The Rasoul´s were doing great. We were all very happy and thankful for the apartment. Yes it was small and definitely too small for 5 people but sleeping in one of the shelters was definitely worse.
Now that the family had a TV, a DVD player and DVD´s - all they needed was an HDMI cable. I decided to go to a shop nearby and purchase one. I rode my bike to the Rasoul´s - excited about the cable. I plugged it into the TV and chose "Finding Nemo" to test picture and sound. Unfortunately the remote didn´t work for some reason. We guessed that perhaps the batteries needed to be replaced. The children went downstairs and came back with the right batteries. We tried it once more.
There were a few moments of silence. We were all staring at this huge TV and waiting for a picture. Waiting for sound. No one said a word. I was keeping my fingers crossed. The TV was, after all, like most of the furniture, a donation. What if it did not work?
Suddenly the picture came up and a few moments later we could hear the sound. It was joyful moment. We looked at each other with big, happy smiles. The parents were just as excited as the children. And so was I.
Unfortunately I was unable to stay for dinner. Work was expecting me at home. I packed my bag, said goodbye and rode back home.
I was sitting at the dining table, focused on my phone when I heard Tony asking me: "Whose phone is that?" I looked up and saw a black smart phone on the table. Without giving it any further thoughts I replied "Not mine. It is probably your work phone." I kept staring at my phone when I heard Tony say: "This is not my work phone." I looked at Tony and put my phone away. I clicked the home button of the black smartphone carefully. The screen turned on and a picture of the Kurdish flag appeared.
Shit. This phone belonged to the family Rasoul. I must have been so overly excited about "Finding Nemo" at the Rasoul´s that I didn´t realize taking not only my phone but one of theirs. I felt awful. I called Shamse and apologized. She on the other hand laughed and said it was no problem. I promised to return the phone in the early morning before going to work.
That night, we made a lot of fun about this incident and we still do to this day. I have been double and triple checking the amount of smartphones in my bag ever since. ;)
