where was I...

I'll start with the biggest news. Surprisingly it's not the arrival of Internet. Our new site mate Marisa was medically evacuated almost two weeks ago. It was all rather sudden. She was having stomach pains and no determinable cause so off they sent her. Though it wasn't easy, she was cleared today to return to Albania and is due to arrive Monday. Soon our squad will be back in business.

Now I'll talk a little about me getting Internet at my house. I can't talk to much about because the pain is still to recent. Getting the Internet to work at my house was the most complicated thing I've done in this country. We (my sitemates and I) decided to get Internet and determined my house was the most logical location. Our plan was set in motion. On July 3rd, I, along with a coworker as a translator, went to the phone/Internet provider. The man in charge of Internet installations said the Internet could be operating as soon as I paid for the first month and installation. This was awesome news. So easy. We went to the bank and transferred the money to the telecom's account (that's the way they do it here, don't ask me). I showed the guy the receipt and he said it would work by the end of the day.
The day came and went with no Internet. I was fine with this. I didn't think it would work that easily anyway. We went back the next day and found out that I needed a splitter, a modem, and a router. We only had the router! Of course there were no splitters or modems in Berat nor Tirana at that time. Frustrated we ordered a modem from America.
Joyous the day it arrived, I tried to connect. I got nothing, nada, squat. Back to telecom I went. Then off to find the Internet guy. Apparently he works at his own shop till 1pm (I'm gonna assume that he is paid for full-time work at the telecom but that's probably because I am not happy with him and it's easy to assume that). His shop hours were a bit of a problem because the telecom was losing power at 2pm and he had lunch after his shop closed. He passed me along to another guy. Specialist 2 was there. I told him it didn't work. I tried to get him to come to my house and just check everything out. No luck. He suggested I bring everything to him to test at the telecom before he went out to my house (which is all of a 12 minute walk away). I brought everything he needed. Sadly I forgot to leave the converter with him for the American modem (American electronics are wired for 110v while Europe uses 220v). When he plugged our modem into the too high voltage, he blew the power supply. I was absolutely livid. We had waited two weeks to get that modem and he destroyed it in two seconds. I barely remained calm. Katie remembered that we had another power supply from a modem she had that we had forgotten about. Specialist 2 told her that he would wait an hour for her to return. This was her third trip to my house on a day when temperatures were around 105. She quickly went home and returned to the telecom only to learn that Specialist 2 had gone home. The reason? It was hot. The next day we tried the new plug and it didn't work either. Even more merzit (Albanian for annoyed, bored, angry, sometimes one word is better than three), I calmly told him that I was very very annoyed. I said that he too was to blame for damaging the plug. I pointed out that we paid over $80 for installation which amounted to nothing. This was now the last week in the month and we still didn't have Internet. I asked if he would like to pay for Internet but not be able to use it. I also mentioned that having to deal with both him and the other man was also agrevating. In rare nod to customer service, he stood there and listened to me. He told me I was right and almost apologized. That little exchange made me feel so much better.
A few days later we were in Tirana for a training. I found a modem, overpriced but at least a good brand and wired for Europe voltage. We bought it, brought back. Installed it and got nothing. I went to Specialist 2 and basically forced him to test it right then and there. He said he was busy. I said I needed him to do it NOW. After some trouble shooting he got it to work. The real problem was that they needed to configure the modem. I knew this and tried to tell them at the beginning. We finished at the telecom at 9:40. Power at my house is cut at 10:00. I rushed home and quickly setup everything downstairs in my landlord's hallway (the DSL comes through his landline). At 9:58 Internet Cafe James was online. Though it was brief, it was truly magical.
Today I setup the phone line from his house (I ran a long telephone line from his phone jack, along the wall, out the window, up to my window two floors above) to my modem and router in my house. Finally we have wireless in my house.
Getting the Internet was the most difficult thing I've had to do. I got just a small taste of dealing with incompetent institutions and service providers here. I hope that's the only time I have to do anything like that.