3/10/14: Day 8: Internet!

Last night at the restaurant, Carlos showed me the WIFI password: 12345678. It is a bit slow, too slow for a Skype conversation, and our connection from the house is poor but it works! So today I started working on this blog and Della caught up a little on Facebook. While Della was on the computer I put the commode seat on in our other bathroom. At 10:30 Della and I went to get a few things from the market including a new plastic table and four chairs. As we were leaving I noticed that I had failed to lock the garage door last night so anyone could have easily walked in, praise God for his blessings of safety on us. When we got back we ate left overs for lunch and took a nap. Today was supposed to be a rest day. I had slept for about 15 minutes when Hector called saying it was internet time! So I got out of bed and rushed to get ready and as soon as I got out the door he was pulling up. We drove to Ahuachapán and on the way Della called me and told me that a huge truck had run into the tree and hit the sign on our house. She explained that there was a lot of yelling and she said she was afraid to go out and see the damage so Hector called the land lord. Then Hector went into the bank while Lucky and I waited for about 30 minutes. Then we went to the internet store and they explained that 1 M down was the best I could get in Ataco unless I go with a mobile hotspot. 1 M down is not good enough to have a Skype conversation because the actual speed is around 500 Kb. The problem with the hotspot is that it only gets 10 GB total per month then they just start charging you like crazy when you go over. I felt the hotspot was the only option because we need to be able to talk our family. I called Della and she said that the damage was not that bad. Hector then received a call from the land lord and he asked about getting a dog and painting the house. He said the land lord said yes to both! After spending 2.5 hours in the internet store we went to the grocery store. I got a few things that were hard to find in Ataco and I noticed that there are no pop-tarts here. I asked Hector about the outcome of the elections and he said to pray that a decision is made soon, that the votes were so close that a new president hadn’t been chosen yet. He said that if a new president is not chosen soon that there would be riots. Hector bought a ton of groceries while Lucky and I waited. We got out to the car to load the groceries at 4:50 and discovered that Hector had locked the keys in the car. A total of six people came over and tried their luck at helping us with the coat hanger trying to unlock the car. I asked Hector if he wanted me to break in the back seat through the trunk and he said no because he didn’t want to damage it. After working at it for about 40 minutes he said to do whatever. I tried to push it in with my hands but I wasn’t strong enough and then the people helping took over. After a few minutes they gave up and I got in the trunk and kicked it in with my feet. At this point we were running very late for the 5:30 bible study so we went straight to it, not picking up Della or dropping off all groceries. I suggested that I go back and give Rachel all the food so that it wouldn’t spoil and then come back to the study. After dropping off the food I got back to the study about 6:15 and it lasted until 7:40 PM. I drove back to the house and ate wonderful spaghetti. While I was eating we got a call from Hector saying that he and Lucky were very hungry because they had not eaten lunch and wanted us to join them at the restaurant across from our house. We passed since Della had already eaten and I was in the middle of eating now. We got the hotspot set up and had our first Skype with mom, dad, and Clifton. It lasted nearly 14 minutes and used up about 0.05 % of our allowance for the month. I am super excited because Clifton asked if he could move in with us this summer for a few months!