For the most part, my apartment is quiet and peaceful. It's a bungalow, set back from the road behind a building. To reach it you have to walk down the drive to the building, then go through the gate to our patio. The landlady lives on the ground floor and I'm on the first, but since she travels so much, I basically have the place to myself.
There's also a drive on the opposite side of the building, just under my bedroom that leads to a small garage and the utility boxes for the building. The gate to that driveway is almost always locked unless the older gentlemen who keeps his car is the garage plans to go somewhere, which isn't very often. So it's just a deadened drive.
During the first few months after I moved in, once or twice when I'd come home after a night out, there'd be some 'women of the night' hanging out on the corner of my block. I was shocked at first to see hookers in India, especially as they were all in western mini skirts and skimpy tops. Once, I saw a very voluptuous and very pale woman in a sari. But I didn't care too much as it didn't really affect me.
Occasionally the police would linger on my block, and I was told that they were looking for thieves. Directly behind my house is a hindu temple with housing for monks, but also open to the public. The wall that surrounds the temple is shared with my bungalow's patio, and the next two bungalow's back yards, and both those bungalows are rather dilapidated. So thieves have been known to jump the 6 foot wall and escape.
But normally, it's a very quiet neighborhood. So you can imagine my surprise when I was awoken a few weeks ago to some mumbling under my bedroom window followed by, 'Ouch! Oh my gawd!' in valley girl English. I'd ignored the mumbling thinking it was just the guards changing duty, but the English got me out of bed to have a look.
And what a sight it was! An Indian guy with his pants around his ankles and another Indian guy dressed in a tight black mini skirt, gold sequin tank top, and a ridiculous wig, slowing getting to her feet. I rapped on the window, then hollered them for them to get outta here, but couldn't decided if I was upset or bemused.
I figured I'd chalk that up to one more crazy India story, until it happened again a week later. Only this time it was a real woman. But they were fast and I didn't have time to toss a bucket of water on them as planned.
So you can imagine my surprise when I came home Halloween night to find five cops and a paddy wagon in front of my house. I had just told my friend who had given me a ride home not to be surprised if there was a couple of 'women of ill-repute' on my block, just in case. The cops looked me over real good when I got out of the car - I was dressed like Holly Golightly - most likely not sure if I belonged there or in their paddy wagon!
I pointed to the occupants, then gestured to the cops, and rattled off something about cleaning up the neighborhood and they all smiled and wagged their heads as I strolled down the drive to my bungalow.
There's also a drive on the opposite side of the building, just under my bedroom that leads to a small garage and the utility boxes for the building. The gate to that driveway is almost always locked unless the older gentlemen who keeps his car is the garage plans to go somewhere, which isn't very often. So it's just a deadened drive.
During the first few months after I moved in, once or twice when I'd come home after a night out, there'd be some 'women of the night' hanging out on the corner of my block. I was shocked at first to see hookers in India, especially as they were all in western mini skirts and skimpy tops. Once, I saw a very voluptuous and very pale woman in a sari. But I didn't care too much as it didn't really affect me.
Occasionally the police would linger on my block, and I was told that they were looking for thieves. Directly behind my house is a hindu temple with housing for monks, but also open to the public. The wall that surrounds the temple is shared with my bungalow's patio, and the next two bungalow's back yards, and both those bungalows are rather dilapidated. So thieves have been known to jump the 6 foot wall and escape.
But normally, it's a very quiet neighborhood. So you can imagine my surprise when I was awoken a few weeks ago to some mumbling under my bedroom window followed by, 'Ouch! Oh my gawd!' in valley girl English. I'd ignored the mumbling thinking it was just the guards changing duty, but the English got me out of bed to have a look.
And what a sight it was! An Indian guy with his pants around his ankles and another Indian guy dressed in a tight black mini skirt, gold sequin tank top, and a ridiculous wig, slowing getting to her feet. I rapped on the window, then hollered them for them to get outta here, but couldn't decided if I was upset or bemused.
I figured I'd chalk that up to one more crazy India story, until it happened again a week later. Only this time it was a real woman. But they were fast and I didn't have time to toss a bucket of water on them as planned.
So you can imagine my surprise when I came home Halloween night to find five cops and a paddy wagon in front of my house. I had just told my friend who had given me a ride home not to be surprised if there was a couple of 'women of ill-repute' on my block, just in case. The cops looked me over real good when I got out of the car - I was dressed like Holly Golightly - most likely not sure if I belonged there or in their paddy wagon!
I pointed to the occupants, then gestured to the cops, and rattled off something about cleaning up the neighborhood and they all smiled and wagged their heads as I strolled down the drive to my bungalow.
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