Breaking & Not Entering

While away this weekend for a PCV's wedding and then a double-PCV birthday party, I received a call from my host-brother.  It seems he was out of the house doing something during the day, and when he came home the neighbors told him that they heard a window break.  He investigated and found that my window had been broken.  He called me on my cell and said that judging by the hole's size and the jagged glass still left around the edges, it didn't seem that anyone had actually entered the room.

When I got home today, I was able to see for myself what had happened.  There was glass all over the room, but nothing appears to be missing (not that there was really anything of value in my room since I had my computer and cameras with me).  Looks like someone(s) stood in the alleyway between my house and our neighbors, where they could be concealed from view.  Then, judging by the cement rock I found in my room, they threw an object through the window.

I've replaced the glass - which is an interesting side-note...  Apparently, there is one place and one man in town who cuts glass.  There are no signs anywhere that say "Glass Cut Here!" or even just a simple picture of a window hanging outside a door with the words "Ivan's World of Glass" etched above it.  So, I ask my host-brother where to go and he tells me it's in a shop across the street from the school.  I go there, and the woman working in the general store tells me that the glass man isn't there today, which is irrelevent since they're out of glass and she has no idea when the next shipment is coming in.  I tell her I only need a small piece to replace my old window, give her the dimensions, and ask her to call this guy at home and see if he'll do it.  She does, and he agrees to come in tomorrow morning.  That actually turns out to be tomorrow afternoon, but I get my 12x27cm piece of glass for about a dollar and then proceed to look for a silicon sealant, which they don't sell at the same store where you buy glass.  A couple blocks away is a hardware store, but it's locked.  So I ask some guys hanging out by a bar if they know if the store will be open today.  They tell me the owners live next door and I should go ask them.  I walk in and introduce myself and they come out to unlock the store and sell me the tube I need.

Then it's back home to actually complete the repairs, after which I'm feeling so handy that I fix my door handle.  It would just spin and spin without actually catching.  I (of course) used duct tape to re-attach it to the cylinder extending from the door to the handle, and it now works like a charm.

The general conception is that some kids just broke my window for fun and weren't really looking to steal anything or do any real harm.  Nonetheless, I still feel... violated?  That seems too strong a word for being the victim of such a minor crime - basically an act of vandalism.  I'm also surprised that whoever did this actually did it during the day!  According to PC statistics, this is about the most unlikely crime possible - it didn't take place in a city, it wasn'tafter dar k, and I wasn't drunk.  Oh well, it's pretty unlikely that someone would win the lottery, but that happens too.

I may also try to get some bars on the window, though I really hate having to do that.  It's almost like "letting the terrorists win."

Anyway, I still had a great weekend at a wedding of two PCVs attended by about 60 Volunteers and staff and eating some great BBQ and hamburgers at a smaller birthday party for Adam and Craig.  And isn't this the best picture?  What a dress!