Life without a computer

Want to know what life is like without a computer? I am going to tell you, but please forgive me if I leave out question marks or make other grammatical mistakes. I simply cannot find an English keyboard around here and it is virtually impossible to get one in Costa Rica unless it is a special order. I returned the computer I bought last week because even though it could cook breakfast it did not have an internal microphone or video!

I remember when I taught at Thornlea,probably in the 70's and early 80's, Mike Lieberman gave us an hour lecture on what life was going to be like in the computer age. We sat sceptically then as he described e commerce, communication and telecommunication. Who knew how right he was going to be. Who could believe it? Thirty years later I can and do.

God knows who is using my computer now, but I hope some kid who didn't have one before. Maybe it will change his whole life as it has mine. It is hard to imagine not talking to people anywhere in the world whenever I want. What a pain.Even in Costa Rica, I use Skype to phone my boss because more often than not the cell phone does not work in my house anyway.

I also miss my girlfriend a great deal, but that is another issue. Rosetta Stone is no longer with me and I have to face this world without daily Spanish lessons. However, I am actually reading the paper everyday and trying to watch television in Spanish but that is very difficult because television here is exactly the same as it is in North America, because it is North American! As much as I would like to learn Spanish, I can't bring myself to watch these lousy programs.I am starting to watch American football because they are broadcast in Spanish, but quite frankly it is difficult to understand because of the specialized vocabulary.

Another interesting point, for me anyway, is that it is easier to read the equivalent of the Globe and Mail then the Sun, for example. I guess the Nacion is better written and there are more contextual clues than in the country 'rag' It is almost impossible for me to read and undersatnd apaper lik e the Inquirer. I would have thought it would be far easier but it is not.

Back to the computer. I guess I am used to instant communication with the world and without the comfort of that 'feeling' I am at a loss or at least feel like I am at a loss. When I had my computer and Internet connections, I really felt at 'home' wherever I was. When Sylvia and I were in South America, we use to call Daniel to ask where to eat dinner in Buenos Aires or Josh to say happy birthday. We were never out of touch with our children, the news, and anything else we wanted to be in touch with!

Needless to say, all of my workshops and materials were also on the computer which made my life easier. I have done so much professional development work over the past few years that all I have to do is press a few buttons and ala kazam, I have a workshop. Next week, I have a week of workshops and I will actually have to do quite a bit of work preparing them. I better publish this now because if I don't, who knows when I will have access to a computer again?