I'm so excited to be back online. I had forgotten my log-in information and even though I had a couple opportunities to get on the internet throughout Ecuador, I wasn't able to blog. Judy was kind enough to to e-mail me the directions for how to get my log-in information, but the instructions came back in Spanish. My Spanish isn't too bad, but not good enough to understand the instructions. That was combined with the fact that I'm in an internet cafe, people talking all around me, it is hot, etc., etc and I didn't have the patience to work on it. I also realized that even if I got in, I wasn't going to be able to concentrate and write a coherent post.
Now I'm in Quito in my Goddaughter, Caitlin's apartment. I was able to get into my blog, and I can concentrate, at least to some degree. I'm fighting a cold and a pretty good case of "turistas" so I'm not in the best of shape. But, I'm going to give it a go! (no pun intended)
Being in Ecuador and having part of my mind on technology because of this class has been interesting. I've been paying attention to technology in the places we've been. We went all over Ecuador, from Quito to the Amazon Basin jungle, to the coast, then to the Galapagos Islands. Here are some of my observations:
Cell phone technology is different here--many people have cell phones, but they are pay as you go. There is a "Porta" store on every corner selling recharge cards. Cell phone coverage has been good. Even in the Galapagos, we had bars. There are also "Cabinas" on every corner where one can go to make phone calls. Those are for the people without cell phones, I guess. By the number of cabinas, it would appear that many families don't have phones or they use the cabinas to make international calls which perhaps can't be made on home phones.
Internet cafes are popular. I doubt that many people have personal computers so they use cyber cafes instead. They are used by children to play games on line as well as by tourists to stay connect to the news back home. The night I was logged on to our class moo, on one side of me I had two girls playing games and giggling, and on the other side there was an American young man reading the headlines out loud to his companions. The connections are slow and not very reliable. They use a Spanish keyboard and that took some getting used to. I had to have help finding out how to find the @ sign. In most parts of the country, the cost was 50 cents/hour. However, when I logged into class, at break time I asked how much it was and was told $2.00 per hour. I had not brought that much cash with me so I had to log out. I was able to catch up on what I missed here tonight by reading the recorded log.
We were in two hospitals. We went to one to get a "cleansing" by a woman who practiced "alternative" medicine. At that hospital, there were computers, but they didn't appear to be networked. We gave our information to one woman who put it in the computer. She then printed it out and we carried the printed form to the next place. I had to take Caitlin to the hospital in the Galapagos. There I was able to see what little technology they had in their emergency room. They merely wrote down her information on a sheet of paper. They then wrote down the list of medicines for her to take to the pharmacy. They wanted her to have a rehydration solution so I had to run to the store and buy some water and bring it back. It was so very different from an emergency room here in the States. But on the other hand, they didn't charge her anything for the visit.
Karaoke is popular. We were going to go into a karaoke bar to see what it's like, but never were able. That's a little different kind of technology.
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