The Muddy-Pants Diaries

31 October 2005 (Monday) – Arequipa, Peru

I wanted to show Fernando the glass jewellery I made and searched for them in my bag.

THEY WERE GONE!!!!!!!!!!

Shit!!! What could have happened?? I took everything out of my bag and there was no glass jewellery! I could not believe it. No wonder, I had found my bag ransacked last night. So, indeed, someone had been through my bag and had taken the glass jewellery.

But the questions were WHO, WHEN and HOW?

Fernando and I discussed the possibilities. The lock on my bag was not broken. The bus company could not have done it, as they would not have the opportunity to know my code on the lock, and even have time to slowly search through the bag. If they wish to steal something, they are better off just carting the entire bag away.

The next possibility was at Teresa’s sister’s apartment. I had opened my bag to put in my money. At that time, I had a quick glance and did not notice that my red fleece jacket was near the top of my bag. But last night when I opened my bag, my red fleece jacket, which I usually put at the bottom of my bag, was right at the top. So, the theft must had happened between the time when I put my money inside and when I collected my bag in the night.

But why not take the money?, was Fernando’s question. True, how strange.

Fernando called Teresa to tell her what had happened. I did not believe she had anything to do with it, as she was working the whole day yesterday. But perhaps, she would be able to suspect someone. Teresa was thoroughly surprised, and insisted it was impossible for this to have happened. Still, she would check with her mother to see if they saw anyone near my bag yesterday.

Teresa later dropped by Fernando’s apartment and insisted that all that had happened was impossible. My lock was not broken, and if there was a thief in the house, why did he not steal the hi-fi set in the living room? Why not the money in the bag? Why just the stupid glass jewellery? She inisted no one, except the family, came into the apartment. Anyway, there was nothing I could do as I had no proof, and we had nothing else to add, so we said farewell.

I felt really horrid! These were my own personal creations!! I had felt so proud of them, thinking of giving them as gifts to my friends or even selling them, if I could. Gosh, this is my second time in Arequipa and I had been robbed AGAIN!! Fernando’s best friend, Antonio, had arrived at this moment, and we went through all the possibilities again. It was strange that the thief would take the glass jewellery and NOT the money. So, could it have happened BEFORE I put my money in? No, like I said, my bag was not ransacked before I put my money in. But, why would the thief not take my money?

Antonio, who is a Reiki therapist, told me to forget it all. Thinking through these negative thoughts would just attract more negative energy to me. Yeah, I know the same spiel from Rene (whom I met in Cuenca, Ecuador), another Reiki therapist. I tried not to think about it for the rest of the day.  After a while, the lost items did not appear that important anymore as I kept coming back to HOW it could have happened.

In the end, I realised that the fact that my lock was not broken, meant that someone must have known my code number. And how would he/she know? He/she must have been near to me when I opened my lock to put my money in. Teresa’s kid sister, a 15-year old girl, was right next to me at that moment.

So, why would the thief not take the hi-fi set? It was because it was someone from the house.

And why would the thief not take the money? It was because it was not a THIEF thief. This was a petty thief. It was someone who dared not take the money, knowing that if that happened, I would call the police. But if he/she took some other things not of much value, perhaps, I would not call the police.

Why the glass jewellery? For a young girl, they look pretty.

In the end, I just knew who was the culprit but there was nothing I could do. I wanted to be able to claim the theft from my insurance, but that would mean calling the police to lodge the report. And the police would have to investigate, and that meant going to the apartment and interviewing everyone.

No, I could not bear this to happen to Teresa and her family. So, I decided to forget about it all. I mean, I call them ‘jewellery’, but they are really just glass. What was lost were the silver fittings which cost quite a bit for me. Sigh, this is my first (and I hope only) bad experience from using the Hospitality Club service, although I know Teresa had absolutely nothing at all to do with this. And the fact that someone ran through my bag and left my money and passport alone, perhaps, I should count myself lucky. I just had to be much more careful next time, and sigh… less trusting.

Fernando accompanied me to town to change money, find a Colca Canyon tour later in the afternoon and check out the Halloween celebrations. I booked myself for a 3-day-2-night bus-cum-trekking tour, leaving tomorrow. May I forget everything that had happened after the trek.

29 October 2005 (Saturday) – 30 October 2005 (Sunday) – Lima to Arequipa, Peru

This Sunday, there is an election happening in Arequipa to decide if they would be united with 2 other states, Puno and Tacna. So, those Arequipeñas living in Lima are making their way to Arequipa this Saturday. I am not going there to vote, of course, but I am heading that way today and nearly all the bus tickets were booked up. As such, I settled for a really fancy bus that cost me 100 soles!! Super expensive because the bus companies took advantage of the occasion to raise the prices. Sheesh… The catchy phrase for this company CIAL is ‘Somos Peruanos’ (We are Peruvians). It was more like ‘Somos Ladrones de Peruanos’ (We are thieves of Peruvians).

Oh, bye bye to Emiko, Dante and Señora Maria who works in their apartment!! Sob-sob… How I would miss Señora Maria’s cooking!! Actually, I think Percy and Dante will find it impossible to travel in the future, since they cannot pack Señora Maria along! Well, I wish them all the best, especially to Dante who would be going to Japan next year (without Señora Maria) to study and find a job, and hopefully, get a Japanese passport (like Fujimori) as his father is a Peru-born Japanese.

Percy brought me to the bus company and stayed til he saw me safely tucked into the bus. What a fantastic and caring family!! I thought back and realised, when I was not at the glass workshop, I had spent nearly my entire week talking to each and everyone of them in rather deep conversations! It had really been wonderful sharing everything with them.

The bus was superbly comfortable. The stewardess served us a very tasty dinner as well. 6 years ago, here in Peru, I did not remember such buses existed. Then, 2.5 years ago, they had appeared and I was mightly impressed. Now, they seemed a common sight. If I had to rank the comforts of buses in the various South American countries, minus Guyana, Surinam, French Guinea, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia where I had not been to… I would say Argentine and Peruvian (good) buses are the best! Next, would probably be Brazil. Then, Chile, Venezuela and Colombia get so-so reviews. And lastly, tiny Ecuador, but well, for its short distances, I guess, the buses were tolerable.

After a very comfortable 15 hours-odd ride, we arrived in sunny Arequipa the next morning. Arequipa now has a bus terminal where all the bus companies gathered. Now, this was more like it! Unlike other cities, it would be much easier to compare prices amongst the bus companies and change buses.

Teresa (not her real name), from Hospitality Club who had replied to my request for hosts, came to pick me up. However, she was not able to offer me accommodations as her apartment was full of aunts and uncles who had come to vote. So, I gave Fernando, another Hospitality Club member, a surprise call. He had responded as well, but I declined his offer as I thought I could stay with Teresa.

Anyway, he was very welcoming and suggested that we go to his apartment in an hour’s time. Teresa suddenly had a suggestion, that I should stay at her sister’s apartment. She told me the apartment was very small but I could sleep on the sofa. At first, I thought the apartment just had her sister, so I agreed. But when I arrived, I realised her sister has a husband and a baby. With such a tiny apartment, with no doors to separate the bedroom from the living room, I actually felt it was not such a good idea. I felt that I would be too much trouble for them.

Well, we agreed to this arrangement for the moment, as we headed off to meet Fernando. My first impression of Fernando was that he is a nice person. Although he lives alone, I felt that I could trust him. And he had a separate room and bed.

As Teresa had to run off somewhere, I spent the day with Fernando, who later invited me to his parents’ apartment for lunch. We then took a short walk around the city centre to check out prices of the tours to Colca Canyon, but many tour companies were not opened as it was Sunday today. Well, 6 years ago, I was robbed here in Arequipa. So, I would be honest to say that frankly, I felt a little afraid of walking around Arequipa by myself. Meanwhile, Teresa and her family and Fernando’s parents had piled me with warnings. Glad to have Fernando around.

By nightfall, I decided I would stay with Fernando, so we returned to the apartment of Teresa’s sister, thanked them profusely and took my bags and left. That night, when I opened my bag, I was shocked. Everything in my bag had been rearranged. It seemed someone had run through it, searching for something. My first thought was my money. Well, they were right there, all intact. Hmmm… I felt very suspicious, but as my money was here, it seemed nothing had been taken. I reluctantly decided perhaps it was the movement of the bus that had created this disturbance. But seriously, in my 5 months’ of travelling on even worse buses, this had never happened to me.