A few Saturday mornings ago I went into Jinja to charge my electronics since the power had been out at my house for some days and we didn't know when it'd turn back on. Plus Jinja also has good muzungu food because it's a very western town. So win win there. Plus Jinja is close to Lugazi and Lugazi has no muzungu food. Well anyway... I went to a restaurant and got a wrap, which was delicious by the way. My friend and I sat and ate our food and just talked. Once we were finished eating we started to get ready to go to the Internet cafe to charge my things, grab some coffee, and get some work done.
Well...
I went to grab my backpack and it was fucking gone. So needless to say we didn't get coffee, charge any of my things (because they were gone), and we clearly didn't get work done. Now let me just say that neither my friend nor I got up from the table and my backpack was sitting in between the table and the wall RIGHT next to me. Basically the people who stole my shit were some skilled snatchers and I have to give them some props on the level of skills they had. Since my friend and I saw nothing and I felt nothing being moved. My friend and I were baffled about how that happened. Obviously we need to be more vigilant and aware. Ken Kemba taught us better than this.
So we called Peace Corps because I indeed had my very first Safety and Security Incident which meant Peace Corps needed to be informed and then we did all other things we needed to do. We also talked to the restaurant people, who were very helpful and caring towards me and the situation. They were also very upset and utterly appalled about that happening. All of that helped me stay calm which I needed. So once nothing else could be done and all my shit was officially gone I went back to my site. Luckily my friend loaned me money to get by until I could get a new bank card.
Oh man... I almost forgot to tell you the best part; all my keys were in my backpack which meant I was locked out of my house since we didn't have a spare key... Don't worry we have a spare key now. So my counterparts and a carpenter had to break into my house. Now come on this is truly some reality, soap opera shit if I do say so myself and I do... I mean I'd watch this show. Well I was sitting with my counterpart while the carpenter was working and I just started laughing about this whole situation because what else could I do. I wasn't going to cry.
But wait the story isn't even close to being over. My counterpart had to break into a few more of my things. Don't worry everything is now locked and safe again. Except my pit latrine but that's fine. So once my counterpart left I cooked and ate dinner. The power finally came back on so I went into my room for the night shut my door called my dad, charged my phone, and texted Apey while I was waiting for my phone to charge so I could go to bed and put the day behind me.
Well at about 11:45 I had to go pee so I got up and went to go to the bathroom. Tried to open my door, I couldn’t get it to open and the door handle ended up breaking and I realized my door was stuck and it would not open. Yup I was fucking stuck in my room. So I spent a very long time, probably too long trying to get out, panicking and texting Apey to stay calmish. I finally gave up on getting out for the night so I went to bed. I woke up in the morning, waited for church to be over and called to be rescued. One of my counterparts popped his head in my window and said so you're locked in your room and I started laughing hysterically at this new turn of events in this entire situation. My counterparts got into my house and started throwing themselves at my door, banging on my door with things, and just trying to push the door open. 20 minutes later nothing was working so they called the carpenter who came and still took 20 minutes to get the door open and for me to have my freedom back. Now during this entire thing I was sitting on my bed watching them bang and push on my door like it was a TV show or movie. I sat there laughing my ass off texting my cohort group chat giving them a play by play of my comical life.
Oh yeah something else I should include, because if I don't I think Apey will be disappointed.
Remember how I had to pee when I first discovered my door was stuck? Yeah, well eventually I had to pee so bad that if I didn't I was going to pee my pants. So I peed... in a Ziploc bag... See told you so comical. It was truly reality TV worthy.
Now obviously that weekend sucked, I mean all my shit was stolen, and I got stuck in my room and had to pee into a bag. However, it was also some funny shit. I mean first of all it's just stuff, I could have been hurt, but I wasn't. And I mean I got locked in my room, had to pee in a bag and had to have my house broken into twice. Like that's some funny shit. Also I can't change any of it. It happened and all I can do is move forward, be more aware so it doesn't happen again. Why would I dwell on the negative of it? So I choose to laugh my ass off at the situation, it truly was a comical tragedy if I ever did see one. I'm just living that unexpected Peace Corps life. Say yes, be flexible and if that doesn't work just laugh it off and keep going. And remember before you are worried about me thefts happen in the US and all over the world, not just here.
The following weekend we pretended we were in paradise to make up for it. I also bought a new computer.
