A Trip to the Fortune Teller

Well, today has been quite the adventure. Yesterday we went out for the afternoon and left one of the housegirls alone in the house to finish up then go home. She then called some friends to come over and keep her company while she "worked". Going against the house rules, she invited them into the house, and - long story short - my new Ipod MP3 player (that Steve just bought me for our anniversary on Aug 22) was stolen. Steve went with our helper and her one friend to the school of the other guy, the one we don't know and suspect took it. He ended up in the middle of a big ordeal there at the school as the principal and guidance counselor got involved and ended up searching every student there. After that exciting cultural experience, Steve and the 2 girls left, and Steve thought they were headed to the guy's house to check his room. They arrived at his house, and there were a lot of people hanging around out front and in the foyer of their house. Steve kept asking these people questions - indirectly, in keeping with the culture - trying to get to the bottom of the situation. But he just got vague answers. He then asked what all the people out front were doing. He was told that they probably lost something too and need to know where it was. It ends up, our helper's friend had taken him to a fortune teller to find out who took it! So here Steve was sitting in the waiting room to have his fortune told to find out who took the Ipod! Much to the bewilderment of all, he walked out before it was even his turn.

The day continued to be a roller coaster adventure but with the end result being a missing Ipod and no hope to get it back. The guy has certainly sold it by now. Steve finally did leave (3 hours late) for Bicol for his survey trip there. I continued to try to track it down but to no avail. Today has been quite the adventure, full of language and culture exposure, one that we will not soon forget.

As for the Ipod, I am trying very hard to view it as "just stuff" (to quote my husband). While I know this in my head, my heart is arguing...

Please be thinking of us as we try to figure out how to handle the situation with our helper who asked her friends to come in when she knew better. She has now disappeared off the face of the earth. I am not sure if and when she will come back nor what I should say to her if she does. To top it off, our other helper is sick and Steve is gone and I have a big trip to plan and pack for! Life is an adventure...