By: TH
It was the strangest of telephone calls. This lady who rents me an apartment in Rio asking me for help. Her nephew’s US athlete’s visa is close to expiration and he wanted to renew it as a student so he needs to get out of the US for a few days to file the application. Short of going home back to Brazil, they do not know of any other solution to his quandary as they don’t know anybody either this side who can help. That’s when I entered the picture. They thought of me whom they know only as a tenant for the last three winters. Would I be so kind as to put him up for a couple of days? Besides, we were practically the same age, she added.
It’s true, I have been taking an annual week’s vacation in Rio for some time now and have been staying in hotels all that time. Just by fluke, I discovered that by staying at a rental apartment, I can prolong my stay for as long as a month for the same amount of money. The apartment is right at the back of Copacabana Palace so just a block away from the beach and right there in the center within reach of all the action. It sure would be nice to be able to keep going back to it in the future. Although I never had any problem with her nor she with me, I thought that helping her out now might even earn me some sort of preferential treatment, you know, position me on her good side and improve our overall tenant-landlord relationship a bit. So foregoing the benefit of a cool off period to think things over, I said yes right there and then. This in spite of the many nightmares I have had with overnight guests. I offered my home address so she can compare it with what she still has on file. She let me know too that the dire urgency compelled the flustered nephew to rashly buy his bus ticket and that he was already well on the way.
It’s true, I have been taking an annual week’s vacation in Rio for some time now and have been staying in hotels all that time. Just by fluke, I discovered that by staying at a rental apartment, I can prolong my stay for as long as a month for the same amount of money. The apartment is right at the back of Copacabana Palace so just a block away from the beach and right there in the center within reach of all the action. It sure would be nice to be able to keep going back to it in the future. Although I never had any problem with her nor she with me, I thought that helping her out now might even earn me some sort of preferential treatment, you know, position me on her good side and improve our overall tenant-landlord relationship a bit. So foregoing the benefit of a cool off period to think things over, I said yes right there and then. This in spite of the many nightmares I have had with overnight guests. I offered my home address so she can compare it with what she still has on file. She let me know too that the dire urgency compelled the flustered nephew to rashly buy his bus ticket and that he was already well on the way.