Yesterday (Tuesday): In my Advanced Writing class, where there are only three students and the prof (all chicas), we were chatting about horror movies and things of the sort. We were talking about The Orphan, The Grudge, The Ring, The Others (I am seeing a pattern here... weird) and many more creepy flicks. My prof mentioned a movie called Los Ojos de Lucia and told me she would bring it from home for me to watch with my host sister, Maca, who loves horror films as do I. Anyways so our class went off on a tangent about dark, rainy nights and somewhat satanic things of the sort, cachai? Okay, so with that in the back of my mind, I went home last night and over dinner was telling Maca about the movie etc. I was trying to freak her out by telling her we would have to watch it when we were all alone, when it was dark (and rainy, por supuesto)... Obviously trying to psych each other out...
Well I was the one who got a little "psyched-out." That night, I go to sleep in my warm, cozy little bed and when I was about to start dreaming sleep dreams, about at the end of my REM cycle.... I am awoken by a strange, strange noise... It is 5:44AM. I can't exactly make out what it is at first. ((Note: There are occasionally dogs barking and cats meowing throughout the night, which I have gotten used to.)) Then, I can kinda make out that it may be cats. But these cats sound like they are dying. Actually more like they are being tortured. I cannot even begin to describe the sound they are making. It is shrill yet fuerte. The other thing that freaks me out is the location. It sounds like these cats may be on the roof above my bathroom or in the hallway or for a time being I thought they were coming from the grandmother's room, which is right next to mine. Note that I am still groggy and kinda disoriented. I just can't place these sounds.
So I am laying in bed trying to rationalize what I am hearing. But I can't rationalize it at all. So with horror films already in the back of my mind, my thoughts go immediately to the most irrational conclusion: My host family isn't who they say they are. And my host grandmother is torturing cats in her bedroom, about to use them for a sacrificial ritual. Thus, I am picturing my lovely Chilean grandmother with a witch's hat and caldron torturing cats... I know you all are thinking, "Sarah, this is absurd. You are exaggerating." But I am not. I don't think anyone can understand these sounds. And to my defense, it is 5:44 in the morning and I am kinda out of it to begin with. Anyways, then at the climax of these crazy noises, I hear this THUMP! on the tin-like roof above my bathroom. Then there is a rustle, the crazy noises kinda stop, and I am able to go back to sleep... which one would think is a good thing... except for the
I dreamt about the most logical explanation for these noise... the torture of cats by my host family... Oh and my dream was soo real. It made no sense but it was soo real. You know how it is with dreams, right? Pues, I woke up to my alarm a little freaked out but eventually I kinda forgot about it all. I was going to mention something to my host mom in the morning but I didn't know how to go about it... "Hola Mamá, did you hear those strange noises last night? Were you all torturing cats or sacrificing them? Or was it Grandma?" Ehhh I didn't know what to say... I mean, really, how does a gringa like me go about that? Well, I didn't.
So tonight at dinner we are just chatting etc. No big deal. I don't even know how it came up, but there was a moment in the conversation where I felt I could insert the fact that I had a weird dream about torturing cats... But before I could get the whole sentence out, all I say is "Last night..." when my host dad says, "Oh did you hear the cats?" And of course, I am like "YESSSSS!!!! What the heck?!" Papá then says nonchalantly, "Yeah the month of the cats is usually in August..." Then my host mom pipes up, "The love of cats is very violent." Lightbulb Moment. Last night I was listening to two cats "making love" (I wouldn't exactly call it "love")... on my roof. So the conversation gets unbearably hilarious as I begin to describe about how I was freaking out last night etc. My host family, at this point, is picturing their little gringa, Sarita, laying in bed freaking out about the most seemingly normal thing. Although my Papá was super annoyed that these darn cats woke him up, it was completely normal and at one point he said, "We're just lucky there wasn't more than two." What?! I cannot even imagine the sounds from more than two. Anyways, then he says to me, "Oo Sarita, did you hear them fall?!" At that point, I lose it and about had water coming out of my nose. I mean, come on ya'll, just imagine this whole process... Imagine (or don't) two cats getting busy on the roof and then falling... What the world?!
So, in the end, there was, after all, a logical explanation - cats breeding on the roof of my bedroom and then falling on the tin roof of my bathroom in the middle of the night. Naturally. And to think that I thought my Chilean family (or grandma in particular) was torturing cats in their spare time to sacrifice... What was I thinking?
Well, I hope you all at least got somewhat of a chuckle from this story. At least, I did. Now, I am off to bed. Please pray that there aren't any cats getting it on tonight on my roof... I'm tired enough as it is and need a good night's rest. :)
Buenas noches,
Ciao!
Sarah
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