iBook G4 Incident

So…was a little bit overwhelmed yesterday with everything going on. The biggest thing was probably the fact that my computer crashed just after two weeks in Haiti. But to be on the fair side, it is very old. My Apple iBook G4 has been with me for seven years and it has gone through a lot!!! Different countries with not so great conditions and surviving heat stroke from being overworked. My first laptop is on its last legs…not going to lie, I was quite sad to see it not charging from the brand new charger that I just bought in France two weeks ago. My iBook, whom I have been referring to as “Compassionate Computer” in Mandarin, has her own strong character. Over the past three years, she has been up and down with me. Sometimes she wants to charge and sometimes she just wants to be turned-off for a day or two. It’s kind of like raising a teenager for the first time, sometimes they just live in a whole different world than you and you will not understand it, no matter how hard you try. It’s been a long haul and I was hoping that the new charger would at least last me through this year in Haiti. Sadly, my iBook wants nothing to do with the charger. She recognizes it’s plugged in but the battery just won’t charge. Too bad. So I was getting really frustrated yesterday, since all the work that I have to do for FEJ (Fondation L’Enfant Jesus) is on the computer and on-line. Without a computer here I am pretty much deemed useless. Not just that, I was pretty much alone in the office yesterday, for the third day in a roll. Everyone was out and about doing things and I was stuck here trying to tell my computer to charge so I can do my work. I saw the battery bar went from 100% to 70% by noon, and then till about 2pm, it went down to 8%. I was able to think fast and buy another charger online to send to the states for me before it died completely. The good thing about apple laptops are that they are incredible with battery life. Back in the good old days, my iBook could last 8 hours without plugged in. This new off brand battery is not too bad either, 3.5 hours without being plugged in. So I'm not giving up completely yet. The new charger should be arriving here in Haiti, I'm hoping if all goes well, in about a month or so. By then I will try to plug it in and see if my iBook wants to charge or not. In the mean time, I am using the foundation's laptop and it is not too bad.

I was starting to feel better when I woke up this morning, since I knew a laptop was going to be here today for me to use. I was fine until I saw that a mouse had chewed through the bottom of my door, so now there is a visible hole at the corner. Eh...and my day begins. The internet has been pretty much non-existent for this week, really didn't get much done without it, since we all communicated through emails. I was thinking last night why I got so upset? and I figured it out over the long hours into the night. I am fine without internet or TV or radio or even the children not being here due to the painting projects. I have been alone for the most part this week and the solitude was setting in. I was doing okay, because I at least had my computer to watch some "Man vs. Wild" and listen to some music. But now I was without a working laptop, so I literally have nothing to do. I couldn't even read because the electricity was out, and then when it came back on finally during the night, the light bulbs went out. I was going to take a long shower to kill the time, but then the water went out for a couple of hours, as well. Yeah, so it got to some of my limits yesterday. So today it's better. I have a laptop to occupy my time with and tomorrow the children are heading back to the orphanage. I finally get to meet all the kids, I can't wait.

So yeah, through all this process I am getting to know myself better and to really ponder at life's mysterious twists and challenges. It's still quite disturbing to walk into your room and see your sheets filled with all different types of small insects, dead and alive, just all mingling together. It's a sight I have to get use to this year. Wish me luck.