It's surprising how once seemingly innocuous events now have a profound impact on my thoughts, and I guess today my blog is a diary.
Reflecting on the previous mention of the builder and his peculiar female accomplice, I distinctly remember how he openly expressed his perception of us foreigners as being remarkably gullible. He was determined on taking both myself and my husband to Orce, to the house of an English gentleman named Paul, whom he affectionately referred to as Pablo. What reasons would there be for me to agree to go with a total stranger to a remote location?
I noticed that their stories never seemed to align, as if they intentionally provided me with false information regarding their whereabouts to establish an alibi. He asked if it would be possible for him to bring me some wine whilst giving me an estimate before he'd started the job
Luckily, I'm now teetotal.
They found it amusing that his car boot had a distinct smell of urine, because something had peed in it and it became a topic of laughter.
Feeling increasingly worried, I decided to adopt a different approach and told them that I had a YouTube channel. I asked if I could film their work on different occasions. Their reaction was one of concern as they mentioned that the main builder’s colleague, who they referred to as his Uncle, was being pursued by Interpol and they'd prefer if I didn't. (Was this a joke?) I recall that the uncle had a red birthmark over his right eye and was approx 58 years old.
Despite feeling nervous about everything that was going on, I managed to maintain the facade of being a You Tuber and filmed as dirt was being loaded onto a truck.
Next day the phone rang and again I recognised the voice of the “curandera” who’d approached my home, the same question, “Do you have insurance?” This began to concern me that this was a way of obtaining more personal information, I simply said that we we’re covered, to which she replied “Who are you with?”
I ended the call.
The builder deliberately left his phone at my house and consistently handed me objects, works took longer as it was always a matter of sourcing materials from his cousin in Barcelona as local products weren't good enough. He also asked me, when my whatsapp picture was taken. I am so grateful for the existence of filters because they prevented the image from resembling me in any way.
Next question was after my dentist visit, could he see which tooth they'd removed!!
Next question, “Did your husband send me a friend request on Facebook?”
(Was their intention to monitor our activities and movements on Facebook?)
Does your husband know anything about mobiles? (I then received a multitude of missed call messages with links to click on to return the call, though no calls came)
Do you always get up at 6.30am?
(was my phone hacked so they saw what time I set my alarm?)
Message that an item was waiting for me at customs as it had a pending charge. I was expecting no such item.
Much to their surprise, the next day I pointed out that the work they had completed had completely transformed the room into a space that bore a striking resemblance to the kill rooms seen in the popular television show Dexter. I was completely shocked and taken aback when, without any explanation, they decided to dig a deep ditch on my property that was just a little less than a meter in depth.
Again he questioned, "Do you know many people around here?"
Was I aware that if my cave wasn't legal he could take it off me, and by paying towards my land each month he could take it from me.
Please note most caves here don't have deeds.
All I know is that Bars are closing, hundreds of livestock have been culled in this area due to a smallpox outbreak and ongoing tensions have arisen between expats and some Spaniards primarily stemming from the presence of macro-farms that breed and kill approximately 1 million pigs annually.
That he'd prefer not to have to move to Alicante, and he had to be wary of who he hired as his ex clients were getting robbed.
Something sinister is going on here.
Ps. A tiltle of a film popped into my head "The Skeleton Key". No idea why.
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