cat story

Fear not, Tuckers, my cat-sitting skills are being kept in practice here in Caracas! Since several of my coworkers and I are here at the hotel for long-term stays, I recently agreed to feed one of their cats while he went out of town for work. He gave me a key card to his room and showed me where the food was, etc. before leaving.

The first day I went to feed him, the key card did not work. Sheepishly, I went to the front desk and told my story to the lady working at the desk. After looking at me kind of funny (I mean, who goes to a hotel, leaves their cat, and goes out of town for a few days??), she called over one of the bellmen to assist me. We re-told me story to him so that he could escort me to the room. He let me in and stood guard as I fed the cat and emptied the litterbox. He said each time I wanted in I'd need to ask for an escort. Great.

The second day, I was chagrinned to see yet another new person I would have to tell my story to and request permission to get into the cat's room. He began to greet me in English (a lot of the staff here have varying levels of English ability). So as not to offend, I tried to tell my story, as simply as possible, in English. Several times I tried, and several times he did not quite understand what I was saying, so I clarified in Spanish, and this time was awarded my very own replacement key card to my coworker's room. I was able to feed the cat and spend some qt scratching his head and petting him.

Day Three: I attempted to gain access to the room with my new keycard, but was met with a red light that refused to turn green. A final time, I approached the desk to tell my sad story. All I had to do was mention a cat, and the man behind the desk, who I had not seen before, named my coworker's last name. I jokingly asked if he had already heard the story from his coworkers and he said "yes, more than once" as he chuckled. He explained that the card would probably reset itself if it got too close to a cell phone or anything, which is probably what was happening to me.

Now that I got my problem figured out, my coworker is coming back tomorrow from his trip. But I will be sure to let him know I'm available for cat-sitting for the next six weeks, or until I am allowed to move into my permanent housing :)