Negative experience

Today I had my first definitely negative experience in Zambia. I've had some ambiguously negative ones already but this was my first that wasn't just my perception.

After we went banking, Esther, Sylvia, and I decided to head to the market for groceries and then to Oasis for an early dinner. The market was the same as usual and we bought some onions and greens. While looking for bread, a man approached us that I perceived to be drunk. He put his right hand high in the sky as if to shake my hand in an exagerated manner. I offered my hand to him and as we shook, he came in uncomfortably close and put his hand in my scrub pocket. Quickly, he removed it along with my only four colour nursing pen. I immediately asked for it back while he babbled back at me with an aggresively taunting look in his eyes. From what I understood, he was trying to 'encourage' me to visit his family members' kiosk by stealing from me. I continued to ask for my pen back, searching anxiously for help from the many people in the market. For a nation with so many people eager to stare and point at us, I was saddened and frightened that nobody would help me even when I asked directly. He reached out for Sylvia and Esther as well but we resisted his touch. Although we were unwilling to go with him, Sylvia and Esther still wanted to pursue the thief. As I asked once again, he pulled back his leg as if to kick at me. I relented, worrying for our safety and for our rent money that we had withdrawn. Turning around, we exited the market and went to Oasis.

An hour later, as I type this, I'm still feeling sick to my stomach. Even though it was just a $5 pen, it was specifically my pen. It was a pen that I had used through my degree throughout the best and worst clinical days. And it wasn't just the pen. He betrayed my trust and stole from me. I'm not sure if I'll return to the market now that I know that Zambia isn't as safe as I once thought.