Today a dog chased me… It was an experience… An experience that divided a series of experiences. We had some time off today, and, after having lunch in Roggi’s (a restaurant in town) and walking a while with a group, I decided to wander around the town alone. Don’t worry; it’s safe. People do it all the time. Well, I decided to stop for a while in a park outside of the town walls and take a look at the wonderful view down over the lower town and surrounding landscape. I noticed a middle-aged man standing a little ways away from me, but I ignored him and continued watching the view. I was trying not to look like an American, but after a while I gave up and took out my camera. The view was too wonderful to pass up. After snapping a few pictures, I looked over at the man and noticed he had moved to a bench that was nearer to me. I decided to leave. But the man began to speak to me in Italian and motioned for me to come sit next to him. I tried to be polite and tell him I didn’t speak Italian and that I wanted to go. He continued to motion to me. Finally I just began walking down a street on which I had never walked. I walked for a while and suddenly out of nowhere a tiny, furry, gray dog began to bark at me and ran out from behind a car. I think he was protecting his territory. I thought he might bite me, so I yelped and jumped away and then turned around to run the other direction. When I did, I saw the man. He was following me. Fortunately there was a woman walking my direction with a dog on a leash, so the dog chasing me diverted his attention. I quickly crossed to the other side of the street, praying that the road would lead me to some familiar part of the town and that I would find my way back to Santa Chiara. Finally, I found some stairs I recognized and made it back to within the city walls. I walked further down the narrow street to Santa Chiara and met an Italian woman and her husband. She began to speak to me in Italian, so I tried to explain that I only knew English. I said “Santa Chiara” and she understood that I was a student. She became excited and began to point me out to her husband. I didn’t want to be rude, but I was in a hurry to get away from that man. When I looked back again, he was still following me. A pit in my stomach began to form and I continued my trek. Within a few steps of the door, I remembered that it was locked and anxiously began to fish for my keys. Luckily, when I reached the door of Santa Chiara, a few people were waiting inside and they let me in. I wasn’t sure if he saw me go in or not. It was a long time inside those safe locked doors before that pit in my stomach began to recede. I told one of the directors of the program about the incident and she calmed my fears. She told me that some men are just pests, some are even mentally ill, but most of the time they are nothing to worry about. The town people will take care of us if we just mention that someone is bothering us, and most men will leave us alone if we make it clear that we do not want their company. Though she said one should still be wary, no one has ever been physically harmed by anyone of the town. Her words calmed me quite a bit. But still, what a day.