Friday night in Tata...

This was one of the most exciting nights since I’ve been here- no offense Megan, lots of the nights we spend together are fun J - but my internet was finally fixed at my apartment!!!  This seems like a small thing, but in the fast paced world that is the United States, we become dependant on the internet, for communication, information, television shows, you name it.  While in Tata, the only internet connection I had was at school.  Which is not a problem – I just look like an internet whore because the only thing I did at school was check e-mail and facebook.  Now, I’m planning lessons and stuff – now novel to actually use your prep periods for work.  I don’t think I did that once in seven years at Burnsville!!!  At any rate, my colleague Gabi’s husband works at the phone company.  He had checked the number at the apartment already and it seemed to be working in terms of internet connection from their end, so clearly it was an operator error in setting up the modem.  Which is NOT so far from the truth.  However, I had spent the better part of two  weeks trying every single thing I could to hook up that damn modem.  Then, my parents – bless their hearts- mailed me their old Macintosh Airport Extreme to make my place wireless… I was so excited about this I skipped the faculty picture to try and get it set up.  That didn’t work either.  NOW What? Gabi to the rescue.  She, her husband and their two (adorable) kids came over on Friday night to help out.  Her husband was taken aback by the Mac computer (as the tech guy was at school… he wouldn’t even touch it) and was really not sure what to do with the airport.  He started by unplugging the airport and putting it on the floor next to the desk – apparently that means he doesn’t want to use it.  He played with the modem and unplugged things, plugged things in, and nothing worked.  Vindication for me as far as I’m concerned.  He left and went home to get a different modem – and returned about 15 minutes later.  Gabi’s children had puzzles and coloring to keep them busy so they didn’t mind.  Her daughter is 7 – Lily, and her son is 3 – Mark.  They were absolutely adorable.  The new modem (which was actually a NEW modem) worked, and all was good and well.  I asked how much they wanted me to pay for the new modem and Gabis answer was “well, if you leave Hungary, can you just give it back?”  Seriously – they would do anything for you… Of course I’ll give it back Gabi!  I pretty much spent the rest of the night doing stupid things on-line… what a dork.