One of my all time life lessons yet to be learned is how to have patience. There were moments from my childhood that I remember very distinctly when my parents would suggest that we go to a movie or we go out to dinner, and then something would come up and the plans would be cancelled or postponed til another day. I’m not terribly proud when I think about my reactions to this news – because most commonly it would be some kind of tantrum or there would be tears or at the very least a silent little rage. I have learned how to deal with disappointment a bit more maturely as I’ve gotten older, but I still sometimes feel those moments of intense disappointment and impatience. This is all coming up again as I wait for the damned internet people to show up and connect me to the world again.
Last Thursday, we finally handed in all our papers with all of the necessary signatures to the Claro people, and they told us confidently that we should have our router and connection all set within 48 hours. Tomorrow will be a week. We’ve called pretty much every day to speak to some one to make sure everything was on track and then to complain about the delay. And as you can imagine, it’s always the same response “oh you should have it by this afternoon”. This afternoon comes and goes, and then it’s this evening, at which point we cannot contact anyone in the office until the following morning. I was already impatient by Sunday when I had to do my lesson planning in Luis’ grandmother’s house and in the café (which isn’t so free). I will say at this point that I am aware that I am probably a little too dependent on the internet to make my life go smoothly, and I also know that I can in fact survive without it, so this is not going to kill me, even if I have to wait another month. However, it is true that my lifestyle has evolved to include the internet in many unexpected ways. For example – I don’t own cookbooks, because in my experience, all I have to do is bring the computer into the kitchen and look up a recipe or a measurement conversion or skype one of my parents to find out the answer to any culinary questions. I have in the last week found myself completely stumped in the kitchen without human resources, technology, nor even an old-fashioned cookbook to help. I am also accustomed to going to google for photos or definitions of words which either Luis or I don’t know. And last night, when we three (Heather included) got into a heated debate about Nicaraguan urban health and food legends, we were just spitting out opinions, and I couldn’t turn to the internet to resolve the conflict. Frustrating to say the least.
But perhaps the most frustrating part is that it isn’t as if they are making an appointment and then not showing up. In the states you ask for some one to come to your house to connect your internet or cable and you make an appointment with the company to send some one at a time that works for you. What a dream! Here they say “they might come some time in the afternoon”… “When exactly?”… “In the afternoon”… “And what happens if I am not at home at that moment?”… “We will come back”. Oh yes, I’m sure you will. In a week. What this means is that we’ve had to have some one waiting all damn day in the house in case they decide to come. I wouldn’t ask Heather to do this, since she doesn’t have her computer here right now and won’t be using the internet until after Semana Santa anyway. And Luis has had to go to interviews and driving exams and all number of other shenanigans. Which mean yours truly is sitting around twiddling her thumbs without internet or cable to entertain her, whilst waiting (im)patiently for some one who may or may not arrive at any time. It’s like camping. Without the swimming, the smores, or the other people to talk to. There are plenty of mosquitoes, however. I’ve been reading to pass the time. And this blog entry is being written on my computer from home so that when I go to school this afternoon and connect to the internet I can copy and paste. WAAAAAAAA!!!!!! CLARO!!! FOR EL AMOR DE GOD!!!!!
