How spoilt we can get when a service is provided and becomes a part of normal life. After 7 months in the UK with broadband internet access, the return to Nairobi has been something of a shock to the system. We have a new VSAT system in the office, which in theory should have made internet access easier and faster. However, ………. By Friday last week, I was fairly depleted of energy having spent days trying to authorise a couple of internet bank transfers. So much for easy banking! Yesterday, we had zero access and today, whilst better, it still took about 2 hours to send and download personal emails (and that was after having intervened and deleted one a friend (with broadband!) sent with a 4MB attachment). Add to this a home phone line that has been out of service for 3.5 weeks, and it’s not been a good time as far as communication is concerned (hence the infrequency of these posts). How exasperating to be so close to being able to communicate effectively, and yet so far.
And yet, I have skyped with family a couple of times when things were working well. And that was great. With a webcam, I could not only talk to them, but see them as well (albeit in a slightly fuzzier form than normal) – and they could see me. My 2-year old nephew, who exclaimed, “Claire in Africa” on seeing me on the computer screen, will no doubt grow up thinking that this is a normal way to have a phone conversation, whereas I used to just write of such things in junior school when thinking of what the future might be like!
No comments:
Post a Comment