Edited to update: yay for early-rising Tanzanians! The maintenance man arrived at 6:45 a.m. the next morning and freed my gear, and I didn't miss a beat on my daily schedule. I'm never again locking up my notebook. It travels with me.

Of all the things that could affect my gear which I worried about before I left--theft, rain, batteries, just plain breaking--I never contemplated this. My gear, including my notebook, is locked in my hotel room safe, and the safe is broken. I can't get to my laptop, my mic, my cash or my bank cards. The only thing I have on me is my iPhone.

The notebook is the stupidest part. In a fit of Dar es Salaam paranoia, I locked it in, thinking I couldn't bear to lose it if someone decided to really clean out my room. It's usually in my purse but tonight I threw it into the safe. And now I have two hours that I'd set aside for transcribing, and I'm just worrying about whether the repairman will get here before my 730am departure for a site visit. Less than 12 hours from now. Argh.

Yes, all of this fit into one safe. My gear at an earlier stop.