The last thing I really wanted to be doing on my birthday, today, is hanging out in an internet sweatshop... But we really had no choice, we had gone without access for so long on the road, that there were bills to pay, tax docs to download, and we really needed to sort out our transport and living situation for the next couple of weeks. Not to mention, another try at getting all of our very large photo files to upload into the website.
So at this moment, I must take a departure and share with you our experiences attempting to access highspeed/broadband connections. It's been difficult, so much more than we thought, to find reliable fast internet with good bandwidth. Most youth hostels have a terminal where you buy time in 15 minute increments, at an absurd cost, and everyone jockies for position to use the one terminal. Then there's the internet and gaming rooms; dark, dingy rooms packed with kids getting their digital fix- just like being at a casino in vegas, just the internet and gaming patrons haven't yet hit puberty, and we feel like we're the school dance chaperone. Finally, the internet sweatshop is the more common venue that we've regularly visited - for example in St. Kilda, Melbourne, where long desk workstations not only line the walls, but it's like a mass call center with desk stations crammed into every and any available space. The small rooms with iridescent lighting are chock-o-block with backpackers, and there's no air conditioner or ventilation, so the smell of hot, humid sweat permeates the air, and sounds of crackling keyboards firing off emails in rapid form echos off the walls. This is the sweatshop experience that we toil in daily, shelling out $2/15 minutes, to bring you our latest photos and stories... So read them all up and enjoy!
Note: pictured above is Darrin's internet experience in a liquor store. We really think he should have been drinking a beer while doing his emails, however, that would have detracted him from being productive at this pricey joint- $2/10 minutes.
