Robbery a Real Threat

Today I learned a woman from our school was robbed early this morning while she waited at a bus stop with her host family who were wishing her so long. Because she was leaving for home she had everything with her and four men took I am not sure what all. I heard this second hand from someone who heard it in broken English....but the fact is she was robbed in Antigua. It is the third robbery I have heard about. Another happened to my roommate who is 70 (god bless her brave travelling soul) and was approached by two young men with a gun. They took only her money and thanked her profusely. The second, a woman was watched by a beggar women at the bank as she put her money in her bra. When she stepped into the street the beggar women asked her for money, she declined to give. A few blocks away she was approached by the woman who was now accompanied by four men who insisted she give them the money in her bra. Now Marcy (concerened little sis), I know about now you are thinking about how nuts I am, living in the fifth dangerous city in the US (Oakland) and travelling down here. But rest assured there are many things one can do to lower the chance of getting hurt or losing something important in a crime. I am doing all that I know. I carry only money I need, leave credit cards and passport in le casa (I carry a photocopy), walk my big butch confident don´t-fuck-with-me gate, use my camera sparingly and discretely, be very discrete at the bank, and stay in parts of town that are safer. I feel very safe here. I don´t look the easy target (hope I don´t jinx myself with this assertion!). In no story have I heard of any violence. People here are poor, the majority of folks in Guatemala live in what we define as poverty. I feel privileged beyond words to be here and be treated so warmly by the local folks and my host family. Every single local I have greeted or encountered has been so very friendly....I am a very lucky woman. Adios.