Insight.

Well...I'm pretty sure I'm addicted to Internet.

On Saturday around noon...our service was cut off...but it took a few hours to realize what had happened. It wasn't until we received a phone call from a friend that we were clued in. Apparently you don't get a bill. When you've used up the amount of money you put in your account (supposedly for a year), they cut your service off and you are supposed to know that means bring in some money NOW. Hmmm. Well, by our standards we have another month...so we thought it couldn't be that. Then our friend calls us (because the management office called them) to tell us we need to pay. Okay...that's a little embarrassing. But not really, or at least not to them.

By this time it's late on Saturday and will have to wait til Sunday (yes, they're open).

Well....Sunday rolls around and the King goes to get money from the ATM (the banks are NOT open). Guess what? They're empty. Not just one, but all. We have three banks attached to our apartment complex. OK. We'll just wait til Monday.

Monday rolls around. The King goes to class (I didn't have it that day.) and I go get money in the rain. I go to pay the Internet lady and struggle through to communicate with her. I've never had to use this particular set of vocabulary. We're making progress. She can understand me, but (SHOCK!) I can't understand her local dialect. I mean, come on....it's Monday morning and my brain is barely functioning...much less in a foreign language! Anyway. She knows 5 English words and they just happen to be the ones I need to understand her. PTL! We are communicating. She pulls up my phone number and bingo...we're in business. She's asking me questions like: How much do you want to pay? I respond, How much is one year? She tells me. I don't understand her ( and I KNOW my numbers!) But guess what...she can write it out. YEA. Plus I owe her for one more month of this year. Huh? We paid for one year when we moved in on Dec. 20th. Today is Nov. 16th. What am I missing? It doesn't matter. I'm going to just have to keep missing it, because even if I COULD ask her about it...I wouldn't understand what she said.

Sooooo....she tells me how much and I count it out. She asks for my ID and I hand it over. Uh-oh. Problem. She asks, who is this? and points to the King's name on the screen. I answer, My husband. Well, do you have his ID? What? No. He carries it. It's HIS ID. Well, sorry. You cannot pay the bill without his ID. Grumble. Grumble. Grumble. (That's me.) I smile. Okay. Thank you. He can't come in until this afternoon. Bye.

Now.....
Still no Internet. Every Tom, Dick and Harry is on at all hours of the day. So, the best time to download email is in the early AM. Especially if you have friends sending you pictures from Paris that are 13 MB. Yikes. (I still love you Flea, but it took FOREVER to download your emails...remind me to tell you how to resize.) So...I'm totally bummed that I'll have to go another day without email.

Now, let me tell you why I think I'm addicted.

I don't get that many emails a day anymore...but there is always the POSSIBILITY of email. Just call me Meg Ryan...you've seen, "You've Got Mail?" Right? I know it's old, but it's how I feel. I smile and get excited when the computer tells me it's downloading 1 of 7. Seven! Yea! Usually half of them are junk, but at least I can delete and still say I need to check my mail.

And SKYPE. Well....God bless the creator of Skype. It's truly my lifeline. I can call my mom or my friends and chat for very inexpensive. I usually try to save it until I'm feeling particularly homesick and need to hear a voice. AND I usually call someone who won't mind that I forgot to check the time difference....AGAIN.

Anyway. I digress. The three (well, not quite) days without Internet gave me a little insight into myself. I may not have email. I may not have plans to skype...but there is always the possibility and the availability that encourages me. Without it, I feel separated. With it, I feel connected. Crazy, I know. Seeing that I'm on the other side of the world, but maybe you get the picture anyway.

So, I met the King at the door and (before he could come in) handed him money and asked him to kindly go pay the Internet bill. Thanks so much. Lunch will be ready when you return. "Hurry home!" as I'm closing the door.

My husband likes to say, "Happy wife. Happy life." I can't remember where he got it from...which Bro-in-law...but he knows it's mostly true. :)Good man.