DAY ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FOUR

Last weekend was a fantastic time - I know I didn't write about it earlier, but it was filled with dancing, friends, beach festivals, boats, and a fake country's birthday.  

One part that was pretty crappy but turned to awesome was Friday night. Officemate and I decided to embrace capitalism that makes life just about fantastic and went on a shopping spree in Galata a few weeks ago.  I got an uber cute little black dress that is *so* *so* me and was wearing it out with friends, dancing and finally going to meet up with my housemate and some people, including a very tall person who lives about a block away from my house. When it was time to leave at about two, as I always do, I suggested taking a taxi.  It's just safer to do after midnight or one, particularly on the weekends.  As the guy lived really close to us, he scoffed at the idea of taking a taxi and offered to walk us home.

We started walking and several blocks away from my house I noted that there was someone who seemed rather sketchy following us, but wasn't very concerned considering we were a small group and he was only one.  A few minutes later, he ran behind me, pulled my tight dress up to my waist, exposing my underwear, where it stayed until I quickly and frantically pulled it down.  Throwing his hands into a victory motion, he ran.  This was completely unexpected, given that I was not walking alone and was in fact walking with two people, including a man who was about a foot taller than the guy, and that we were not drunk or looking helpless in any way; both girls were wearing flats that we could easily sprint in.  My friend began to chase after him, with my housemate and I trailing and yelling, tackling him to the ground after several blocks.  At this point, I began to hit him in the head with my purse while my housemate kicked him. Jerk. People came out of their houses to confirm we were okay. I did lose a ring in the process, but I felt a lot better.

It makes me so incredibly angry that in some places people can do things that are solely intended to humiliate women or show their power over them.  One way that places have been combating things like this is Hollaback, which raises awareness of street harassment.  It makes me even more angry that this happened within a block of my home. 

So thank you to Dayna and Mitch for assisting me in a small victory that felt like a lot more, and congrats on the NY Times reference Mitch!