Yes, I'm still alive...

Okay. So you knew it would happen-am I right? I have a nasty tendency to fall off the face of the earth- I out of the blue stop blogging/facebooking/emailing/phoning/post card sending/etc. However, before you get your panties in a twist, note that this time I have a valid excuse. I live in OUTBACK AUSTRALIA people. Turns out, it's kind of remote. Go figure. After my first week here, my internet source was cut off, our multiple sim cards under numerous networks are, of course, the wrong ones for this rural area so I have no phone contact (not to mention the pay phones here only take phone cards which they don't sell in town-whole hell of a lot help huh?) Luckily I got a wake up call from my sluggish correspondence existence about a week ago; unluckily it was in the form of a frantic transcontinental call from my very worried parents. Note to self: when traveling as a young woman in a foreign country on the other side of the world, your parents MIGHT want to be updated at least every couple of weeks, or at the very least have your contact information. Oops. Imagine my surprise when in the middle of my morning shift last week the phone rings at work and, after answering in my normal fashion-"Alpha Gateway, Shivonne speaking"-I hear my father's voice on the other end-"Why haven't you called us?" Oh crap. Let me tell you the surprise knocked me off my feet-I dropped into a chair and actually teared up. It's funny how homesickness can hit you all at once from just a small trigger. After mitigating my family's fears of any bodily/mental harm that could of befallen me on my travels so far, I had to say a quick I love you and hang up. Pretty much sucked. Anyway, moral of the story, the call from home kicked my rear in gear and I was determined to find a way to communicate out here in the bush. But what to do?

Success! I asked around and found out that Alpha has an 'electronics store' (I have to use that term loosely; by store I mean large shed stuffed with everything from cd players to mattresses including children's bikes-an interesting mix to say the least) so I popped in to investigate internet options. Luckily, the friendly owner of the store-Peter- recognized me as the backpacker from the roadhouse and knew just what I needed. Drumroll....pay as you go internet. Now all I have to do is plug in the little USB thingy, top up money on my account, and then voila...instant internet. Granted, both the USB device and the service are rather expensive, but I know it's more than worth it. I was really starting to be depressed from the contact deprivation of all my wonderful friends and family. When your friends and family are your life, you just can't live like that. So problem solved. Yay! Now you will be getting, hopefully, fairly often updates on the exciting world of yours truly living in an Australian bush town of 300 people. I hope I find something to write about....