Not so lazy Sunday

The plan for today was to relax and eventually get to my homework for tomorrow. It all started off well. After breakfast and cleaning up a bit, I spent some time on the computer (I think I blogged already today). Then I showered, and went to the chino, which I found out is called "Hong Kong". I got some potatoes and carrots and chocolate pudding. I came home and made a pot of lentils. I wasn't really ready to eat yet, but they smelled so good, I had a small bowl.

Then, I was ready for a nap (after sleeping for 11 hours last night, I was exhausted). I was in the process of trying to find the remote for the TV when Larry called. He said he was bored after spending the entire weekend inside and was on his way over.

In the meantime, I took a horizontal position on the sofa and found a hidden camera program called "La Vendetta" - it was great. It was your usual hidden camera show, except these were Argentines, and it was great to see their reactions when these tricks were pulled on them. You can really see the Italian influence here in the gestures they use.

Anyway, the program finished and Larry was not here yet, so I got a chance to take a nice nap.
When Larry arrived I gave him a bowl of lentils and then we decided we needed to go to Freddo to get the taste of lentils out of his mouth.

We put on our coats, walked out into the hallway and closed the door. As we walked to the elevator I realized I didn't remember putting my keys in my pocket. I checked all of my pockets and sure enough, they weren't there. I had left them inside the apartment, and the door locks when you close it.

Mierda!

So, we went downstairs. Luckily I had entered the phone numbers for Ralf and Tomas, from the agency where I rented my apartment, into my cell phone, and I had my cell phone with me. We walked outside because my cell doesn't work from inside this building (I think it must be reinforced in case of nuclear war - the building that is, not my phone). First I tried Tomas and got a recorded message from a woman saying she regretted that I was unsuccessful but I should try again later. I tried Ralf and got nothing. I tried both again several times and had no luck.

So then we went back inside the building to see if the doorman, or security guard, whatever the guy who sits at the little desk is, had extra keys.

For some reason he thought I was on the 9th floor. I don't know what made him think that, but once we cleared up my apartment number and floor he went into the garage in the back of the building and disappeared. After several minutes, he returned with a set of keys that had "7-34" on them - my floor and apartment number. Perfect! This wasn't going to turn into a blog topic after all.

So I came up while Larry stayed downstairs and chatted with this guy, who was young and cute and very nice.

I put the key into the lock, turned it and the door didn't open. I tried again several times. The key looked different. It was older, and also cut on a diagonal. I'll have to post a picture of the keys here because they are the strangest things. Anyway, after trying several more times, I went downstairs. Larry was interviewing the guy on how much he makes. Maybe Larry is considering a job as a security guard in the Recoleta.

I told them the door didn't open. So the security guard went back into the garage and came back with some key rings that had what looked like a hundred keys on it. I wish I had taken a picture of that, but my camera was locked inside my apartment.

He asked me to identify the key to my apartment, and I showed him keys that were around the same size, but I noticed that they were all cut differently. Finally, he came upstairs with us and tried the keys that were the same size, one by one, by one, by one, by one, by one..... you get the idea. None of them worked.

Finally, I told him it was ok, and I would try to call the guys I am renting from.

We went outside again and I tried and got the same message regretting that I was unsuccessful. Finally as we walked towards Freddo, Larry tried on his cell phone and got Ralf. He passed the phone to me and I explained to Ralf what happened. He said he could meet me here at 7 p.m. It was about 5:30.

That gave us enough time to make it to Gallerias Pacifico and have an ice cream and come back. But as we started walking I realized how hungry I was, so I told Larry I was going to eat first. When we got to the food court in the mall, I chose a place that served steak. I got a steak, fries and a water with gas for $6.00. The steak was good. I can't imagine ordering a steak at a food court in the US. Larry got a salad, but after tasting my fries, ordered some for himself. When we finished we made it over to Freddo and got ice cream.

They asked me if I had a Freddo card (I don't think they asked Larry). I said yes. He asked for the number and rather than say my long passport number, I showed him my student ID which has the passport number on it. He entered it and told me it wasn't the correct number.

I was now very confused. I think he entered the number wrong, but didn't want to cause a scene as there were a lot of people behind me. I just asked if the card were going to arrive in the mail and he told me no. He then said something about 3 pesos, that I didn't understand. He continued to explain and I pretended I understood because really I just wanted my ice cream and to get back inside my apartment and I prefer Volta anyway, so if I don't have a Freddo card, it will not be a big loss for me.

We got our ice creams and made our way back to my building. The new security guard who just started his shift buzzed us in. The other guy who helped us try to get the door unlocked was just leaving. I told him they were coming with a key. The other guy who was just starting his shift was the guy who helped me with my oven yesterday. Both of these guys are very sweet and much nicer than the guys who are there during the day who kind of scare me (but I'm sure they are very nice too).

Finally Ralf arrived. He came in and said, "Who is Rick!", kind of gruffly, but then greeted me with a big smile. I apologized for interrupting his weekend but he said it was ok as we rode the elevator together.

I was afraid the keys he had also didn't work, but as he put the key in the lock, it clicked and the door opened!

Now, I'm inside and have nothing to do but my homework for tomorrow.

It was an adventure that turned out ok, but I don't want to repeat it. I'm going to have to figure out a way to put my keys in a place where I will always see them before I leave the apartment.