SIENA, February 25th
Gaining phone and internet contact has taken a few extra steps, but...
You know, it really is a different feeling to “be connected.” When I went to Israel by myself in 1980, my parents had little way of reaching me, and it was too expensive for me to “reach out and touch” them. I think I called twice in the 3 months I was away and wrote about weekly.
In the 21st Century, though, things are different. We arrived on the 5th of Feb (Thursday), had a car waiting for us, and by the next day had a telephone card so we could us a payphone to call home etc. We, by Saturday, had a cell phone and checked in with our parents. We had made one brief webmail visit at the Ducci’s. By the following Wednesday, day7, we had a phone in the house. On day 111, also known as later Valentine’s Day, we received a call from Nick Sarah’s Lexington beau who stayed up until 2:40 am so he wouldn’t call too early (8:40 am). Internet was not available until Day 17 and without the rented modem available for another 10 days or so. As the kids are in school and Steve really wanted to work on the website, he was motivated to get us connected. He investigated different modem choices and gave in to buying one for 49 Euros. It doesn’t work exactly the way he had planned, but….
Without the internet, we had no responsibilities, sort of. It was great that the kids couldn’t be “online” with their home friends, but we also had little ability to pay bills (including my malpractice insurance, the rent, and VISA). I was a bit anxious to be in contact with Orna who is caring for Annie (oh, yeah, and our house).
Now, we are connected. Sarah was online last evening for about an hour with her Lexington friends. She has agreed to only be “online” once a week but can e-mail daily. Alex spent about 15 minutes answering e-mail. Ok, I spent about an hour between my hotmail, quatrano.com webmail and work accounts. Steve has been good, too.
Gaining phone and internet contact has taken a few extra steps, but...
You know, it really is a different feeling to “be connected.” When I went to Israel by myself in 1980, my parents had little way of reaching me, and it was too expensive for me to “reach out and touch” them. I think I called twice in the 3 months I was away and wrote about weekly.
In the 21st Century, though, things are different. We arrived on the 5th of Feb (Thursday), had a car waiting for us, and by the next day had a telephone card so we could us a payphone to call home etc. We, by Saturday, had a cell phone and checked in with our parents. We had made one brief webmail visit at the Ducci’s. By the following Wednesday, day7, we had a phone in the house. On day 111, also known as later Valentine’s Day, we received a call from Nick Sarah’s Lexington beau who stayed up until 2:40 am so he wouldn’t call too early (8:40 am). Internet was not available until Day 17 and without the rented modem available for another 10 days or so. As the kids are in school and Steve really wanted to work on the website, he was motivated to get us connected. He investigated different modem choices and gave in to buying one for 49 Euros. It doesn’t work exactly the way he had planned, but….
Now, we are connected. Sarah was online last evening for about an hour with her Lexington friends. She has agreed to only be “online” once a week but can e-mail daily. Alex spent about 15 minutes answering e-mail. Ok, I spent about an hour between my hotmail, quatrano.com webmail and work accounts. Steve has been good, too.
COMMENTS from the original blog
2004-03-01 02:07:53 Shari
Re: Reaching Out
It's that ambiguous feeling between liberation and connection. I'm glad to be reading your updates. Makes me ready to come to Italy NOW!
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