Internet at home
Only four and a half months after my arrival, I finally have internet at home. Until now, I have had to make do with the limited internet available for students at IFPO, and various internet cafés. The problem with internet cafés is that absolutely nobody in Syria is able to use the internet without smoking. A lot. And of course, I have to decide to go there, find time for it, pack my computer and go. So when using the internet (in a meaningful way, as opposed to the experience provided by the IFPO wlan) is both an inconvenience and a health hazard, it goes without saying that I more often than not resist the temptation to do it.
But now there is internet in the house. Or not so much in the house as in the cute little modem I can plug in at any time, almost anywhere in the city, and access the internet. It is pretty fast (at least compared to what I have become used to), and there is no time limit. However, there is a cap on monthly data traffic. 500MB or 1-30GB per month, the latter option being ridiculously expensive (but then it is also called “Corporate +”). So yes. A cap. Syria is a developing country when it comes to the Internet. Although at least it is useful in that I quickly learn how much bandwidth I actually use doing this or that online. I realise that I shall have to upgrade from 1GB to maybe 3GB in order to avoid paying double price for every MB after exceeding the monthly limit.
Still, any internet (beyond dial-up) is better than no internet. (Seriously, no internet is better than dial-up. Dial-up shortens your lifespan considerably). And now that I can use it any time I like, it is time to make up for four months of almost no blogging, so brace yourselves. :)
But now there is internet in the house. Or not so much in the house as in the cute little modem I can plug in at any time, almost anywhere in the city, and access the internet. It is pretty fast (at least compared to what I have become used to), and there is no time limit. However, there is a cap on monthly data traffic. 500MB or 1-30GB per month, the latter option being ridiculously expensive (but then it is also called “Corporate +”). So yes. A cap. Syria is a developing country when it comes to the Internet. Although at least it is useful in that I quickly learn how much bandwidth I actually use doing this or that online. I realise that I shall have to upgrade from 1GB to maybe 3GB in order to avoid paying double price for every MB after exceeding the monthly limit.
Still, any internet (beyond dial-up) is better than no internet. (Seriously, no internet is better than dial-up. Dial-up shortens your lifespan considerably). And now that I can use it any time I like, it is time to make up for four months of almost no blogging, so brace yourselves. :)