I could use a hug from you guys now...

Well after having three conversations in the last two days about how safe we feel in our neighborhood, we actually got broken into. Thankfully no one was home and no one was hurt, but mine and two of my roommates' laptops, cameras, ipods, backpacks, jewelery, and a few other items are all gone. They even took my stash of postcards, for a reason I can't imagine. They found and opened my glasses case (which is Dolce & Gabana...is that even how you spell that? I have no idea...) and then must have realized that they are definitely not designer glasses and that lens crafters just ran out of other cases, so at least they left those. And I realized this morning when my alarm didn't go off that they took my old running watch with the broken band that I use for an alarm. It was set for 6:45 this morning, so I'll take that as a small revenge and hope it woke them up. Perhaps the most frustrating part of the situation is knowing that there was absolutely nothing we could have done about it. There is a huge gate around the entire property with spikes on top of the fence, two locked front doors, locks and burgler bars on all the windows, and locks on all the bedroom doors, so what do they do...go in through the roof. Seriously. They took a ladder, climbed up, and literally smashed through the boards of the roof to get in. And my bedroom door was locked so they ripped apart the door frame. They must have been watching us and knew that we were international students with things worth stealing. And my goodness were they thourough. They went through all of my clothes, including the pockets of jackets, every drawer, every box, even, for some reason, the freezer. Thankfully they did not seem to be interested in credit cards, travelers checks, passports, or other crucial and hard to replace documents, and for that I am very thankful. And they left my Arrested Dvelopment. Thank god. While we waited for the police I immediately finished all the chocolate in the house and had some wine (I'll let you use your imagination to quantify "some") but I think that moment more than any other was when I really could have used someone from home. The police, campus security, and our landlord have all been helpful and sympathetic, but there is virtually no chance that we'll get it back. It sucks that my stuff is gone (especially all my pictures that I've taken so far) but it can be replaced. It was just so shocking and unnerving to experience first hand. I knew when I came here that there would be an increased risk for something like this happening, but that still doesn't mean that I expected it to happen or that I wasn't upset, but I certainly don't want to come home and it will definitely not ruin my experience...just a setback. I would rather take a risk of this happening than miss out on the amazing adventure I've had so far. After seeing how some people live in this country and then learning about why they live in those conditions and how utterly helpless and trapped they must feel (and with some time passing for me to calm down) I actually feel more sorry for the people who broke in than anything else. Please don't worry though, I'm hanging in there. And sorry for the venting post...love you guys.