Promises, Promises

A few months ago, I told DH that I'd follow him anywhere... anywhere with High Speed Internet. In the old days, when we were young married folks, I told him I needed a Taco Bell and a WalMart before I thought a town was truly habitable. Of course, we lived in a few that didn't even have those two institutions. But I thought the requirement for High Speed Internet was very clear.

Then I moved to a third world country. A place where 'island time' seems to exist without the actual islands. A place where most businesses are on a 'cash only' basis and you spend part of your time running around paying bills in cash. I told a friend the other day that what separates a third world country from a first world country is two ply toilet paper and ATMs. I still stand by that assessment.

In Tunis, household internet requires a working phone line. A hard line. So, I'm guessing it's DSL. Who knows? We never got it. We still don't have a hard line connected to our house. It's a nice house. It has phone jacks all around the place. But apparently, the wiring from the house to the exterior has some kind of issue. The phone company came and there is a pile of wire in the yard that looks to be 20 yards long. It needs to be connected to the house somewhere, somehow. Which falls to the landlord. Who doesn't speak English, or French. While we were assured that 'it would be taken care of', time slipped by. Now, I'm leaving in less than a week. So getting internet connectivity for the next renter is not real high on my list of priorities.

What I'm reminded of is how fate makes you eat your words. Maybe not fate, maybe God. But someone has a sense of humor when it comes to stuff like this. I laid down the one rule. Here's as far as I will go... and I spent the last six months living without just the thing that I said was a requirement.

I'm now convinced that I can do with less. It's hard not to be when you've lived among the deprivations of a poor country. The things that I 'require' are pure luxuries. Plenty of people live their whole lives without high speed connectivity. I can certainly go for a couple of months with access in public places. This time next week, I'll be on my way to the states. I can pretty much guarantee that I'll have high speed Internet everywhere I go. I'll probably also have a working cell phone, Taco Bell and WalMart. It gives me pause.

I love the USA. I cherish the freedoms and plenty that we enjoy there. Living ex-patriate has been eye opening for me, and I consider myself to be pretty well traveled. Being away from things that make our lives easier is hard, but it's not impossible.

--Sandee Wagner