This was mentioned in a previous blog, but in Costa Rica things are a tad bit different than they are in the states. One of those differences lies in the window screens, or the 

lack thereof.  Originally this idea terrified me as I thought, for whatever reason, that every insect, arachnid, and otherwise creepy crawly in town wanted to frequent my room. Well for the most part this was very untrue. I have had the pleasure of an occasional gecko, but for the most part my most frequent visitors consist of cats. Sometimes they chill on the roof outside my window. Sometimes they like to peek inside. Once I even came home to one taking a nap on my pillow. Anyway, with time I have grown rather well acquainted with the strays who roam these metal roofs, and their routine visits.

That is until last night, when something very, very, not routine happened.  

I had gone to bed a little earlier than I do most nights. The day had been lovely, but tiring. So, there I lay in my soft, warm bed. I turned my light off, put my music on, and drifted away on a lukewarm and gently breezy sea of dreams. Everything was pretty standard. Then it happened.

The next thing I am aware of, my bed is trembling. I’m not talking “trembling” like every morning when the vibrate goes off on my alarm. I hear a loud meowing from the window closest to my bed, followed by the skittering of paws.  Suddenly all I can think of is the song “I can make your bed rock” as I bounce wildly in my sheets and all the things on the nightstand next to me tumble over the railing and down the spiral staircase nearby. It takes my drowsy mind 

about 3 extra seconds to finish the chorus of Bedrock and realize what was occurring.  A giant cat had just jumped through the largest unbarred window in my room, knocked over my stuff and was now thrashing about under my bed. I think suddenly of my friend in the states. She is a true cat lover, and just as I’m wondering how she would go about taming this unruly creature the shaking dwindles and comes to a stop. Costa Rica is “tranquilo” once again. For a moment I consider looking under the bed. Then I think of my physics class and reason that if Shrodinger’s cat wasn’t dead until he looked, then there wasn’t a giant jungle cat under my bed unless I checked either. So back to sleep I went.

 When I woke up for school a few hours later, I was a tad bit confused. The more daylightthat came through my window, the more awake I became and the less my logic from the night before made sense. With slightly lingering caution, I peered under the bed. No cat.

At breakfast my familia tica asked me how I had slept, at which point I recounted to them, in what was probably horrendously broken Spanish, all of the night’s events. Turns out Turrialba had experienced an Earthquake measuring a 6.4 on the rictor scale that night. My Mama Tica told all the neighbors about my new cat. I will never forget my first earthquake. 

Location: San Rafael, Turrialba CR