PTSD

This is getting bloody ridiculous

Yesterday evening:

Since the centre of this 'hood is one street-long (and has about ten shops), entertainment consists of sitting with a mate in a bus shelter and observing passers-by. We are cornered by a bloke who insists on showing us a (laminated) picture of his 'cousin' and tells us his father and mother were dead. He repeats this fairly often, until both of us (trapped in the shelter since the bloke's blocking the way out) were expecting him to add "and then I chopped her [the cousin] up and put her in a trunk but this is what she looked like". He doesn't and we manage to get past him. The lesson here: Don't hang about in bus shelters at night.

Oh, and I've discovered the local bottle shop. It's rather amusing that there're only two cafes (one of them shuts at 8pm), one restaurant, no supermarkets or grocery shops and, yet, a fully-stocked and quite big bottle shop.

Today:

1. Internet still out at dog-sitting house. Was told it would be back on today (they have DSL) but no sign of it.

2. Walk down to various parts of the (only) main street to try catch wireless. Realise it all looks a bit ridiculous to sit/stand in various parts of the street, pull out a shiny (and large) notebook and try get it to work. Have one bloke tell me he's "never heard a girl swear around here like that". Decide they must have a rather boring population (and I thought hippies were all for free speech and all that).

3. Walk 1.5 miles to another 'hood. This one actually has free wi-fi in its city centre. Sit down, pull out notebook, prepare to do some work and check email. Well, perhaps not in that order.

4. Realise that notebook cable is a home. In 'hood without wireless. It's a good thing the earlier bloke is not around to hear me this time.

5. Take the metro, go home, get cable, take metro, go back to Other 'hood, sit in bookstore and go online.

That's the entire day so far. Pretty much. It's far easier getting 'net access in rural Southeast Asia than in this part of the Imperial capital.

posted by Priya @ 6:15 PM