Sleeping with one eye open.

So, seeing as I've only given this address to my parents, I'm sure all of you reading this have heard what has happened to me. But I'll give the more detailed account of the happenings:

5a.m. 3 days ago, I wake up out of a very deep sleep to a bright room and, to my surprise, a little black man standing in the corner by the door. As I wake, he turns to me, says something in some language I did not quite understand, I'm sure he mentioned Africa... So I imagine it went something along the lines of "Welcome to Africa, white boy!" After that, he casually walks out the door. Assuming this had to have been a dream because there is no way anyone could get over the approx. 10 foot walls with spikes on the top, I was just mildly confused at first, rather than distressed. Quickly I came to the realization that my computer was missing, then my camera, cell phone, iPhone, DVDs, credit card, debit card, passport and my NEW R273 sandles...come on...seriously the man had shoes on...he didn't need my new South African sandles. So after realizing the short man robbed me blind. I took the appropriate measures (police, landlord, parents, etc.)... But that's not interesting. The interesting part is the fact that, though he took the cards out of my wallet...he left R200 that was not there earlier...Leading me to believe, I was struck by the African version of the tooth fairy. He takes absolutly everything you have, and leaves $30. Awesome. Other highlights from the robbery involve the police coming to the house and dusting for fingerprints on a small section of the window and no where else. The detective conclusivly telling me things I already knew, "I believe he escaped via the tree growing over the fence" (my web camera was draped over tree) Bravo , Detective Hanse. Bravo.

This whole ordeal has obviously put my whole house on red terror alert level. The next day as we left the house as a group. A man wearing a yellow vest (I assumed he was a wolf dressed in police clothing) came biking up our block very slowly, looking all around in a most suspicious manner. I allowed him to pull into our driveway and stop before I aborted my trip to the grocery store and approached him. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Excuse me! Can I help you?
Mystery Man in Yellow: Ummm yes, I'm here...
Me: Well, we were recently robbed... So can you go somewhere else??
Mystery Man: Yes...that's... why... I... am... here... Which house was robbed?
Me: Yeah, OK buddy. Get out of here!

And he left. Slowly on his bike that it looked like he robbed from a 13 year old.

In our meeting with the landlord that evening, turns out he was named Parfait and is a Congolese security guard that hardly speaks any english.

So long story short, anyone walking down our street gets at least an eye if not a word.

In other news, I've found my new favorite hobby... Haggling. I learned two days ago that you should not get into a cab with the meter running because they will charge you through the roof. So now, I negotiate my price for every cab, tons of fun. I love the "R50 to the city center...and that's all" ... " I can do R70!" Then I walk away, knowing another cab will descend within seconds. Tons of fun.

I pre-registered for classes today... Africa heavy... Advanced South African Politics, Genocide: African Experiences, African Instruments (a music playing class), and Xhosa (pronounced click-osa)... Very excited for all of these.

I got my first taste of apartheid legacy last night. The housemates and I went to an open mic night at a bar downtown. Mostly "soul-hop" or as they say in the state Def Poetry Jam. Very powerful stuff.

Today I learned how to fix the water crisis. Eliminate dryers. People having to hang up laundry by hand is a great deterant to my frequently doing laundry. Save huge amounts of water. Hang drying laundry is a hassle...

Okay that's what I have now. Be well