Real World ... Tunis !

So I went to this party last night by a friend of a friends, and I met this girl her name is Hela. We started talked and things were nice, and towards the end of the night she whispered in my ear and next thing I know we were....HA! : 0 ! Bet you weren't expecting that one! : ) Come on folks, this is what I would be writing if I was really on MTV....

but in "The adventures of Jeffery Davis" the story goes like this....

So I was hanging out with my computer at the Publinet with my roomate Brian, and I had to restart my computer for some maintenance reasons. Once I restart it, it gives me an "Error Message" saying that something in my computer has failed. So I'm like "MERDE!" ( french word for " I'm not happy with this 'thing' ". Actually this message has been showing up for sometime now and I've asked numerous people about it. In fact two of my roomates are computer guys; Brian is a programmer, and Serge is an engineer. So I figured between the both of them I'd be able to figure out the problem. Finally we go back home and Brian looks at the computer more in depth ( last night). So for the next like 2 hours he's working on it. He comes in the bedroom , where me and Serge were discussing "french lessons" , and he joins in the conversation. For awhile I forget he had been working on it...until I get ready for bed.

( my bed which actually happens to be two couches juxtoposed at the horizotal sides. )

So I go over to my computer and I say, "Hey Brian, so what'd you find out about this computer?" And he says..."Oh yea...you're screwed. "

"MERDE ! !" ( it was great )

He goes on to tell me that my hard drive is failing and it's getting worse everyday, and I could lose everything at a moments notice.

Naturally, I'm excited. I have two projects from work that I need to finish on my laptop and now it's dangerous to use. Two week vacation from "la-la" land is over, welcome back to reality, so excited. I now have to find somewhere to back up my data and figure how to get a new hard drive.

For those that don't know, I recently was given the gift of a new laptop. My previous one ( a Godsend ), got me through college AND Aiesec, and with only 4 Gig of Hard drive space. ; ) Amazing I know. My new one has a 30 G drive, great processor, dvd rom, cd RW drive, and lots of good things to play with...I love it ( also a Godsend, as well as the person who gave it to me...thank you Melissa.)

So naturally hearing this news is pretty depressing, it's like finding out your newborn child only has a few weeks to live. Well, maybe not just like that, maybe like a dog...yea, it's more like a dog, and adopted dog to be exact. ANYWAY, the point is FAIT CHIER ! ( THIS SUCKS ! ).

So here I am at work , typing away, awaiting my next assignment, trying to spend my last great momemts with my computer as it was in it's most pure and innocent form. It's only be 2 months, but it was the greatest times ever. : ( Of course, I will get a new hard drive, but it will never be the same, ya know?

Anyhow, so that's what going on. You gotta love technology....they love you one minute and they leave you the next...isn't that life anyway ?

In the end though, me and Brian, our new favorite "internet" hot spot, they play American and Arabic music and the connection's not so bad either. Morale of the story...get attached, but learn to let go. ( let me know when you figure that one out too, cuz this still sucks. )

Well, on that note I've made a decision.

In respect and rememberance of my other beloved past time...."Sportscenter." I will now do a daily ( or mostly daily ) "did you know" cultural segment on Tunisian culture. HAHA, it's funny to me already. : )

So without further adieu....

" Did you know? " - Tunisian Internet connection

Have you ever been addicted to something, or even someone, and then you had to drop the habit or leave that person behind for awhile, or maybe for good ? Did you get withdrawls ? Did you ever just have the feeling ...."What the heck am I doing? Why am I stupid? I know I love this "thing/person" I don't I just do it again or go back to him/her ? " Alas, C'est la vie ! It is part of life, an unfortunate part that I seem to be becoming more and more famliar with with each given day. Anyway,

Well, you're not alone.

I have been "jacked in" for so long now that I don't know what it means to be "offline." I had the luxury of beeing hooked up to a T1 or faster since I started college, and internet was the next coolest thing. And now....I hope to have a 125 k DSL connection...shared by anywhere from 7-20 people. The term "slow" just doesn't come close to comparing the situation. Tunisia is definitely a "developing" country in terms of technology. Businesses are starting to invest a little more, and the ones that are here, are scrapping to find the best stuff they can as soon as it's available. Some how it works. Afterall we didn't have internet all of our lives, so people still get what they have to get done, so I will too.

Have you ever stopped to think about how the small "issues" seem to resonate with the larger ones in life ? If you haven't , I suggest you take a few minutes off of "blogging" tonight and check it out, you may find all your issues have a "common theme."

Peace and Love from the MENA.