Sunday, January 26, 2014

"Do you sleep walk?"

Happy 2014!  I have been such a bad writer it's not even funny.  I really have about three stories to tell, but instead of going in chronological order, I have decided to reverse it!

So, this story begins with the arrival of Leanna from the US.  Leanna arrived on January 16th and I was so excited to see her.  I had just moved into my apartment (more on that later).  The first day I showed her around the medina and we slowly began the task of furnishing the apartment.  I showed Leanna some of the medina where I do shopping, and she met some of my neighbors.  We had a great and we went to bed super late.

We were awakened in the morning by my next door neighbors, Jessica & Anna.  My door was wide open and my keys were nowhere in sight.  Jessica stood in my doorway saying, "Do you sleep walk? Your keys are in my door."  I told her that I don't sleepwalk.

At this point I was extremely perplexed.  Then I noticed that my keys really were in her door and that one key was missing.  We all started checking our apartments for missing items.  Leanna came out of her room asking me, "Have you seen my computer? My camera was here on the table last night..."  With that, Jessica ran upstairs.  Our landlady and her family of five sons live above us.  Over the course of the next ten minutes three of the five "brothers" as we call them stumbled into our house.

We explained the situation to the brothers.  We went through who had been in our apartments the last few days.  We thought about how the thief had gotten in.  We had so many questions, fears, and literally no answers.  Leanna made a description of her computer, while the brothers decided on the best course of action.

They decided to ask their contacts in the electronic souk. We also decided not to involve the police.  This was mainly because we thought it very unlikely that her stuff would be returned.  Leanna and I would take our laundry to the laundromat in Agdal while Jessica and Anna stayed at home while all the locks in our collective abodes were changed.

Before I continue, let me explain the door system.  We have a screen door, a main wooden door that opens up into our entryway, followed by our respective doors.  We now have deadbolts on most of these doors. It is literally like Fort Knox getting into our apartments.

Anyway, Leanna and I got a cab and went to Agdal.  The weather was miserable-rainy and cold-just to match our moods.  On top of all of this, Jessica's birthday party was that night.  We had gotten broken into in the morning, and we were supposed to be happy and joyful that same evening? I remember wondering how that was all going to be possible while sipping a nus-nus (half milk, half espresso) with Leanna in Agdal.  Right before Jessica's phone call, I do not think that this story would have a happy ending.

Jessica called to tell me that the thief had been caught.  Leanna's stuff had been found.  No harm, no foul.  Insert sardonic laugh and dance of joy here.  Apparently, there had been two other break ins that same morning, and the entire neighborhood was on the look out.  An off-duty policeman/neighbor proved invaluable in catching the thief.  This experience really solidified my views on the importance of communities in Morocco.  Had the entire neighborhood not banded together, who knows if Leanna would have ever seen her stuff again.  Our locks were changed thanks to the brothers.  In the end, we ended up having a fabulous birthday party for Jessica.

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