Tiba: arrival back in Rabula

I decide to leave early. By this time, the ceremony had been droning on for over four hours. My dress of heavy cotton is heavy from the rain and I am freezing. Besides, there is a long, steep hill on the dirt road and I don’t totally trust that I’ll be able to make it up in my little Opel after too much longer. After a brief consultation with those I came to the wedding with, I hop in the car with three different passengers than those that I came with. I engage in the obligatory salutations and head off.

I drop the one passenger off, the other two are going to the homestead where I stay. I warily go into the house, happy to finally be somewhere familiar. There is no heater in my room, but I smile at the thought of cuddling in my warm blankets tonight. There isn’t much daylight left, and my room doesn’t have a light, so I decide to organize my things for the evening. As I look around, I get an odd feeling. I look under that mattress where I put my lap top. It is gone. My purse had been gone through. Some clothes were also missing. I go next door to the main house, where I had just dropped off one of the teenage children. They, too, had been broken in to.

All in all, besides my laptop, my belt, T-shirt and a little cooler box was taken from my room. In the main house, a large kettle, dishes, meat from the freezer and milk were gone. We were flabbergasted. The whole village knew we all would be gone, but this sort of thing just doesn’t happen here. Besides, this is the homestead of not just anybody, but the chief of the village.

I am beside myself. The reason I brought it in the first place is because I needed to keep working on writing my research report. I often email myself drafts, but I wonder when the last time I did that was? How much will I have to recreate? All of my notes of typed up on my computer. I’d have to re-read all the books in order to get that information again. I am devastated, but try to keep a strong face. There is nothing I can do about it at this point.

Now I am thankful for the tour of QoboQobo and of the local police station. I head there immediately to make a report.