The Quest for Internet: A Saga

(February 10, 2010)
Finally, after 3 weeks of searching around the city and waiting and being told something different by every person, my search for internet is finally over. I had to succumb and buy the ridiculously expensive pre-paid internet, because they REALLY don’t want foreigners who will be in the country for less than 18 months to have access to the World Wide Web. After several highs and lows of thinking we’d have internet THE NEXT DAY, I finally gave up on getting excited. I shelled out the ton of money for the pre-paid internet last night, hoping to finally talk to my family and friends on Skype from the comfort of my own apartment. Only to find that it DIDN’T WORK! That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, the dud had to be given to the most stressed out girl ever, me! So I spent an hour and a half messing with it, trying not to cry, and I finally just took a shower and went to bed.
This morning, I went to class and immediately after, I sought out the nearest Vodafone store. There, the extremely unhelpful woman told me to go back to the Vodafone where I bought it, because she couldn’t help me. (Lazy woman didn’t even ASK what was wrong, she just refused me immediately. I’m convinced it was because of my bright red jacket. It must have offended her, because everyone here only wears grey, black, and brown.) Anyway, I had to walk thirty minutes in the freezing wind and cold to the downtown, where I’m practically friends with the workers because I’ve been there so many times. They spent more than an hour looking and it and calling the main headquarters, and I just sat there praying. At last, she figured out that “Ahh, it hadn’t been ACTIVATED!” But of course, you have to activate the internet service before it will actually function. How silly!
After this ordeal, I was exhausted, and I went to the nearest café for a warm cup of chocolate caliente (which is basically like hot chocolate pudding, it’s so thick.) My heart was finally warmed, what with the combination of chocolate and internet access and everything, I was feeling quite content! Until I had to walk all the way back to my school in the freezing wind, only to make it to my one o’clock class at 12:58. What a morning it was, let me tell you!

P.S. I will post more pictures soon!!