The next morning, around 11:00, an old, dirty, beat up, red Tsuru with no license plates pulled up in front of Pepe's house. Our street is very narrow, and the car completely blocked access so no one could come or go. A man got out and started calling to Pepe. I just thought, "What now?"

The police who work our area are very conscientious men and women who are really trying to do their job. When we were robbed, the police reaction was immediate and thorough. They fanned out through the neighborhood, checked all the known fence places, rousted known bad actors, and really tried to recover our stuff and arrest the culprit using good, old-fashioned police work. Unfortunately, they are hindered in their jobs by a number of factors.

One thing about living next to a meth head – life is never dull. For awhile, we tried to tell ourselves that he wasn't really back on the drugs, and he did indeed have sober stretches that lasted a week or more. But, although self delusion can be entertaining, it is not very helpful, and we finally admitted we were going to have to do something or come up with a coping strategy.

Most of you know that we were robbed last August. It was a terrible and beautiful experience that taught us so much about our new country and our new neighbors. For a while it was like a raw, festering wound that kept us on our toes and never quite comfortable in our own home. It was like that hole left in your mouth when you lost one one of your baby teeth. No matter how hard you try to ignore it, your tongue continues to find that tender spot and explore it despite the pain. But eventually the pain fades, and a new tooth grows in its spot, so you don't even quite remember it was ever gone.

When we woke up at 7:30 yesterday morning, we noticed it was really dark for that time of day. It was just starting to rain. It's very unusual for it to rain during the day here. Mazatlan usually abides by the rulebook for Paradise and restricts the rain to the night time hours. No big deal. On the rare occasions it does rain during the day here, absent a hurricane, it is always a gentle rain shower. Did I say always? I guess I should add – until today.