Watchmen

We are living in an area slightly off of the main road meaning there is not much lighting at night.  We are careful not to walk on the road after dark for safety concerns, although there have been some poorly timed mini-bus trips that made it necessary to walk just after sunset.  I think the area is safe enough as long as you are walking in a group and don't draw too much attention to yourself.  The biggest concern is being noticed by drunks which Ewa and I found out walking to the Christmas Vigil mass early during twilight.  They aren't really dangerous people, but get a little enthusiastic about meeting the white people walking down the road, and well...they're drunk.  So far we've avoided any bad situations and I expect it to stay that way as long as we stay cautious.  Here at Bakhita, we are protected by a big perimeter wall, fearless watchmen, and a pack of watchdogs.  The watchmen are good family men and we are pretty good friends with them.  They have surprised me a few times walking to the school after dark.  Sitting in a doorway or next to a pillar, they are almost invisible, and they don't say "hello" until you are right next to them so I've jumped a few times.  A late night a few weeks ago, I was in my room almost asleep when I heard a voice outside my window whispering "Gary, Gary".  Considering the fact that it was so late, and me not asleep but approaching sleep, I did not overreact with an unreasonable amount of terror.  I feel the amount of terror was a perfectly reasonable level.  Realizing that the person outside the window was probably willing to speak to anyone inside of the window even if it wasn't actually Gary, I managed a very cautious "Yes?" after what felt like minutes to me but was probably just a few seconds.  I then heard another whisper in reply, "A bicycle is outside and the back door is open".  A long and shaky sigh of relief follow, after which, I put the bicycle away, said "Good Night" to the watchman, and very deliberatly locked shut and locked the door.  The whole incident ended up being very reassuring about the character of our watchmen...the next morning, anyways.