Curiosity Nearly Killed The Cat

And My Negligence May Have Played Some Small Role As Well

By Grace Carballo ‘17

In addition to my amazing host mom and rad, artsy, vegetarian host sister, I also have a super cool host brother who is a little older than me, here in Madrid. The mysterious man I stumbled upon in my new house the very first day I moved in turned out to be who he said he was and now we see each other all the time. Carmen explained to me when I asked what Victor does that he was a “go-go”, which I didn’t understand, but with a bit more pantomiming on her part, some hip thrusts and the like, I gathered means “dancer employed in a club”.

Kapital is one of the most famous clubs in Madrid and Victor actually worked there! It has seven levels, each with different music and vibes. During my brief Kapital experience, I unintentionally/boldly depending on how you look at it, ordered what I later realized was a chocolate-milk based beverage, but I wasn’t even mad.

Adjusting to a new culture takes time, so naturally my most uncomfortable homestay moment (thus far) was my first weekend in Madrid, before my housemate from USC arrived. I hadn’t seen my host mom in a few days and I was a little confused about that, and I was pretty sure I was home alone but my room is kind of off to the side in the apartment, so I couldn’t be certain. I decided I should probably go mingle or seize the day or both, but as soon as I opened my door, one of my family’s hairless pet cats ran inside. I picked her up and tried to get her to leave but it felt like rubbing an elderly person’s sun-kissed arm wrinkles plus she had possibly half a dozen nipples. Naturally, I couldn’t handle that, so I set her down promptly and she scampered over to the table by my desk. It was almost adorable until she jumped probably 4 feet (unsure the conversion to meters because not European yet) to the windowsill and out my open window.

I live on the fourth floor, which is really the fifth floor because in Spain the ground level is level 0, so we are really not in a position where you can just jump out windows if you’re feeling like a little parkore. I frantically called after her and searched desperately, half expecting to see her lifeless, still hairless body below, but I didn’t see her anywhere. I cursed excessively (in English I’m ashamed to say, despite all the practice in Spanish) and started running around. “Necesito ayuda!” I screamed and Victor, like a knight in shining armor, except not really because he wasn’t wearing a shirt, ran downstairs.

I explained as well as any distraught semi-illiterate could in teary-voiced Spanish that his beloved family cat had jumped out the window and I was so sorry and it might be my fault but I’d love for us to find a way that there’s no one to blame in this situation.  He ran into my room and somehow hoisted himself effortlessly into the windowsill himself, more gracefully than the cat, and it would’ve been beautiful if I wasn’t so distracted by my catslaughter guilt.

He called to Nea and we heard her meowing which normally I’m not into, but this time, was music to my ears. “No hay problema, no te preocupes”, Victor kept saying and he explained, in some English, bless him, that it’s okay for Nea to go outside because she will come in through a different window when she wants to but the nameless other cat, won’t, so don’t ever let him out.  Just then Carmen came home and was able to sweet talk the cat back inside with some fish or catnip or something and we all had a good laugh about it together and then later in the privacy of my own room, I had a good cry.

I took this shot to commemorate the occasion, our first real family bonding event. I look forward to many more to come, but would prefer they don’t involve the cats or myself feeling like an accidental murderess.

Here I am with both cats, blocking them from the window, and herding them without direct contact due to my discomfort. You can’t see my body language in the photo, but I’m very tense.

I’ve learned a lot already in my homestay experience, not just about Madrid, but about myself. For example, now, I can say without hesitation that I am, in fact, a dog person.

-Grace