technology.

stepped foot in a college classroom in the united states lately? if so, chances are you probably won't see students without this (ok, time for you to guess). if you guessed a laptop (and if you guessed a mac you get double bonus points), you're correct. but not in kuwait.


now, now, don't misread what i'm saying. the students are still little technological fenes, but their obsession seems to center more on their blackberries than on their laptops (and yes, even this luddite knows you can get internet on a blackberry). but in class, it's note taking the good ol' fashioned way--pen and paper. none of that electronic business for these wildcats (the school mascot). but maybe the reason there are no laptops is because there's no wireless on campus (i know!). oh wait, i'm sorry there is, but here's the process you must go through...


first, you must text (or SMS as they call it over here) a specific number at the phone company. second, you must wait for a responsive SMS from the company with a pass code. third, you must then enter said code when prompted to sign on. and fourth, said code only works for one hour. this ain't no VT-WLAN people!

but that's why everyone (and i mean everyone) has a blackberry. but never fear, there's no verizon contracts over here to subsidize the astronomical cost for a phone (i mean, it's a phone people!? enough ranting, meredith). ok, so as i was saying, there's actually no cell phone contracts over here. nope. you just buy the phone at retail price (around 150 KD= $500 USD) and then buy minutes on phone cards from these guys. oh right, but in order to actually have your phone work you have to have a sim card. and who can get the sim card? not just jenny from the block. you must be a citizen or permanent resident of kuwait. oh, don't worry, the five of us are sharing a cell phone (compliments of the university), although, seriously, who are we gonna call!? (if the first thing that came to your mind was ghostbusters subtract those earlier points you may have earned from correctly answering laptop :)