Robbery #2

While I was getting ready for work this morning, there was a knock on my door around 6:45 am. I opened up to find the house manager and another girl in my building who speaks excellent English. She's become the house translator, for the most part. "I have some bad news," she started to explain. The somber look on her face indicated that something serious had happened. My first thought was that someone had died or that Katherine had an accident while out on her morning run (she wasn't home yet). Ironically, then, I was somewhat relieved to hear that my bicycle had been stolen. Along with Katherine's and Bron's (the new Aussie girl who's staying in the building until she finds a house to rent). Not the best way to start my morning.

I ran upstairs to inform Bron, and told Katherine when she got back from her run. Of course, none of us were pleased. Katherine and Bron are on tighter budgets than I am, and replacing a bike is an expensive undertaking. Not that I'm thrilled about dropping another $100 on a new bike. Between this robbery and having my bag snatched in Saigon, I've lost well over $500 dollars in stolen cash and goods, and then replacing what I lost. And I loved my old bike!

When I finally made it to class this morning (I had to wait for the police, which took ages, and was probably all in vain since I know I'll never see that bike again), one of my students reminded me that today is Friday the 13th, and asked me what I thought about the day. I told her than in the past I didn't believe it was unlucky, but now I'm not so sure. All of the computers in the classroom (we were in the high-tech lab) were mysteriously not working, too. My boss, who I was co-teaching with, agreed that all of our misfortune could be contributed to this unlucky day.

My boss also informed me that clearly 2009 is an unlucky year for me. They're really into luck here. Despite my initial skepticism, I'm starting to wonder about it. Just hours into the new year I was robbed, losing a hell of a lot of cash, my phone, camera, and lots of sentimental things. And now, just over a month later, I lose my precious green bicycle.

On top of all this, I'm staring unemployment in the face. And cant seem to find my calling in life, other than opening up a bungalow-bar on the beach. Of course this is a much bigger problem than the loss of my bicycle, but one bit of bad luck seems to remind you of all the other obstacles you face...

Bye, bye bicycle! I hope your new owner loves you as much as I did.

FURTHERMORE, this is the second robbery in the building in the past week. A few days ago, some guys climbed up a tree in front of the building, hopped onto one of the balconies, and stole two laptops from a room. Apparently the two girls that lived in the room were there at the time--it was in the middle of the night, I think--and I heard that the guys had a knife or something. That part might not be true, though. I also heard recently that my father works at the US Embassy here, a laughable proposition since I dont actively have a father, and he'd never be able to work at the Embassy anyway. Knife or no knife, though, I'm beginning to doubt the security of the building. If I'm going to get locked out of my own building at 11pm, it might as well be for a damn good reason. Clearly, locking the front door isn't preventing theft (the bike theives came in through a window and climbed over a door), and I'm afraid to leave any valuables in my room when I go out.

I keep telling myself that a little bad luck can be good luck. Now I just have to wait for the bad luck to run out and the good luck to kick in. Vomit.