getting locked out

this was the second time it happened among my volunteer friends.

we have agreed that i visit her for the evening to watch a dvd movie. she was in my block earlier and called if i can already meet her. i was in the gym at that time, and said i will just meet her later in her flat. as i was finishing with my workout, another volunteer called if i can meet with him as well, since he was in my neighborhood for some food shopping. i extended the invitation to him and asked him if he would like to join me and the other volunteer. he agreed to just meet me in front of the state department store so we can go together to where she was staying. along the way we got some drinks.

she met us downstairs by the main entrance since we did not know the security code to the gate. we went up and as she pulled down the doorknob to her door, she started to realize she cannot open it just like that since this kind of doors are set to be manually opened from the inside, and with a key from the outside. and that she did not have her keys with her. then we tried our luck with our own keys which might work on her door (which was very remote to happen). now the doorman has to be sought if he has a spare key to the flat. he did not speak nor understand english but we were able to communicate the state of our predicament. he came up with us to validate (i guessed) his understanding of what we were talking about. he did not also have the key. he went down (we reckoned that he was going to find a way to get a spare key). as we were left, we began wrestling with the door.

i called my mongolian translator and referred to him the situation (asked him in particular to talk to the doorman, and what the doorman said). this time the doorman had a phone number which we tried calling but unreachable at that time. my translator advised us to just call a locksmith and so we did. however, when the locksmith arrived, the doorman has told us not to proceed because they (he and another building staff) were able to contact the landlord and that he will be coming soon. we were asked though to reimburse the locksmith for his taxi fare.

the landlord was an old, short, and a very relaxed man. we introduced ourselves (of course, we did not live there so he did not know us). now my friend was just too happy and relieved to have seen again the interiors of the flat. she checked where her keys were. and at the end of the night, she made sure, the key was placed near the main door so she would not miss it when she goes out.

well, we still got to watch a film, had a few drinks. but, what a night...