Funniest Thing for July '10

Tell ITN about the funniest thing that ever happened to you while traveling in a foreign country. (ITN prints no info on destinations in the United States.) There are no restrictions on length. The ITN staff will choose each month’s winner, who will receive a free one-year subscription to ITN. Entries not chosen cannot be acknowledged.

This month’s winner is NED JOHNSON of Seneca, South Carolina:

On a trip to Kenya, a van picked us up from the airport and was taking us through Nairobi to our hotel.

Sitting in front of me was a lady over 80 years old who was on the tour by herself. The windows in the van were open, and one time when we were stopped in traffic a street urchin reached in through the window and tried to snag her purse. She calmly elbowed his arm back out of the window and held onto her purse.

When I expressed amazement at how calmly and efficiently she had thwarted the thief, she replied, “I am from New York City and know how to handle kids like that.”