Very odd indeed

Two guys knocked on the door to our building yesterday afternoon trying to gain entrance. They seemed to be saying they wanted to come in to do work. That's somewhat believable, since there's been plumbing  issues in the building.There's a main entrance off the street to our building that is always locked, and our rooms inside also are usually locked. Or should be. Anyway, the lady who lives across the hall asked me to come to the front door to talk to these two guys. They knocked but I ignored them. She answered. When I asked them in my broken and battered Spanish if they were from the city to check our water problems, they acted like they didn't understand, and they didn't really respond. They both had on the same gray shirts you used to see auto mechanics wear in the U.S. I told my neighbor to shut the door as I motioned to the two guys to ring the buzzer to reach the landlord. I never heard the buzzer ring, and went to ask my landlord if he had two guys coming in to check the plumbing. It was 3 p.m., but when I knocked on his door, my landlord was sleeping. He finally answered and said, from what I could tell, never to wake him up in the afternoon. But he did send some other contractor down (he was inside scrapping paint) to talk to the two guys. Well, the two guys were long gone in the minute or so it took the contractor to get downstairs. Long story short -- no one knows who the two guys were and most likely they were up to no good. The gang of gringos -- all of us ESL teachers living in the place -- agreed that we don't answer the door. Period. We realize that folk know we're foreigners living here, and that makes us targets. From now on, people can use the buzzer and talk to landlord Juan, unless he's asleep, of course. The joys of city life in Arequipa.
One odd thing I've noticed is that adults do not speak to each other on the street or in the combis (mini-van buses). I ride the combi every day, and I can't recall hearing a single conversation inside one of them. Nothing, nada, nil. You might get eye contact, but even that is somewhat rare.
More oddness, sort of. It cost you 50 Peruvian centos to use a bathroom when you're on bus trips. You have to buy toilet paper, even if you don't need it, to gain entrance. The places are, well, what you'd expect (pretty raw).
I think I've traced my mild stomach issues to the bread here. Stopped eating it and got better right away. Too bad ... the fresh rolls here are cheap and pretty good. I still eat the pan de tres puntas because it's 98 percent crust. And it's still OK when it's stale.
Classes are cool. I have a feisty group at night, but not too over the top. Mainly chronic talkers and texters. Pretty typical stuff.
Found a gym near my place that charges a sol (27 U.S. cents or so) for a session.
Time for more lesson planning. Later.