I am proud to say I have successfully survived my first major crisis since arriving in Italy: lack of internet access.
As the Wi-Fi in my apartment was installed by my room's previous tenants, it promptly turned off right before February 1st, leaving my roommates and myself without a connection. Unable to function without e-mail or Skype, my primary methods of communication with loved ones back home and friends abroad, I purchased a USB modem to use until my apartment's normal connection is back up (in 2-3 weeks!). The problem was that this very expensive USB device only worked intermittently, and no one at the internet provider's store could explain why. Finally, today I spoke to someone completely new and she was able to get my internet up and running for good!
Throughout my ordeal, I couldn't help but laugh as I noticed that I was exhibiting symptoms of what my handy-dandy BCSP program handbook describes as the second stage of culture shock ("irritation and hostility"), characterized by:
"...differences becoming irritating and frustrating. Small problems loom as major catastrophes."
Now that I am back online, I hope I can move from stage 2, "irritation and hostility" to stage 3, "adaptation and biculturalism," LOL!
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