The other night, after supper, I got stuck in the bathroom. I unlocked
the door as usual and turned the door handle, but immediately knew something
was not right when I heard a click instead of the door opening smoothly. The
few of you who have used the bathroom in my house will know that the light in
the bathroom doesn’t work. It hasn’t ever worked for us and we have never
looked into getting it fixed. We keep a big flashlight on the shelf just
outside the bathroom to bring in if you want light, but I gave up that habit
sometime in October and at night I don’t mind the dark.
Anyways, I found myself pulling and tugging at the door which wouldn’t
budge. As the door was back-lit I could see exactly what was holding the door
shut: basically a metal bar coming out of the door and going into the frame
which was not moving. Luckily Jeannette was home and heard my banging around.
The two of us worked on the door for about five minutes before she called Kevin
for his ‘technical skills’. The two of them worked at it for another half hour
or so, taking off the door handle, trying to figure out the hinges, and even
trying to force the door open with brute force. Finally we decided that we
needed to call the guard to get me out.
Meanwhile, I had just been about to take a shower so all I was wearing
was a towel. Luckily the crack of the door was just big enough to allow my
sarong to pass through and make me a bit more presentable. Once the guard came
and tried the door himself, he called a locksmith. Kevin read me a story from
the other side of the door while we waited for the locksmith to come with his
tools. After cutting apart the lock and trying to cut the piece holding the
door shut, the locksmith basically gave up on taking apart the door handle and
went the route of force. The wood of the door finally gave way after he slammed
into the door with his shoulder a number of times.
Luckily I am not claustrophobic and found it more of a funny experience
than a nerve-wracking one, but I am quickly losing confidence in the locks and
door handles here in Burkina!