scary night

I was really hesitant to write about this but I figured this is something that happened to me so this is the place to write about it. Before I really start 1) don't freak out (that means you Mom) 2) know this is a common occurrence when living here for both foreigners and nationals and 3) I don't want this to be a general reflection on where I live and the people that live here.

Yesterday afternoon Stan left to go to the capital city to meet up with some people that have come here to visit/work with us. My friend's husband was also out of town so we decided it would be easier to do dinner together so she brought over her daughter, we cooked burritos and the kids played until bedtime. As I previously blogged about, Stan moved a TV into our room so once my friend left and everything downstairs was turned off and locked up (I walked my friend out to lock the gate as securely as it can be) I took the boys upstairs, got them in bed and got myself comfy and in bed with a movie. Everything was fine until I was suddenly awakened by the doorbell at 3:30 am. I got up and went to our window that overlooks the front courtyard and gate and see a man out there with a flashlight. He stepped inside the gate (that I specifically locked) and was using the flashlight to look into each window. I was petrified...I didn't know what to do. He seemed like he was looking to see if anyone was home to decide if he should come in or not. After just a couple of minutes he closed the gate and walked off. So I spent the next 10-15 minutes going from window to window looking all around the front of our house to see if he was out there waiting to reenter and try to come inside the actual house. My mind was racing. It was at this point I realized I have no idea who to call or even what to say to report a break in. I was at a complete loss.

A few minutes later the man returns and I see him messing with the door of the gate. I realize that if he knows someone is inside it would probably scare him off so I muster up every bit of courage I have and step out on the balcony that over looks the courtyard and yell at him in my most angry sounding voice 'Who are you?!?!' (the most Chinese I could remember at that time). He immediately looks up and shines the flash light at his face. I didn't understand all that he was saying but figure out that he was our gate guard. During one if his nightly rounds (so glad to find out they actually do their job) he noticed that our door was open. He told me he rang the doorbell to let us know but wasn't sure anyone was here. He had come back with a padlock to put on the door so it wouldn't stay open. I told him to hold on I was coming down. I got down there and we looked at the lock and he helped me get things secure. I made my way back inside and spent some time looking around to see if whoever had broken the lock had been inside. There was nothing out of place so I went upstairs to try and go back to sleep. My mind was going so fast and I couldn't figure out what whoever did this was after. It finally hit me that I didn't remember seeing our bikes outside when I was down there. I got up and looked outside again and sure enough they were missing. There was the slight chance that Stan had moved them to the back and I just didn't know but I wasn't going to hold my breath and I wasn't about to go back down and check.

After laying there until like 4:30-5:00 I finally prayed myself back to sleep. I woke up right at 7:30 this morning and got right up to go call Stan, waking him up as well. The boys slept past 8 today--something they haven't done in a REALLY long time--so I was able to tell him everything that happened without scaring them as well. Stan could hardly believe it and felt so bad that this happened while he was away. We figure that most likely this was a random thing. They didn't target us personally, especially since the penalty for stealing from a foreigner is pretty harsh. Whoever it was was just looking for an easy target and our simple gate lock and bikes sitting out were that easy target. So between 8:00 pm and 3:30 am our gate lock was broken and our bikes taken. I was also comforted by the fact that while petty theft is common, breaking and entering into homes is not.

So after all this I really feel pretty ok. I'm thankful for so many things:
-The boys didn't wake up at all and didn't have to see me scared and acting crazy.
-The night guards are actually patrolling the neighborhood and while they didn't stop this from happening they were here to help prevent something worse due to an open gate.
-No one entered our home which would be more of a violation than I think I could handle.
-We have friends around to help us, a friend will be coming to stay with me tonight. Even though she isn't so fierce it make me feel better that it won't be just me and the boys here.

I feel bad that the bikes got stolen since they technically don't belong to us. We inherited them from the family that lived here before and they belonged to our company. But I have to say that there is a funny note to this story: a friend that is going back to the States next week to get married left his three wheeled cart in our courtyard. It was unmoved, just gives us more fuel to tease him about what a piece of junk it is. :) Although I was terrified last night I know it was a matter of time for something like this to happen to us. It doesn't make it right but it also isn't a rare thing. It makes me feel a lot better to know it wasn't personal.

Oh, and I will be learning who to call and what to say in case of any emergency. The guard is looking out for us and by tomorrow all should be fixed. We are good to go!