Tuesday, June 24, 2008

The Santa Maria Spy

During my entire stay here, I have felt comfortable and at-home living in Santa Maria in Cappella. The quiet atmosphere, beautiful courtyard, and friendly doormen make our living situation very pleasant and feel very safe (not to mention we have to go through three locked doors to get inside our apartment). However, it has been somewhat uncomfortable lately, due to one of the residents of the hospice across the courtyard from us. One night, two girls from Ohio State who live on the first floor came up to our apartment on the third floor. They informed us that a resident has been spying on our apartments with binoculars from across the courtyard, and sometimes filming with a video camera. Another resident was kind enough to tell the girls this, speaking only a little English while motioning spying with binoculars and filming. After getting this information, a couple girls realized that they had seen a man looking over here on occasion. In the past few days, some have even caught him in the act of spying! This man does not seem dangerous, and, chances are, someone is looking after him in the hospice. Even so, I told our landlord. She thought this story was amusing and assured us that he is just an older man, living in hospice care, and could not be dangerous. The next group to live here will probably have new curtains, she said. But, in the meantime, I do not feel quite as comfortable as I have felt living here.

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