Ajijic: Local Police - Adventure for the day

We started today by walking into town ready to watch the England soccer game at 9 but nowhere was showing it - what was I thinking?  Why would Mexico TV be showing the game between England and Sweden??  So we ended up at La Casa del Cafe having coffee and breakfast with friends.

On the way home we decided to stop into the empty house of our friends that we are desperately waiting to get here from Cyprus - whatever told us to stop there, we are not sure but it was a good job that we did because Gerald went to the bathroom and noticed broken glass on the floor of the shower - the house had been broken into.  What a horrible sinking feeling!  We looked all around the house and there was nothing taken, no mess, nothing.  We found that the outside gate/door next to the carport doors had been forced open, someone had tried to break the kitchen window with a stone (unsuccessfully), tried to force open the living room patio doors but the additional locks prevented that.  The only way to get access was by pulling the locking peg out of the window frame once the window was broken and then sliding open the window.

Once we had everything figured out, I called the police and they were there in less than 15 minutes.  I cannot praise them enough because they were so nice and friendly and helpful (in spite of my less than perfect Spanish).  When I asked about how best to secure the gate that had been broken into, they advised me about the best type of lock and even called a locksmith for me and arranged for him to be there between 1 and 1:30 today.  They also took our contact information so that they could file a report for us - we did not have to go anywhere and go through the performance of reporting the incident ourselves.  The locksmith arrived exactly at 1 and did a great job of putting a very secure lock on the outside gate and refitting the damaged lock on the patio door, all for the price of only 700 pesos.  All in all we are very impressed with the help we received.  All that remains for us to do now is to get the glass replaced in the little window.  Go figure, a storm has just broken so Gerald is now busy sealing off the window until we can get the vidredia to come out and replace the glass for us.

I went to talk to the Mexican neighbors and found out that they heard the alarm going off around 1 or 2 this morning but they thought it was another neighbor whose alarm goes off every now and again.  They have very kindly said that if they hear it go off again they will immediately call the police and then call us.  This whole incident reaffirms the joy of living here amongst such friendly helpful people - the property is outside of town in a Mexican neighborhood and we now have a excellent relationship with the neighbors which we know will (along with the new lock) prevent any more issues.  We also have some people to house sit for us for a while and are pretty sure that our buddies Sharon and Mark will be here very soon and there will be no more problems.

Fortunately there is nothing worth stealing in the house at the moment which explains why nothing was damaged or stolen - still it is not a fun thing to go through.  Those of you who know me well, know that I firmly believe that every bothersome even has a silver lining, is for a good reason.  In this case we are confident that the house is secure and safe - once Sharon, Mark and their dogs get here .. watch out ha ha

We were also very lucky in that our friends Patti and Lars came running out to support and comfort us and then to take us home - we are so fortunate to have such good and supportive friends.  This is all part of why we love and appreciate living in Mexico.

For anyone who has anything bad to say about our local police, our experience is totally the opposite - so quick, so friendly and so understanding and compassionate.