Nope----not the limited supplies, not the language barrier, not sharing a kitchen, not being without a TV, not dealing the heat, not the mosquitoes, not the cockroaches, not learning a new profession, not relearning English grammar, not teaching students HOW to be students, not dealing with the chaos of Ecuadorian bureaucracy, not going without hot showers, not being unable to bake, not being able to locate tennis shoes larger than a size seven, not waking up at 6:00am and not getting off until 8:30pm, not budgeting on $12 a day... Nope, none of that.
The most challenging thing thus far (which has been shocking even to me) has been being without my computer. My computer has been in the USA since May 8th getting repaired. So in addition to 30 days of daily blogging, I decided during this time I would also make it a 30 day stint (meaning it will arrive June 3rd and will sit in my bedroom as a paper weight for five days---when I am not cuddling it to sleep or carrying it around like a baby that is). It seems petty and silly, yes, but until now I did not realize how integral it was. So, let's explore:
1.) I don't have a phone, so I use it to skype, chat/email with friends at home, and chat/email friends here about plans. The school computers do not have skype, nor some programs I use to chat, and email is limited to the computer lab.
2.) I don't have a TV or a DVD player. In a city with limited evening recreational activities, there's no movie on a Friday night laying low (unless I go to Em's house or ask her to lug her computer to mine. There's no watching the news or any TV show should I so desire, as even online the internet isn't fast to stream video and even if it did---many programs have international limitations (ie. netflix, ABC/NBC online). So, unless I want to break into the computer lab and curl up on a horribly uncomfortable chair on a Friday night to watch a movie, this is not going to happen.
3.) I can't get an international newspaper or magazine, and those from the mainland arrive by boat which comes twice a week. Yep, that's right---No Oprah/Time/Real Simple magazines here and definitely no paperboy making his rounds. If there is big news, I generally hear about it by word of mouth---or not. If I do have time and energy by the time I have finished work in the computer lab to look at the news online, it is only brief. Needless to say, sans the tornado in Joplin, I have little knowledge of what has been happening in the USA/outside world for the last twenty-seven-some days. The news and any online leisure reading is kaput for now.
4.) I don't have my old photos and don't have editing software to edit new ones I take. So, I don't really take photos which is one of my most enjoyable past times. I CAN take them, but seeing them on a tiny LCD screen with depleted colors and leaving to them to rot on my camera is less than desirable. I can upload them on to the school computer, but I'd better have a flashdisk to put them on and accept that won't be able to adjust the settings to actually show the vibrant reality which kind of makes them worth posting. And, although I do have some printed photos of my family and friends, there are about 10. So, I can't even take a walk down memory lane when I'm bored, missing certain loved ones, or craving a look at the outside world...
5.) I can't put on music while I am in my room. Unless it is on my iPOD or I am using speakers from Emilee (which I have used only once as god knows if they get broken they are not getting replaced on this island), I don't get to have the soothing sounds of music while I'm working, studying, or hanging out. And, with more songs than my iPOD can hold, that song I suddenly crave listening to....well, undoubtedly it's one of the 1,000 songs which didn't fit on my iPOD, and the internet can't stream music either. So, start humming, self. Dance parties just got super boring.
6.) I don't have access to my computer files including my e-books. I currently tote around two different flash disks. One has some of the files that I need which I use for opening and editing. Then, I have to save them on another flashdisk because I have to ask my colleague to print them, and as computers here frequently get viruses, if I lose any files I haven't emailed to myself----well, I'm screwed. And, the ebooks I have been reading are gone, so I am limited to the few good reads that hide in the small stacks in the library or that others have left behind. Pickins are slim....
7.) I don't have the luxury to choose working hours. Yep, that's right. The computer lab is "open" from 9-5pm from Monday through Friday. I say "open" because it will often be closed when my colleagues go to lunch or what have you. So, my personal schedule now revolves around the computer lab hours. On weekends I have to wait until the evening security guard is here (he sits two feet from it) to have him open it unless I hunt down the groundskeeper and bother him to open it for me during the off hours.
8.) I don't have the convenience or luxury to choose/personalize my work space. Yeah, I LIKE to work from my bed or to have a desk or table to spread out all of my materials on. When I work in the computer lab, I am contained to a little space to the right and left where I put the materials that I lug down here. And, anything of value such as my flashdisk I have to remember to take with me if I have to leave the room momentarily for some reason.
9.) I don't like to suffer in order to use a computer. Let me describe the conditions of the computer lab in one phrase: "sweatshop." Yes, it is STEAMING hot in the computer lab such that sweat usually runs down my legs and my shirt is well-pitted out after a short time. Plus, the chairs are as good as boards or rocks. And my nimble fingers and brain are not use to typing on a Spanish keyboard.
As you can see from the above, on an island of limitations (finances, resources, possessions, comforts, travel), this has by FAR been the most difficult thing for me. Yes, I do have the luxury of having a computer lab within a 30 second walk of my bedroom, but by the time I blog (30 minutes - 1.5 hours), do work (1-6 hours), read and respond to student emails (10 minutes to an hour), AND check my own email to see if there's anything I need to immediately respond to----I am running for the doors.
Personal communication/access to information is severed in some senses or limited in others. Comfort and convenience are basically gone. Entertainment is downsized and in limited forms. The reality is---I can go without hummus, I can survive without air conditioning, I can wear "Off" 24/7, and I can smash a cockroach when it comes skittering at me. But, as I have now learned with my circumstances abroad and living on an island, for me this piece of technology, this luxury, means so much more than I had originally realized. It is my lifeline to a lot of the outside world, and in some senses has been a key component to keeping my sanity intact.
Personal communication/access to information is severed in some senses or limited in others. Comfort and convenience are basically gone. Entertainment is downsized and in limited forms. The reality is---I can go without hummus, I can survive without air conditioning, I can wear "Off" 24/7, and I can smash a cockroach when it comes skittering at me. But, as I have now learned with my circumstances abroad and living on an island, for me this piece of technology, this luxury, means so much more than I had originally realized. It is my lifeline to a lot of the outside world, and in some senses has been a key component to keeping my sanity intact.
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