Witch doctor, please remove your curse

May 2005: Car stolen, Baltimore
February 2007: House broken into, Baltimore
June 2008: Pick-pocketed, Kampala
October 2008: Apartment broken into, Kampala

Do I have a “Please steal from me” sign plastered across my forehead?

No really. Do I?

I’ve had to recount the story so many times at this point that I think I’ve got all the major Q&A down pat.

When was it?
Monday, 13th October, sometime between 6:30-7:15pm.

Were you home?
No. I was at the gym, then at dinner with my friend Kim and her parents (visiting from the US) on Kim’s last night in Uganda. Partially as a thank you for letting Kim stay with me. Little did we know.

How’d you find out?
Came home from dinner around 10pm, stepped out of the car, and the grounds keeper was there to break the news. Nothing quite like that pit in the stomach that forms immediately upon hearing those words, doubles in size when you see the busted lock on your door, and increases exponentially every time you realize what else they took.

How’d they get in?
Aluminum crow bar type thing.

What’d they get?
My laptop, Kim’s really expensive digital camera, and 5 laptops that another friend was storing at my place (in a locked metal box) for the few week overlap between the close of her project and when someone else was coming to pick them.

They didn’t take your digital cameras?
They tried. Found them and took them from where I normally keep them…then left them on the refrigerator. Whether they were spooked, figured they weren’t worth it, didn’t have enough hands to carry everything, or just felt like being nice robbers, your guess is as good as mine. There’s actually a bunch they could have taken but didn’t. It could have been a lot worse.

Did anyone else get hit?
Yes, the Ethiopian guy staying upstairs. They got his laptop and passport. Luckily, my passport was at immigration last week (passport and immigration = another really frustrating experience and future blog entry).

Who was it?
My sketchy neighbors, whom nobody realized were sketchy until after the fact (hindsight…). It’s a long-term apartment complex, but they only paid for 2 nights, not even bothering to negotiate the outrageously high rate my landlord quoted them. Didn’t have any belongings, just a purse full of money. The woman was always smiling, very well dressed, and always moving up and down the complex befriending everyone she could. I never saw the man or the older woman who were apparently also staying there. They claimed to be Tanzanian. And they didn’t stay that second night. Got what they were after and high tailed it out of there, not even bothering to lock their apartment or take their toothpaste. But, it didn’t look like they were high tailing, just like they were driving out the gate to go to dinner. Professionals, for sure…they even took the log book where the guard records all license plate numbers and vehicle movement in and out, so we have no details on them.

Was it an inside job?
We don’t know. Probably. They either got really lucky with my place (6 laptops??), or someone tipped them off.

Didn't you say you have guards?
Yes, a grounds keeper and a night guard, but, they always sit outside between ~5-7pm to people watch, not thinking there’s anything to guard inside the compound.

Was your computer backed up?
Partially. On my flash drive. Which was in my laptop bag. Which was also stolen. Two years worth of work, gone, pictures from my last few years, gone, videos from here, gone, iTunes collection, gone, who knows how much personal information, gone.

Do you have renter’s insurance?
Nope. But that’s a pretty good idea.

Did you file a report?
Yup. Was at the police station until almost 2am Monday night. And there again Tuesday to follow-up on the report. And there again Wednesday to follow-up on the report. And there again twice on Friday to follow-up on the report. Friday’s round 2 is when the officer asked and received monetary “appreciation” for his work on the case, which will hopefully help expedite the process. The bribery was actually the only thing in this whole fiasco that made me laugh. Nearly during the transaction, which could have been detrimental. I still can’t get over how open and honest it was. He wanted to make the report look professional, you see, and there are no computers at the police station, so, he was going to have to go outside to type and print it, so, could I please give him some money to help defray the costs? I looked to my driver for guidance on the amount (10,000 shillings, about $6), pulled it and handed it to the officer…all in front of the other 8-10 people standing around in the room. After all of the corruption I’ve heard about here, I would have been disappointed, really, if I made it all the way through without having to provide someone with a little extra incentive.

Any chance of recovery?
Outlook not so good. We think they’re long gone, probably to the DRC or Tanzania. That said, the Central Police Station just recovered 39 laptops early last week from a ring of local laptop thieves, which gives me hope. I went to see if any were mine/Erica’s, but, no dice.

Are you going to stay at your place?
For now. They were quick to put a lot of security measures in place. Not letting anyone in that’s not with a company or is staying less than one month, ID badges for all the residents, mandatory sign-in for any guests, etc.

Emotional state?
Getting better. Pretty sure I’ve gone through all five stages of grief. Twice.

Any other commentary?
Ready for this? The CID officer taking prints and working the case on Tuesday…stole my ipod. I was robbed after I was robbed. By the police. That’s the part that really broke me. Lost close to complete faith in humanity. Although I guess the joke’s on him.

He took my busted ipod.