Early morning woes (w/ silver lining)
01.07.2004I'd quite a few things I wanted to do today, and I still have to go to the archives this afternoon (I need to catch up something fierce). So I decided to make an early mornign of it. That doesn't mean, of course, that I woke up early. It means I didn't go to sleep at all. So. Bright early at 8am I headed out to do the morning errands.
Why stay up all night? If you know me, the answer's obvious. I don't do mornings. Not at all. If I want to do something early (i.e. before noon), I just don't go to bed. I usually go to sleep around 2-3am — or later. How did this happen to you? Easy. Six years of grad school evening classes, w/ most of my departmental duties being either research assistant (make your own hours) or teaching evening courses to undergrads. Plus, I lived a block from a 24 hour coffee shop. You do the math.
How did you keep awake all night? Easy, I backed up & organized Kaneda's hard drive — especially trimming down on my iPhoto library (from 2,000+ pictures to just over 400, all nicely labeled). And don't worry, all those pictures are safely archived — twice (CD & VST FireWire drive).
I needed a dresser. Or at least something to put clothes in and such (my new apartment didn't have one). Now that the holiday rush is over (in Bolivia, prices go up, not down, during holiday shopping), I figured I'd get a better deal. Yep. Headed up to Eloy Salmón (a shopping street) and found a nice, tall dresser for Bs. 340 (about $47) — during the holidays they were asking at least Bs. 750 for similar dressers. Took it straight home on the roof of a cab — now my clothes aren't on the floor/suitcase/couch anymore. Nice.
On the way, I'd stopped at the post office. A nice surprise. Christmas cards from Vanessa, Annmarie (w/ a cool bookmark), the Walls family, and my cousin Carson. Plus, two packages from my parents. It's always nice to get mail (even if a large chunk of it's bills).
Then off to the bank to deposit a check. And here my day starts to hit a snag. Moving $$ from my account in the US to my account in Bolivia seems to be quite difficult. I have to go to the bank's central office. I sure hope my friend Daniel (who works at the Banco de Credito) can help me sort this out. As my accountant father will readily attest, I'm no good w/ money.
I decide to head next door into Café La Terraza (in Sopocachi) for a café con leche and some wireless internet. The coffee was good — and I sure needed it by this time. But. The wireless was crapping in & out. Unfortunately, this seems to happen often at the Sopocachi location. Never at the Prado.
So. Frustrated. Tired. Needing sleep. I headed to the Café La Terraza on the Prado, where I'm sitting right now. I figure I can catch up on my email & whatnot before heading for my weekly lunch at tía Lilia's.
Posted by Miguel at 10:46 AM
Comments
Wireless cafes in La Paz?!! Why didn't you mention this before.
Honestly the last time i was there, i didn't even bother to turn on my airport card, I assumed that there wouldn't be anything.
Maybe we need to make a version of wifimug.org for south america.
Posted by: rabble at January 8, 2004 01:33 PM
Well, the WiFi in La Paz just started a few weeks ago. La Terraza is the first place in the country to have it. I don't imagine in spreading like wildfire here, not yet. But a wifimug.org for South America would be useful.
However ... I'm quickly learning that cyberculture is pretty much an American phenomenon. Sure, other countries have internet ... but they don't have the type of internet use that proliferates in the use (blogs, wi-fi, etc) and is mostly limited to email & sometimes chat groups.
Posted by: Miguel at January 8, 2004 04:44 PM