Locked out... again.

Yesterday morning was… interesting.

I woke up (after nightmares about Hurricane Katrina – not fun) and wanted to take a shower, because I hate the way I feel when I wake up, all sleepy and gross. A morning shower is to me what a morning cup of coffee is to many people. So I wrap my towel around myself, grab my shower caddy, and step out into the hall. The instant I close my door, I realize I have left my key inside. Our keys are VingCards, so the door locks automatically when you close it (which I hate anyway). So I was stuck. In the hallway. In my towel.

I knocked on all of my friends’ doors, but no one was home. I saw a guy walking toward the showers, so I followed him (you need your VingCard to get into the showers and bathrooms as well). I figured I might as well pass the time while taking my shower. This turned out to be a bad decision, because then I was stuck wandering the halls in my towel while also being cold and wet. But at least I was clean.

I found a bathroom with a door that was propped open, and thus not locked. I went in, deadbolted it and sat on the floor for a little bit. That got old, so I stepped out. I saw a random girl and asked her to go down to the reception to ask for a key to 306, cause I didn’t want to go down there in my towel. She was very nice, and she went downstairs. I was very relieved.

I was waiting by my door. Several people I didn’t know walked by and said Bonjour. I couldn’t believe that I was meeting people in my towel while locked out of my room. Finally the girl (Morgan) came back – and told me that the reception was closed for lunch. For another hour. I went back to the bathroom.

Eventually that got old again. I wandered around and finally ran into Tessa, a Tulane student. She let me sit in her room, wear her pajamas, and read her book. While she was in the kitchen, Sergio (a visiting friend of hers, who was at CIDEF) knocked on the door. I answered. He was terrified and thought he had knocked on the wrong door and tried to start apologizing. I explained the situation to him – but I really freaked him out. An hour later, I went down and got my key, wearing Vaune’s jacket as well. I got back into my room and put on clothes. Whew.

Today was less eventful – I lazed around, went grocery shopping, and cooked for eight people. I made garlic mashed potatoes with the skins in, and garlic parmesan breaded baked chicken. It was delicious. Everyone liked it. Yay!