One evening, as usual, I was out at the retreat on the island. Kashi has 2 locations: one in town and one on an island in the backwaters. The rum-swilling guys I thought would be back later, probably around 9pm but given the communication situation here i.e. people barely speak English I couldn't be certain. The naughty boys from next door had stolen my clay which I had been soaking for days to get the right consistency for a project. I was pissed and slammed my room door. A bit later I tried to go in but the door wouldn't budge. Oh, shit. I was locked out and what if the boys didn't come back at all or worse, what if I had to tell them I was locked out and they would have to "save" me or they didn't return and I would have to call the less than nurturing Dorrie and Anupe at 10pm for help. Eek. It had two "locks": a sliding piece of wood and a piece of wood that flipped over into catches. I could tell by pushing on it that it was the latch on top but I couldn't remember which type of latch it was. I thought it was the one that flipped over. I knew what I needed was a metal spatula type thing that my momma had when I was growing up. I could slip in between the two halves of the door and just run it up and the latch would be knocked open but of course this was India where the morning milk was delivered in a rum bottle. So, I thought "hey I can do this. I am smart. I am creative" but really it was the terror of telling these guys what had happened that motivated me to ingenuity. First I got a knife but realized that the two halves of the door didn't connect in a straight line but more like an S joint. So, I cut up a plastic water bottle and ran it up the crack. It wasn't moving and it slipped between the door and latch. That wasn't going to work. Onto plan B. I went around to the back window, with my keychain flashlight which I just happened to have on me. I couldn't really see that much but I thought I could get a long pole and nudge it up using a bit of leverage from the sill. I found a long piece of wood. After trying to maneuver it beyond the mosquito net, I realized it was too short. So I went in search of another. I found one but this one crack off. I got still one more, this really wasn't the US the land of plenty but not plenty of 10ft poles. I tried and tried to move the latch up. Eventually I decided that the latch was really the sliding type. So I figured I would just have to whack the one end a good one and it would free itself. So I'd hit it and then go around and check the door. Nothing. Over and over I tried. I had thought I was so clever with my mini flashlight and long rod. I was going to beat this damn lock situation, or be humiliated yet again for being some dumb girl. I got a chair for a better angle. I got a candle so I could see better. Still nothing. Then one of the guys showed up. Thankfully he was one of the ones who speaks essentially no English so he couldn't ask questions but he was one of the too friendly guys, if you know what I mean. I showed him the door and he jiggled it roughly and wala, it opened. Ugh, that is all it took was a bit of "man handling" which added insult to injury. I felt truly humbled, and humiliated. It certainly could've been worse. He could've read my mind and known that I was freaking out, or been able to say to me in words and not just in eye rolls and smirks "you poor helpless foreign woman."