Crime in the small village

Today Lucia and I went for a power walk around 10am. We had a great walk, spotted lots of spider webs, picked some blackberries, and saw fields of corn and lettuce. We returned about an hour later to find that our apartment had been broken into. I noticed a lot of dresser drawers were open in our room and the fan was on in the bathroom - which only stays on like a minute after you turn off the light. I was a little confused at first, but then figured out what had happened. The good part is, I don't think anything is missing. I think that we might have surprised the criminals mid-visit (this is due to Lucia insisting on riding the elevator down a floor and back up again every time we walk in the door. So I think they heard us stop at the door and leave again, and took off), because it appears that only the first two rooms of our apt. had been pilfered through. They broke in a door to our guest room, the only room where I had the outside shutters up all the way - it is Pepe's room and he likes to look out into the yard. So anyway. After securing the house and making sure no one was hiding under beds or behind doors, I call Jaime. No answer. I wait a couple of minutes, call again and then a third time, no answer. He must be in a meeting.

He left me an emergency contact sheet in the kitchen but I remembered that he specifically told me to not call the police in an emergency, but to call the ambulance instead because they spoke english and the police didn't. But then I was thinking, I don't need an ambulance, it seems kind of weird to call them. So I decided to call Patrick, our helpful relocation person. I track down his number and find out that he is not in the office, but I get his mobile. I call Patrick on his mobile and he says oh this is terrible but I'm not in the office today, can you call Jacob in the office? He will be able to help you. I say o.k. and call Jacob.

I tell Jacob my situation and ask if I should call the police or ambulance. He says call the police, but then tells me the ambulance's # - 144. I say the number I have for the police is #117, is that not right? He says oh no, you are right call #117, people should speak english at either number. He tells me to call back if I have any problems. Meanwhile, I should add that I am fixing Lucia's lunch, taking her to the potty, trying not to get her to go backwards down the slide, etc.

So - I call #117 - police. A woman answers, I ask if she speaks english (in french - I know that much), she says no. There is a pause and a click. Another woman answers. I ask if she speaks english, she says no. I wait for another pause to see if she will transfer me to someone else, but she doesn't. So I just say au voir. She says au voir! Click.

So then I call the #144 - ambulance. A man answers and I ask if he speaks english, he says no, well maybe a very little. So I say um... my house got broken into? He says what? You need a taxi? I say no... um, burglar? He says you need doctor, an ambulance? I don't understand. You speak slower.

So I say I need the police. He wants to know why again. I say... um, burglar? No response. I'm thinking of all the criminal words I know... Thief? Robber? Broken into? He says I am sorry madam I do not understand. I say o.k. au voir! He says au voir!

So I call Jaime again, no answer. Sigh.

I call Jacob again and explain that no one at any of the numbers speaks english and I am not proficient enough in french to explain that my house got broken into. He says o.k. and that Patrick is actually on his way over and can help me. Great!

So about 10 min. later Jacob calls back. He wants to know if Patrick is here yet, I say no, not yet. He says well I got another # for you to call where I am assured that english is spoken. Super! I go ahead and call the # when we get off the phone. A woman answers. I say do you speak english? She says non. I wait for a transfer or more help, nothing. So I say o.k. bye! She says bye- bye! Very cheerfully.

I think my favorite part about this is that I called three different emergency people, am not able to communicate and casually say bye and everyone cheerfully says goodbye back and doesn't worry that I might be dying, held hostage, stabbed, etc.

So anyway, Patrick comes, he calls the police for me, they come and all is fine. It turns out that two other people were burglarized around the same time in the next building over. They were able to get a footprint from our house that matches the footprints that they found in the two other places, so I guess that is good.

My second favorite part is that the policewoman tells me that a woman in the next building over said that she saw two "gypsy" looking men walking around right before this happened and something about them made her feel uncomfortable. The officer told me if I see anyone suspicious walking around to always call the police. It is better to call often than not to call she tells me. So I tell her how I tried three different numbers and I wasn't able to say anything to anyone due to the language barrier and she just said Ah, oh yes and smiled. I thought maybe she would give me another number to call or something? Nope!