scare tactics

So I wasn’t going to say anything to anybody before I got home. However, life changes and I’m writing about it now because I have been infected with a complete case of COMPASSION FATIGUE. All I really want to do is help. It’s something I’ve wanted to do in pretty much all the things I do in my life. No I am just so fucking over it. I extended to help teach computers and English here in Maxixe. Now I’m seriously thinking about what I would be doing if I weren’t here. When Noel and Sam were here, I expected to have problems because 3 white people are hard to hide in a town like Maxixe. I didn’t expect anything like what happened to happen though. It was Noel and Sam’s first night under a mosquito net and also mother’s day. I made sure to tuck them in and then we called Jess to wish her happy mother’s day. We went to sleep. I woke up the next morning and went outside to greet my housekeeper. She looked upset. I asked her where my plastic outside chair was, she asked where my bike was. I looked down and saw the broken lock on the floor, the roof of where it was locked up a little caved in and the chain on the floor. I just couldn’t believe it. Every precaution was taken and still it was robbed. I went to go get my phone from the bedside table to call Peace Corps, opened the curtains and saw a gaping hole that had been burned into the screen. So that’s why my light had been on the night before when I was pretty certain I had turned it off. They had reached in and grabbed my phone. Sam came outside and was looking for her shoes that she left outside. $100 chakos gone with the wind. Gotta tell everyone that my yard was completely locked up, I think they jumped the wall. So 4 things gone, phone, bike, chakos and chair. I chalked it up to someone seeing my visitors from America and thought they were coming with lots of money. That’s what let me sleep at night until this morning. I woke up this morning and went outside. I saw the jar that I use to scoop water and the top to my water barrel just completely lying on the floor. They had tipped out 120 liters of water and stolen the barrel. Nothing was heard. I’m just so frustrated by it all. I went to call Peace Corps this morning and got told to go to the police. They are going to do nothing. I don’t know if I was supposed to feel better after talking to the police, but I didn’t. It was such bullshit. To them it was more important whether or not I was single or married then really what was taken. They all came to my house afterwards and basically made fun of me for living where I do. They don’t understand why a foreigner lives out in the neighborhoods when I have enough money to live in the city. I don’t know either. It’s part of Peace Corps Policy to have us out in the communities. But when the community is robbing you to try and get you out of there, is it worth staying? Half of me wants to go home to the States, (not the right thing to do) half of me wants to stay exactly where I am just to stick it to the guy that I know is doing this robbing to try and scare me. I don’t want to deal with this for the next six months I just want to have some fun with the rest of my time here in Mozambique. But, I’m so tired right now. I didn’t sleep well at all last night because every single noise I heard I kept wondering if someone was in the yard. I feel and look a mess. Just gotta remember, everything passes.