I did it! I got internet in my room and am as happy as a clam. I also bought a keyboard so that I can actually use this computer without having thoughts of tossing it out the window.
At 9 this morning, I went back to the Movistar store to get set up. The young sales woman, who had helped my yesterday, was there and I assumed it would only take a short while to get everything in order. It was well over an hour before I left and am still not exactly sure about my service. But since it is working, I’m not going to worry about it.
She’d told me yesterday that I didn’t need to purchase a phone to get the USB internet to work, something I was prepared to do. But when she told a senior tech what I wanted, he said I did need to buy a phone.
Lots of explaining and moving SIM cards between phones and USB and it seemed to be ready. She went back to talk to someone else, who may have been the manager, and returned to tell me that I did not need to buy the phone.
All the while, other people were coming in and neither she, nor the other five employees who were in the store, ever even acknowledged them. I felt uncomfortable, but was so absorbed in trying to understand their system that I blocked them out.
I think the difficulty in understanding had more to do with the concept of what I was purchasing, than the language. You can’t even get a one month, pre-paid, USB connection in the US. Added to that, I doubt that she, or maybe anyone at the store, had ever sold a package like this.
My only question is how long, in hours, I will be able to access the internet before my money runs out. I suppose I will try to connect one day and be told to go pay more money.
When I finished there I crossed the street to Office Max, where I bought a keyboard. I am getting used to it even though it is an international keyboard and there are all sorts of symbols and letters that are not on US ones. And even though the: “, ‘, @, and other things are in the same place as they should be, the key says something completely different than what it types. In fact, I have no idea how one types the Euro sign or that Spanish N that are right in front of my eyes.
Later in the afternoon I went by one of the eco tour centers and signed up to spend tomorrow evening helping hatch baby turtles and send them on their way into the sea. I made sure that this was actually a government sanctioned, environmentally correct, organization.
From there it was back down to the beach looking for a bench in the shade to sit under and contemplate the waves. But there never are any. Anything in the shade usually is filled with the beach-walking vendors and all the other seating is directly in the sun. I finally came upon one that had partial shade and since it was around 3pm, wasn’t so hot. I stayed there awhile and then went to sit on the sand. This will probably become my routine. I have a feeling those bikinis are going to stay in my suitcase.
Kate
At 9 this morning, I went back to the Movistar store to get set up. The young sales woman, who had helped my yesterday, was there and I assumed it would only take a short while to get everything in order. It was well over an hour before I left and am still not exactly sure about my service. But since it is working, I’m not going to worry about it.
She’d told me yesterday that I didn’t need to purchase a phone to get the USB internet to work, something I was prepared to do. But when she told a senior tech what I wanted, he said I did need to buy a phone.
Lots of explaining and moving SIM cards between phones and USB and it seemed to be ready. She went back to talk to someone else, who may have been the manager, and returned to tell me that I did not need to buy the phone.
All the while, other people were coming in and neither she, nor the other five employees who were in the store, ever even acknowledged them. I felt uncomfortable, but was so absorbed in trying to understand their system that I blocked them out.
I think the difficulty in understanding had more to do with the concept of what I was purchasing, than the language. You can’t even get a one month, pre-paid, USB connection in the US. Added to that, I doubt that she, or maybe anyone at the store, had ever sold a package like this.
My only question is how long, in hours, I will be able to access the internet before my money runs out. I suppose I will try to connect one day and be told to go pay more money.
When I finished there I crossed the street to Office Max, where I bought a keyboard. I am getting used to it even though it is an international keyboard and there are all sorts of symbols and letters that are not on US ones. And even though the: “, ‘, @, and other things are in the same place as they should be, the key says something completely different than what it types. In fact, I have no idea how one types the Euro sign or that Spanish N that are right in front of my eyes.
Later in the afternoon I went by one of the eco tour centers and signed up to spend tomorrow evening helping hatch baby turtles and send them on their way into the sea. I made sure that this was actually a government sanctioned, environmentally correct, organization.
From there it was back down to the beach looking for a bench in the shade to sit under and contemplate the waves. But there never are any. Anything in the shade usually is filled with the beach-walking vendors and all the other seating is directly in the sun. I finally came upon one that had partial shade and since it was around 3pm, wasn’t so hot. I stayed there awhile and then went to sit on the sand. This will probably become my routine. I have a feeling those bikinis are going to stay in my suitcase.
Kate
