High-speed wireless internet has changed my life forever. Since I moved to South Africa, I've only had (on a good day) dial-up internet. While I was very grateful to be able to make use of sporadic, slow email access, it was also a daily frustration.
The biggest frustration was when the phone lines would get stolen---typically a monthly occurrence. Inevitably, the phone company would take at least a week to replace the lines.
(In case you're curious: The phone lines are stolen because they have copper in them. The copper is melted down to make bracelets and other African curios which many of our visitors have purchased over the years! Oh, the irony!)
This was my internet life (or lack thereof) since I moved here in 1998.
But a few months ago we upgraded to 24-hour high-speed wireless internet throughout the main area of our base. Seriously, my life has changed forever.
We are now online all day, allowing me to use Messenger to chat with family and friends more than I have in years! I can also "surf" now, which was a strange and new phenomenon at first. Those first few weeks, Niel and I would sit at our computers and ask each other, "What else can we look up online?" It wasn't an option for so long that we'd gotten out of the habit of it...
This is still Africa, so our 24-hour, high-speed, wireless internet is not without its kinks. But I am lovin' it. I feel so much more connected to people back home; it's as though the world suddenly got much smaller.
The best part of our high-tech internet setup is that it all runs off a car battery on our mountain! A nice blend of modern technology and ... the Stone Age!