Drama in the 'hood

Apparently the week before we moved in, 4 cars were stolen from our cul-de-sac. 2 from the same family. This is something that happens often here. Theft is a huge issue. I am constantly being warned about the potential danger and how to protect myself and my belongings.

Our neighborhood has formed a Neighborhood Council/Watch. They are attempting to coordinate installing a gate at the entrance to our cul-de-sac. Keep in mind that cul-de-sacs are laid out a little differently. We are in the typical circle shape, but there is a grassy area in the center with a little park. In the corners of the circle (if a circle were to have corners) there are additional houses that are connected via a shared driveway. It is difficult to explain.

Here:

(Yes, I drew it out on a post-it and took a picture. Yes, I am a dork. Yes, I take pictures of EVERYTHING.)

Anyway - back to the story.

So, if you see the little sketch above, you can see my house is in pen. There are houses all along the circle drive (which I didn't draw) but there are these 3 little shared driveway things on the corners. Does it make sense now? The arrows in the top right show the entrance into our little cul-de-sac and where the potential gate would go. *I also drew a little park in the center - you're welcome...

So there has been a little bit of debate regarding this potential gate. Shortly after moving in, we were added to the email list. Apparently, it's a fun way to get your opinion out there regarding the gate by replying-all to these emails. I, of course, have to copy and paste all these communications into Google Translate. It's pretty funny stuff. There are 25 houses in our cul-de-sac and there are some people with serious opinions.

One guy, who's car was stolen by the way, is ANTI-gate. Interesting. He says that if a thief can start a car without keys, without setting off the alarm or waking an entire neighborhood, that thief will be able to get through a gate. True. Good point guy with the stolen car. He suggested a guard be hired.

The majority of the other neighbors are PRO-gate and many are concerned about the guard. One woman mentioned that the guard would cause problems for nanas that come and go. Good point lady with the nana.

Another mother was concerned that the guard could be a pedophile. Yikes! Good point lady with the kids.

Anyway - we're PRO-gate, but as renters, it's not really our decision to make. Greg will head over to the meeting tomorrow night at 9pm (just BEFORE dinner). We'll have to see how that goes.

This morning, the Carabineros (Chilean police) were parked in front of the shared driveway just to the left of our house. Wonder what that was all about.

Stay tuned...