Ride the Wild Surf and Wipeout!

Well, folks, we're having the complete ex-pat experience. Early this  morning, as we were sleeping, we were relieved of our cash, a Nikon D5000 camera, a Verizon tablet, a new Dell computer, both of our phones, and the charger. Our dog apparently didn't want to disturb us by barking at the intruder(s).

It is incredibly hard to get into this house, but apparently it isn't hard enough. We'd borrow our daughter Julie's pit bull, but we don't want to deal with a 100-pound puppy. Sofie is enough.

I  posted about our robbery on the local ex-pat Facebook page, and among the replies was this from a retired policeman:

This sort of burglary is actually pretty rare in the larger Rosarito area. Rare because most of the "Mexican" families have dogs or walls or a very very hard location to enter AND the "American" homes are far fewer and many are in secure areas.

When I decided to move to Rosarito, I didn't want a dog. So, I spent the 340 bucks to get an alarm from a great place in Downtown Rosarito. Doors and 4 windows with sensors and a hallway motion detector. Theives attempted to break in 1 year after when I was traveling. They got through my window but upon entry, the alarm sounded and it's the old school LOUD outside alarms. And, if I wanted to, I could activate the alarm while I slept. I've never had a another problem.

Sorry to hear of your break in... do you know how they got in? A "hot prowl" burlgary is normally a crime of opportunity for the passing crooks.

Finally... don't let this event scare you off... Yes, you were a victim, but unless you were planning on leaving anyway at the end of your lease, just learn, harden your location and continue living. It is incredibly safe in Rosarito for anyone and everyone not involved in any facet of the drug trade. There will be random crime as there is in the US. But, for most, it's a great and safe place.

 We'll get back to that sunny commentary and better photos in the next post, but first we'd sincerely like to thank the thieves for leaving my computer, my printer, and all of our important documents. We'll be notifying security for our neighborhood, and we filed a report with the police, but judging from the police assistance we received in Henderson, Nevada, when our storage unit was robbed, we're probably out some expenses.

Big irony: I had 1,000 pesos in my wallet, which I planned to give to our bishop today to help a family at Christmas. I hope the person who got it needed it!

Our wallets with important IDs remaining, left on the table

Useless notebook and papers left on the back patio

Don's computer table sitting sadly empty

My purse was on a messy futon at the entry of the house, next to the dog's bed. Wallet removed.

Phones and Don's wallet taken from nightstand. Don next to it in bed.