Burglarizing through the burglar bars

The week before Valentine’s Day I was quite sick with a cough and flu.  I had taken some strong cough syrup to help me sleep through the night.  On the morning of Valentine’s Day, I woke up from my codeine-induced stupor to find that someone had burglarized my house! Not very loving, in my opinion.
 
Most houses here have burglar bars on them. So the thieves took my gardening shears from the carport and cut through the mosquito netting after jimmying open the windows.  They brought along a broom and used it to go “fishing” for anything within reach.
They got my computer and a few other electronic items, several items of gardening equipment, cash, and some crunchy granola and juice. (Draw your own opinions here. ;-))  

They loaded all this stuff into my wheelbarrow and trundled off to the back of the complex where they back climbed over the wall - with the wheelbarrow.  All in all it was over $1,000 worth of stuff. 
 
But they left me their broom. :-/ 

On the insistence of one of my friends, I went to the police station to report the theft. The detective wanted to see the scene, so I drove him to my house, since the police here don’t normally have vehicles or fuel.  He viewed my house, but not where the thieves came over the wall, and wrote a report.  Then I drove him back to the police post.
He told me I could come for the typed police report in two weeks. When I asked if he would call me when it was done, he said no, since he didn’t have enough phone credit to make the call. *sigh*  

So after 3 weeks and multiple trips to the police post, I was able to collect the report, for which I had to pay – naturally. No recoveries or progress have been made in this case. I don’t expect to ever see any of it again.

Housing Woes

Between November and the end of January, all 3 of my neighbors moved out of their houses. No one came in to fill the vacancies. The landlord required the tenants to pay the gate guards and divide their salaries between the number of tenants currently on the property.  Of course, that meant I was the only one paying which was far more than I could afford. At end of January, I had an e-mail disagreement with the landlord about that issue. Subsequently, I was given 4 days to move out of my house. Thankfully, I was able to talk him into letting me stay another month. My lease agreement called for 90 day termination, but there are no landlord-tenant laws here, so I was thankful for the extra 28 days that I did get.
 
Off I went on a search for a new place to live. Rental homes can be a bit hard to find. The houses which are listed with realtors on the internet or otherwise are typically out of my price range. So it’s often by word of mouth, or a local “house finder” who knows the neighborhood well.  It was through one of these house finders that I met Daniel. He seemed quite eager to have a tenant in his newly built unit. On a Monday we discussed what still needed finishing. He assured me that I would be able to move into two completed rooms on the following Friday and that he would have the kitchen installed and other finishing work done within 10 days after that.  On Tuesday, we finalized the lease and he again assured me that I would be able to move in on Friday.   On Wednesday, I gave the signed lease and a check for 3 months’ rent and a deposit (normal here) to his wife. 
 
On Friday morning, 7 men from Flying Mission came with various vehicles and trailers to help me move. We loaded everything up and drove to the new house. Nothing, absolutely nothing, that had been promised had been completed. As we walked through the house, two of the pilots encouraged me not to move in since there was far too much that needed to be completed. My belongings would not be secure since all of the rooms would require workmen to be in them.
On the fly, we made a decision to move my things into a cottage being rented by someone planning on joining FMZ in the near future. I ended up staying there for nearly 6 weeks among all of my boxes. 

Soon, I found another house.  It ended up being even nicer and safer than the one I was planning on moving into and much safer. The great thing is, I’m only paying about $2/month more than I was at the house I’ve lived in for the past 3 years!  And on April 8, the day the new landlord and I had agreed on, the FMZ guys helped me move again.  Most things have been unpacked and I’m starting to feel settled there. 

I’m really hoping I’m done moving house for a very, very long time.

Tsika Island

In February, I was privileged to be able to take a one-week vacation with my parents and a friend from work. We drove 2 ½ hours then took a boat for 1 hour to get to Tsika Island. There was no electricity, no internet, and no phone connectivity. Oh my!

We did all of our own cooking, took a lot of naps, read a lot of books, and played games.  It was so very peaceful. The sounds of birds, hippos and tree frogs were our only music. Elephants roamed the island, so we did have to be mindful of them, but they provided some amazing moments as well.

My room had no windows or doors...just a most delightful breeze at night.

One morning, I had to stay in my room a little longer than expected while I waited for my friend here to move on.