rain rain rain

An uncomfortable routine has developed at work…  At 5p every day, I venture over to the office that has the portable internet access.  There, I ask for permission to take the unit home with me.  The woman who lets me use it works tirelessly.  Most often, she works in her office until around 10p and lately, she has been denying me permission because she needs the access herself - completely understandable of course.  But, she works weekends as well.  I stopped by today to see if it might be possible to use the unit a little later.  She denied me access.  She said that she worked until 1a Saturday and planned on working that late again tonight.  Understandably, she was in a rather grumpy mood.  

Not having access at nights during the week really isn't a problem since I have access at the office during the day, but I really miss the internet over the weekend.  In fact, one thing I deeply regret is my lack of preparedness wrt internet issues.  Many PCVs have their own portable wireless devices that they purchased in Manila during their 3 month training.  In my two week training, we never covered access and this is knowledge I really really wish I had.  I really feel like a grubber asking every day, but I have no other options really.  The unit costs around $100 and unlimited access runs around $25/mo.  I’ve got only two months left and besides, Im sticking to my budget, damn it!  These costs are not in the cards.  But I will say, had I known how to get access at the beginning of this gig, I would have dug deep for the purchase!  So. I guess I will continue to grub.  It is getting harder and harder though, both to ask and to receive.  I guess I’m no longer a novelty at work!

In other news, it has been raining constantly since I got back to site two days ago.  Ive never seen so much rain.  Yesterday, I ventured out to go do the radio show (Redemption Song, Bob Marley) and today I pretty much holed up in my room all day reading.  I really am tired of the rain!  Plus, I was dumb enough to drink some service water in a restaurant in Manila and my stomach has been in knots since I got back. 

Oh, and I sat on my glasses last night in the dark and snapped them in two.  Im down to the pair I brought in reserve for such an occasion.  Yeah, all in all, its been a tough week.

But things could certainly be worse.  I was saddened to learn that my friend Choy lost his home in the typhoon.  Apparently, the ‘condo unit’ was no match for the wind that did show up.  He and his wife have been living in an evacuation center since the storm.  I’m not sure what he will do, since he doesn't receive any money for work.  I was thinking I might ask a few of my friends to chip in some peso’s with me to help him out, but Im not sure how that might be perceived.  I will  ask someone discreetly.  I know he could surely use a little boost about now.