How I ended up incarcerated on a Monday morning

Oh, the bleeding hearts of PCVs... the loneliness and desire for another creature's companionship... the lack of animal population control in Belize and other third world countries... these are some of the reasons I ended up on house arrest this morning. At my house, on my front porch. I'm gonna say it all started when I said YES to fostering a little kitten I've taken to calling Gangsta Kitty.

A little history for the sake of explanation and entertainment... Some friends of mine who live in San Ignacio are magnets for pregnant cats. They run a hotel and have twice now had a pregnant cat birth a litter of small, roley-poley kittens in a spare 'storage' room that apparently has a crack in the window. The first time this baby-drop happened, I had already adopted and fallen in love with my own cat, Mogley, but was still suckered into adopting one lee black kitty. He was adorable, but problems were ahead. First problem being... all the kittens had already gone feral. Too much time had passed before my hotel-manager friends noticed the kittens so they weren't used to humans and were fiercely aggressive/protective. Second problem being... the black kitty I took home wouldn't eat and was sick. This led to kitty ultimately dying which was a traumatic experience in itself. I decided after that fiasco that Mogley didn't need friends and he was enough cat for me. Never again would I adopt another creature while in Belize.

Ahem!

** Miette! Travis! How'd you talk me into this??? **

Ok, present day scenario. I haven't actually adopted a kitty for myself again, but I've agreed to foster one for a while. Round 2 of adorable kittens arrive at the hotel, yet these already have a brighter future. They've had plenty of human contact, & are kind and frisky and needy like little kitties are. The new group of PC Trainees arrived almost two months ago, meaning they're almost done with training and ready to swear in and meaning that they're ready to save the animals of Belize, one or two or three at a time! So last night, in helping out my friends Miette and Travis from Cayo, and helping out Miss Shannon who wanted to adopt a kitten for herself and her budding life in Belize, I took another lee black kitty home. This guy is adorable like most small things but Mogley is not a fan. I think they'll work it out eventually. Hopefully. But its stressful having the kids fighting all the time. Makes me reconsider the whole idea of parenthood. I monitored them last night and then shut myself in my room to rest.

8:00am. Awoken to the light of the day and to a tiny meower going off like a persistent, obnoxious alarm clock. I open the door and am greeted by the sound of hissing and meowing cats and the smell of poo. Good morning! Mogley, I'm sure, blocked small kitty who shall for now be called Gangsta, from the "kitty corner" which has food, water and litter box. Therefore Gangsta kitty pooped everywhere. I spent the first 45 minutes of my morning cleaning up his droppings, setting up his own little corner in the other room and then trying to keep Mogley from his "pounce and kill" attacks.

I then got ready for my day. Made coffee. Drank it black. Break up kitty snarls. Took a shower. Got dressed. Break up more kitty snarls. Say goodbye to both these creatures that are now driving up the freakin wall and I walked out of my house. I walked out of my house in such a hurry that I didn't realized I'd locked my keys inside. So here I am locked outside my front door yet still inside my gate. This wouldn't be so bad, except that, for my own safety and peace of mind, my little gate is locked from the inside at night. So, here I am, already "late" for "work" and I find myself locked in jail. Perhaps the most bizarre form of house arrest I'd never considered. At least I had a banana and a cell phone. The first so I wouldn't starve while waiting for rescue and the second so I could call Mr. Roger for help.

Roger was amused by my situation when I called. He found a ride to his house to fetch my spare keys and return to let me out. While I was waiting for his to arrive, I sat down, took a couple deep breaths, attempted a laugh and then began rummaging through my purse for distractions. An idea popped into my head - my side/back door is unlocked! I jumped up to go into the house that way, forgetting for a moment that I'm in jail. Stuck. Locked. Locked in between two locked doors so nevermind that one that's open. What a ridiculous situation! Roger arrived, let me out and I headed to work. Not quite the best way to start one's week but I'm forging ahead, keys tightly in hand and hoping not to do that again. I'm hoping as well that Ms Shannon finds a home quick and can take this kitty into her life, living happily ever after - the gangsta kitty and the white gyal.