Setback

One little thing can change the whole scheme of things or simply turn them upside down. This is what exactly happened just a few hours ago. As I wrote in my preceding post, I went to Presentation Catholic Church here in Stockton, CA, to celebrate Mass for all those intentions of my and others hearts I mentioned there. So this is what I did...

Went to the church ahead of time to get briefing from the chief of liturgy in the parish. I stowed my bag with the laptop, documents, money etc - in the closet in the sacristy. As I returned from the briefing at the altar back to the sacristy after some 10 minutes or so, I wanted to get my printed homily out of my bag. But the bag was not there...

I felt a bit uneasy at first, thinking that maybe someone had relocated the bag to other, perhaps more secure,  place. I felt the punch in my stomach as the thought of a theft of the bag become to settle in in my mind...

I had to go for the Mass, so I left the chief liturgist and others do the search and rescue mission of my bag in the premises. Believe me, it was one of those moments, maybe one of the most difficult times for me when I had to say Mass, to concentrate, to say homily out of my head, as the paper was gone too, knowing that I am set for a big trouble - being in USA with no passport (with USA visa in it and Tanzanian residence permit), no money, no national ID from Poland, no driving licences, no membership cards to various clubs and sites, plus no laptop and documents and tickets...

I don't know how I managed to calm down and do what I was supposed to do and finish the Mass in such  way that nobody discovered (I hope) that something was wrong...

At the end of the Mass, one of the ushers waved from behind to me showing me my bag and the chief liturgist announced from the ambo that they were grateful for the Mass and that I was able to say it, and they were sorry for this traumatic event. People cheered and clapped their hands, happy that the happy end was the end of this anxiety. 

I concluded the whole issue with a smile and a joking remark. When I got back to sacristy, they gave me the bag to check if everything was intact.

It wasn't. 

My small organizer/wallet was gone and in it - my passport, IDs, cards, and all my money. The laptop was there and everything else. Just this organizer. They knew what they were after. They seemed like they wanted cash and cards.

My heart sank.

So, I am back where I checked out in the morning before the Mass. I missed my bus to LA, had to call Father there apologizing for the delay, had to call the police, gave my statement, tomorrow I am to go there to pick up the written statement with the case number and then I can board the bus and go to LA. I talked on the phone with a nice and helpful Polish Consul in Los Angeles, so they are going to help me as best they can, so I can continue my USA odyssey, while they fix my new passport.

I don't even want to think about the trouble with blocking my cards, getting replacements for my stolen IDs, cards... What about USA visa in my passport? What about Tanzanian residence permit in my passport too? This is where the real fun starts. 

Wish me luck. And patience. Thanks in advance.

Now, let me get some coffee and pray a bit and think over my options. I guess some fitting music to this fitting finale of the month would do me no harm either.


If you think I 'm going to dislike Stockton, CA, and the people here, you got it all wrong. I love my hosts, I love hard working people around here I met so far in their farms, fighting recession and gloomy perspectives... And this one-off kick in my abdomen won't get me annoyed and distracted. Friends is what matters most to me. And I got plenty of them already here. God bless them much!