InDesign CS3 placing Illustrator files as PDF's

I am working from a PC that doesn't have Illustrator installed (which is unbelievably frustrating on its own). I have a graphic that I created in Illustrator on another computer that I am trying to import to InDesign, and I need to edit it. Since I don't have access to Illustrator, I'm hoping to be able to do so right in InDesign. The file is just a straight Ai file, not a pdf, yet no matter how I try to work around it, when I place the file in InDesign, it reads it as a PDF file. I've included a couple images below to illustrate.
I ensured in preferences that "Prefer PDF" is not selected, as well.
It's not crazy important that I do it right this moment, as I could just change it in Illustrator at home. However, I'm going to be working on this project for a while at this computer, and that "fix" is going to get real old, real fast. I'd appreciate your suggestions, and what I could be doing wrong?

AI files by default are saved with PDF compatibility. ID only looks at
the PDF portion of the AI file.
If you were to save without PDF compatibility, you would be unable to
place the file in InDesign.

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