Robbing the Casa

It was a beautiful, typical Dutch day: sunny, then clouds and rain, and back to sunny again. And, we were enjoying it at the one-and-only and most gezellig Amsterdam party of the year: de Roots-festival. Great food, wonderful people, and four stages in Oosterpark, with a large variety of bands from here and everywhere: flamenco, rap, reggae, ska, and anything else that comes with roots.

While the last band played we danced wildly, as if a storm was brewing, threatening to destroy our party. Let's enjoy this through the very end. And... so it went.

The police got to the house with four cars and eight officers. Some had even drawn their guns while storming up the stairs. Three minutes before, they had received an alarm for a burglary (from a half-drunk person who was still at the festival) while the robbers were supposedly in the house. The police were excited, very excited even. And much disappointed - so it seemed - when they learned the culprits had already left.

At the house there was four of us, the lucky ones to discover the robbery, while the others were rushing back. What was happening? What was stolen? Were there still thieves in the house? How did they get in? How were the others? What was up with the police? Questions were running through our heads, while trying to not break too many traffic rules.

The situation in the end seems to be less dramatic than how it felt that day. We were astonished and even a bit paralyzed when we learned about it. We couldn't believe that some robbers went into the house without us knowing them, without the hugs, without an invitation, and without leaving a note in the casa-book.

How did this happen? Why did it happen? And, what were these visitors thinking, seeing our walls, the maps, the paintings, and all other signs of love and care? "Oh, shit. We took the wrong house?" Or, had they even noticed? Understanding these experiences might be the hardest thing for us.

Among the tangibles, three laptops were lost, two cameras and a bag of belongings (writings and a lightfoot post). However, the situation could have been worse; some laptops weren't taken, also an expensive video-camera remained untouched, along with a lot of other personal stuff. (Perhaps they were amateurs?) Moreover, no harm was done to artwork and other really typical casa trappings.

A couple of random and nice e-mails that I received on that day and the following, send by people who had heard about the house and wanted to come and live here for a little while, confirmed the experience that the casa was attracting many good things. Although the thought did appear in my mind, stopping this casa project at this moment would be the opposite result of what this event is supposed to teach. A feeling confirmed the next days when we received some new resourceful hosts who brought in fresh energy, care and great dedication.

Also, the support we found in each other and how we were dealing with this blow was amazing. While some people had lost stuff and others hadn't, that didn't affect much how we were all feeling. It really was a good collective experience. And, not only it was an experience of the people in the house, but the support of people who are around us, also felt wonderful.

p.s.
There are still many questions pending, and most of those cannot be answered yet. Some of those questions we would also rather only address offline.

p.s.2
yeah we do need some new old laptops. So if you know someone... let us know and or drop by!

Comments

valentina's picture

political activities?

Robino: "The police are in the house. Someone broke in ..."

The first thing that passed through my mind was: “Fuck! They found the books… How to survive after a nuclear bomb… how to create a tunnel to prevent eviction… how to last in the forest…
We must have been accused of political subversion. Perhaps they’ve mistaken the pins on the around-the-world-friends map for hot goals to be attacked. The well-known smartness of the political intelligence department must have mixed-up the recipes to make bio-sustainable cleaning products for biological weapons… and now they’ve broken in, searching for more proof of our anti-system behavior, accusing us for illegal planting of tomatoes on the roof garden and non-certified music radio wireless systems…”

So, when I finally understood it was not the political police we were dealing with, I was sincerely relieved.

Yet, I was concerned. Of course I was worried of my thesis to be handed in the next day, still in my laptop and without a backup anywhere. But, mainly I was worried about the consequences of the robbery on our souls, our beliefs, and our trust.

I was worried that letting the police in could mean having to give a lot of explanation about our hosting approach, about the number of shoes outside the door, and the amount of backpacks around.

Deviated by the complot theory and the Italian approach to political activism (see G8 in Genova), I was scared that the Casa’s experiment would have to be stopped.

At first, I was also disappointed with the community and the neighborhood. The way in which they broke into the house let us think they were watching Casa’s activity for a while. And, this could affect our trust in the community with which we were feeling such a connection.

But soon, these feelings left to give space to a renovated energy. They can steal our things but not our confidence. Only good things will come out of this.
It has probably been a sign of the need to open up, to involve even more people around us, to let them know who we are, what we do, and what we believe.

So, when Robino went to speak to the guys who we thought could know what happened, I thought that it could be the start of a new era. That our presence in the community could be reinforced by the opportunity given to have access to the multicultural center right below our balcony which could be open for periodic events (vegetarian BBQ, live music, film screenings and so on).

And, I also felt that the experience of being robbed, rather than closing us, forcing our temporary families to adopt protective strategies, and paranoid tactics of security, had produced the opposite result.
Creative solutions vs neurotic security;
Inclusion vs closure;
Respect vs violence;
Love vs resistance.

Only good things will come out of this experience, and we are already appreciating the transformations.

aisha's picture

wow

thats bizar. it was pretty much an extreme day anyway. weird energies lurking around. bu then, confrontation is transformation = movement = good.

camiel's picture

That sucks... Sending you

That sucks... Sending you some supportive hugs