The day after the Ides

There’s been a steady stream of askari (security guards) coming by... I vacillate between feeling very cared for and a stop on a crime scene tour.  Last night, another supervisor came by to introduce me to the askari who would be outside my place during the night (he was posted in the Honours College, not at my flat, and he had already been by with another askari to view the crime scene), and at 7:00am this morning as I was getting into the shower, I heard two askari walking around, viewing the crime scene, and talking in their local language (with some English, like “these bars are nothing” and “here’s where he jumped the fence”).

In the clean-up last night, I realized that while all my electronics in the bag had been recovered (hallelujah!!), the thief did succeed in taking my internet modem stick (which I use as a back-up for the wifi) and the salary for my househelp that I had already set aside.  While I do have to replace these, I file it under the extended “day of inconvenience” more than anything else, because they are easily replaced.

Yesterday, when I reported the modem and cash stolen, the supervisor came over with the list of recovered items so that I could report the value, and oh, was I a bit uncomfortable.  I had to report the value of the salaries, and I was wondering what the askari thought of what I pay, and I wanted to defend it, as my house help is not full-time.  Then, as we were listing the value of the items (and I don’t remember how much I paid for the wireless mouse, and I don’t know how much the Flip video recorder costs, especially since it was an office gift to my mom which I managed to convince her would serve me better in Uganda than it would in her desk drawer), it struck me how ostentatiously I live.  On the one hand, I’m an American who uses everything that was taken (the Flip recorder, less so), and on the other, my goodness, I am spoiled rotten.

This morning, the people parade continued, with the welder coming to fix the burglar bars, and the estates manager coming to assess the damage.  I need to file a maintenance request to have the bars upgraded.  He warned me that it will look like I live in a cage, but really, that is the least of my concerns.  Safety first, aesthetics second.