Day 12: Where did the last week go?
Right, enough lallywagging. I've spent a week under what can be considered interesting circumstances. Right now, I'm at the apartment, making up for some lost time.
Sunday evening ended in a surprise. I was enjoying the mild weather in dry clothes (my clothes never really got to dry out properly during the cookout) on the porch when all of a sudden the gate opened. The three guys from last friday entered and proceeded towards my table for a chat. I asked if they had rented a place here, they confirmed. They then switched the subject over to the location of my laptop. Oooo-kay. I told them it was over at the office and excused myself for a night's rest. Feeling pretty weirded out by their presence. It later turned out that they had not rented a place at all. How they got in was anybody's guess. As a precaution, the owner replaced the locks on monday. Apparently they were spotted at the gate the next day by my neighbours, who had trouble getting convinced to let them in. That very same day, they passed the offices where I work. Whatever all of these chance meetings are for, it sure felt pretty unsettling.
Then, on wednesday the unbelievable happened: I came home around 17:00, went to the laundry room to wash the pile of clothes I collected and came into a bare, squeaky clean room. Turns out that both washing machines were stolen. During the daytime. In plain sight.
I mean, damn. The police came over to file a report, drove off and I spent most of the evening with the doors barred and locked. I did not feel particularily safe.
The next day was my big x20 day (birthdays, another thing I rarely keep track of) and talked this through with VK, since the safety of that place was really beginning to look incredible. In the meantime, the internet connection also had given up the ghost, so the place felt more and more like a crappy prison where people had a hard time keeping unsavory people out.
It was decided that unless something positive would happen about the situation, we'd switch places. Since VK would have a hell of a time to find a suitable alternative (something long-term and roomy where people could stay overlapping segments of time), he suggest I'd stay somewhere temporarily. I chose to to take a kind offer of one of interns working on the grounds, E. She offered a spare room in the house she and three other internes were staying. The place was in a safe neighbourhood, there were people around the place pretty much most of the time and it was actually a place where I could sleep like a log. I didn't miss the airconditioning for a second. The interns were friendly but so preoccupied in their schedules that we never really talked much.
At the time of writing this, I'm at the original apartment. The owner has been busy boosting security a bit, and it looks like the weird times here have subsided a bit. I've never seen this much of the owner as the two times I've been back for things, and it looks like my long-term neighbour of apt. #1 will be coming back tomorrow. That's pretty reassuring to hear, building on the stories of Wouter. Looks like I'm good to go and stop being the weird guy in the spare room over at my benevolent saviors' dorm.
More later, as I've actually done things outside being a paranoid recluse.
Sunday evening ended in a surprise. I was enjoying the mild weather in dry clothes (my clothes never really got to dry out properly during the cookout) on the porch when all of a sudden the gate opened. The three guys from last friday entered and proceeded towards my table for a chat. I asked if they had rented a place here, they confirmed. They then switched the subject over to the location of my laptop. Oooo-kay. I told them it was over at the office and excused myself for a night's rest. Feeling pretty weirded out by their presence. It later turned out that they had not rented a place at all. How they got in was anybody's guess. As a precaution, the owner replaced the locks on monday. Apparently they were spotted at the gate the next day by my neighbours, who had trouble getting convinced to let them in. That very same day, they passed the offices where I work. Whatever all of these chance meetings are for, it sure felt pretty unsettling.
Then, on wednesday the unbelievable happened: I came home around 17:00, went to the laundry room to wash the pile of clothes I collected and came into a bare, squeaky clean room. Turns out that both washing machines were stolen. During the daytime. In plain sight.
I mean, damn. The police came over to file a report, drove off and I spent most of the evening with the doors barred and locked. I did not feel particularily safe.
The next day was my big x20 day (birthdays, another thing I rarely keep track of) and talked this through with VK, since the safety of that place was really beginning to look incredible. In the meantime, the internet connection also had given up the ghost, so the place felt more and more like a crappy prison where people had a hard time keeping unsavory people out.
It was decided that unless something positive would happen about the situation, we'd switch places. Since VK would have a hell of a time to find a suitable alternative (something long-term and roomy where people could stay overlapping segments of time), he suggest I'd stay somewhere temporarily. I chose to to take a kind offer of one of interns working on the grounds, E. She offered a spare room in the house she and three other internes were staying. The place was in a safe neighbourhood, there were people around the place pretty much most of the time and it was actually a place where I could sleep like a log. I didn't miss the airconditioning for a second. The interns were friendly but so preoccupied in their schedules that we never really talked much.
At the time of writing this, I'm at the original apartment. The owner has been busy boosting security a bit, and it looks like the weird times here have subsided a bit. I've never seen this much of the owner as the two times I've been back for things, and it looks like my long-term neighbour of apt. #1 will be coming back tomorrow. That's pretty reassuring to hear, building on the stories of Wouter. Looks like I'm good to go and stop being the weird guy in the spare room over at my benevolent saviors' dorm.
More later, as I've actually done things outside being a paranoid recluse.
Labels: paramaribo, spang makandra, surinam
posted by Hung Laxley at
11:17 PM
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