Hello all. So as some of you may have heard, my house in Toulouse was robbed last Friday night. Everyone is fine and no one was home. I went out at 9:30 to meet my friend Alberto in town, and at 10:00 my roomate Ofelia called me in a panic saying she had just gotten home and the lights were on and things missing from the house. I called Gisele and told her what I knew and Alberto and I took my bike back home right away. We all arrived home at about the same time - Gisele and her friend Christine whose house she had been at, Alberto and I, and the police. Ofelia was of course already there with a friend also. As soon as I saw the lights on in my room I knew they had been in there, something I had been fighting off assuming on the ride home. I looked though the window and saw the room I had left clean and organized just half an hour earlier in total disorder. My clothes were all over, suitcases, toiletry bags, and the likes that I had stored under my bed were open and strewn everywhere, etc. Basically the place was a mess.
For the next hour we were in a kind of terrible stupor. The police were less than unhelpful, I couldn't believe it. I'm sure they see a lot worse than a nonviolent breaking and entering, but they didn't even pretend to be concerned . They looked around, took our information, and essentially said that the doors they had forced weren't very difficult to break and that someone would be by the next day for fingerprints. They then smoked a cigarette in the driveway, spoke breifly to the nieghbors and left. That night I slept at my friend Alberto' s place. The next day the forensic expert was even less cordial. Connards. Excuse my French.
The same day the 3 of us went to the police station to make a declaration of what was taken: computers, cameras, iPods, cash, jewelery, handbags, etc.
After the initial shock, it's a terrible feeling to know someone has been in your space and touched your things and to imagine your property in someone elses house. It is more that than the fact they took from me what they did that is difficult to get over. I didnt sleep well the first few nights and for the moment am sleeping in a guest room in the house. We have all been working on cleaning the house and reinstalling a good ambiance there. We had a dinner where we invited everyone who was there that night (except the police of course) which helped. I'm thinking about rearranging the furniture in my room after I clean and do what I need to there. I want to move back in there but know that I can't force myself.
My colleagues and friends have been nothing short of wonderful. Monday night I ate at a Spanish colleague's house. We talked all night and I ended up sleeping there. Sunday I went to my favorite market, St Aubin with all my assistant friends from last year. It was gorgeous out and there were lots of musicians per usual - a harpist, guitars, couple belting out Edith Piaf, and an ecclectic symphonie on the steps of the cathedral. I appreciated the music with new ears no longer having an iPod or computer to play music on! I saw a Brazilian man who made me a pair of beautiful earrings last year. We chatted for a bit and he ended up giving me another pair to rebuild my collection. I've never doubted the kindness of people here, but after a destabilizing and unpleasant experience I was just overwhelmed with how beautiful people can be.
This past weekend I escaped to the farm with Dominique and Cyril. The Norweigan couple, Jacob and Kathrine from Halloween were there too. It was great to get away from the city and the house. I slept and ate wonderfuly. We cooked a ton (as usual!), jarred apple jelly from the rest of the apples not used in the juice, I went to the market with Domi Saturday morning and Jacob and Cyril killed and skinned 2 sheep. Sunday the 5 of us butchered the meat for them to freeze. I'm becoming more and more of a farmer, n'est pas?
On the whole things are going well and I'm focusing on future projects: next up, Thanksgiving that I'm hosting here, my first ever!
That's all for now, I promise a much shorter post next time.
Bisous.
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