report written up.  In my wallet was my credit card, bank card, and cedula (the Colombian ID).  I had no other form of identification with me, and the airlines require it.  The police were friendly enough and let me use their computer to cancel my credit card (or at least try to).  Within an hour, we were able to leave and get on another bus.
  Seven hours later, the bus finally rolled into Medellin.  Not only had Mama and Dad spent the whole time in the bus station, but then they cheerfully accompanied me (with all our luggage) to a mall in the middle of rush hour to try to get a new phone and some money from the bank.  This is when one knows she has amazing travel partners.  They took care of canceling my phone account while I waited in the bank for a couple hours, finally leaving with cash and a new ATM card.  
  As big of a hassle as it is to be robbed, I rather admire the smoothness of the guy.  It's quite impressive.  Furthermore, there was no violence attached like the knife robbery in Nicaragua, so I wasn't automatically distrustful of every Dick, Moe, and Larry I saw.  My biggest issues (besides being infuriated with myself for letting it happen) were that I lost items of sentimental value and that I was worried the whole incident would mar Mama and Dad's opinion on Colombia.  Luckily, in the time since the robbery, we met tons of friendly, helpful people, so I don't think that was the case.
  The best part of the day?  Grabbing a bite to eat near our hotels around nine o'clock at night.  A bottle of wine and three giant, juicy hamburgers later, the robbery was a thing of the past, and we were ready for our next adventure.