The kind of thing that would only happen to me.....

This morning, I got locked inside of my apartment. Yes, you read that correctly. I got locked INSIDE. These are the kind of Peace Corps hardships that I have to deal with :)

Today started out like any other morning. Woke up at 7, only slightly hungover from our pizza and red wine party the night before ( In my defense, the wine hangover had nothing to do with the getting locked in my apartment. Though maybe that would of at least been a good excuse). I climbed out of bed, took 2 steps, and proceeded to step on a small, almost microscopic piece of glass that managed to slice the bottom of my foot open. I should have taken that as a sign to just go back to bed. After cleaning up the small pool of in my bedroom and diffusing that medical emergency, I took a shower, made some coffee and went to open my front door.

My door is a pretty standard Guyanese door. There are 2 parts; a wooden door that has a top and bottom that open separately and a metal gate that locks into place using a padlock. when I tried to open my door, the wooden door opened just fine but when I tried to use my keys to remove the padlock and open the metal gate, it wouldn't open. The key would slid in and turn but the lock wouldn't pop open. The lock is kind of old and has given me some trouble before, I sometimes have to jiggle it a little to get it open. But this morning the humidity or the rust or the heat had finally won and the lock just would not open.

So there I was trying to pry a metal gate open, using just my less than impressive upper body strength, when I decided I may need some outside help, unless I wanted to literally have to climb out a window every time I wanted to leave my house. I got some coconut oil, which I use in my hair, and poured some on the key and the lock, thinking that maybe it would loosen something. Five minutes later I was still stuck in my house but now both my hands and the lock smelled like delicious coconuts. I called my downstairs neighbor to see if she was home and if she could go get my landlady. She was at work but she gave me Auntie Sarita's number. I called, told her that this wasn't a joke but I was actually locked inside my house. Auntie Sarita, her cousin, her cleaning lady, her son, and her son's friend all came over to try and help. Auntie Sarita's son, Bangi and his friend Bar went and got a tiny handsaw and proceeded to try and saw off the padlock to free me. I was more than a little scared that one of them would saw off a finger and then, not only would I be still stuck in my apartment, but there would also be a finger on my floor. After 15 minute, they finally got the padlock off and my gate was able to open. Of course after all of this I was running late and I had to rush to shower again and get dressed (Yes, it is so hot here that, at  8 in the morning in November I worked up a sweat trying to unlock a door).

So that was how my day started. I'm now at the Peace Corps office in town, treating myself to some air conditioning and lunch out, which I think I deserve. Just another day and another struggle in the life of a Peace Corps voulnteer :)