Punch every identity thief in the face.

So yesterday, I decided not to bring my computer to school because I felt like I had been spending too much time on the internet and not enough time out in the real world.  I had a nice day, and after class, I went to H&M with friends to buy a sweater for my trip to Paris.  My card was rejected.  I went out to the street to try it in an ATM.  No dice.  I went home to call my bank and see what the problem was.  In my first attempt, my cell phone ran out of credits.  I had to use my host mom's phone to call the bank.  In my call, I was a little annoyed at first because I called my bank weeks ago to notify them that I would be in France, and I figured that some purchase I had made in Marseille had caused them to freeze my account.  Needless to say, I was somewhat embarrassed to discover that my bank had actually caught a real fraud.  My identity had been stolen.  This jerk had been attempting internet purchases with my card all day.  Fortunately, only $63 got through before my bank froze the card, and I will get all that money back.  I was really lucky, and my bank is UPS-ing a new card as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately for me, that debit card was my only way of making purchases while in Europe, and I'm leaving for Paris on Friday.  I couldn't even put more minutes on my cell phone.  Not only that, but it took me a few hours to finally get in touch with anyone from home.  Also, this is a four-day weekend in France, so it is difficult to say when UPS will get my new card to me at my host mom's apartment.

Summary:

Cash in wallet: 1,27€

Money in suitcase: $130

Cell phone credits: 0

Miles from home: 4415

Leaving for Paris: 2 days

New card arriving: ??

Fortunately, some really awesome people have come to my rescue!  My mom is wiring money to my host mom, who has already lent me enough money for my weekend in Paris.  Also, Anna took me out for dessert last night, which made me feel a heck of a lot better about things.  I'd venture to say that a blackberry tart and some rosé heals all wounds!  Today, I managed to turn my $130 into a measly 83€ (which is better than nothing!) and recharge my cellphone with credits.  It wasn't easy, however.  

After discovering that the Avignon branch of the Bank of France, where you can exchange money without commission is currently defunct (not doing exchanges), I went to what I thought was la Poste.  The post office in France is also a bank and provides a variety of other services, including exchanging money for a fee.  That building had some homeless dudes on the steps, though, so I went to the Institute to eat lunch and go back later because I was feeling exasperated.  Upon arriving at the Institute around 11:40, one of my friends warned me that la Poste is actually over by the train station and that they stop exchanging cash at 12.  So I sprinted to la Poste and got a ticket just before 12.  At the post office in France, you take a number and wait for a cashier to call you up to the counter.  It's actually a lot less hectic and unpleasant than American post offices.  It was also really clean, bright, and modern.  Unfortunately for me, I didn't realize that you have to have your passport with you to exchange money (D'OH!).  Luckily, though, the counter didn't actually close until 5pm.  So, I went home and grabbed my passport, then went to class.  After class, I made my way directly to la Poste, and on this third and final effort, I got my money!!  And I managed to get more credits for my cell phone.  All in all, feeling a lot more secure at the moment.  Also, I am happy to say that I managed to conduct all of these transactions on my own hundreds of miles away in FRENCH.  Thank you public school education!  I'm a big kid now :-P

Moral of the story: Bring more than one form of payment abroad and have an emergency stash of cash.  Identity theft is real.