A year in Bolivia (clarksinbolivia): Back to reality

Well we enjoyed our trip around the world to get home! We had a chance to see Rio de Janeiro and Dubai, but it was disappointing we were not able to stop over in Melbourne. We know the city well, but our youngest daughter has just moved there and it would have been nice to catch up with her.
Well we have been back now for about two weeks and things haven't changed! Our landlord made some changes to our internet settings while we were gone despite it being our account, and we had no internet. I called in at the office of Cossett (the company that supplies internet to us) and they said just reset the modem. I said I may not be an IT expert but I had certainly tried that! So I was given a number to ring, great. Eventually I convinced them we actually needed a technician. I was told he would be here in the afternoon. We stayed back from field service to wait but of course he didn't come. The next day I went back and was assured he would be there in the afternoon. After a week or so of this I told him look - this is wasting my time, your time and the technician's time, why not just tell me the truth? So I was PROMISED he would be there that afternoon. Of course he didn't show. I went back and said I will be here in your office twice a day until it is fixed. At this point they told us the modem was broken and we needed to take it in for servicing. I told them that was rubbish and if our connection isn't fixed in a few days I will buy a USB modem from another company and cancel my contract. Four days later the technician turned up on the only day we said we would not be home! We rushed back in time to catch him and 5 minutes later we finally had internet. So here we go with another post!
Actually the city here has wifi but only in certain areas, and most places the demand is high so it is not available anyway. There are other options including USB modems and getting a good data deal on the cellphone and using it as a hotspot for the computer. Unfortunately we are a bit out in the country so Cossett is the best option for us although generally it is quite slow. Internet is quite expensive here but at least with Cossett there is no data limit. It costs us 300 Bolivianos per month (roughly $50US) for a plan that is slow, but good enough to Skype OK.
We arrived back to find that a new congregation called Tomatitas is being formed on May1st between us and the city of Tarija. We have been assigned to this congregation, and I have been appointed in absentia as service overseer. Our San Lorenzo group has been attached to this congregation as well so our mid week meeting will be in the city, and we will continue to have the weekend meeting in San Lorenzo, while Tomatitas has a separate one. We had three Elders in San Lorenzo and now I am the only one left, so basically I have been entrusted with the care of the group. Poor group! Our Spanish is improving, but I feel light years away from being capable of conducting a weekly Watchtower study in Spanish!! We are hoping in the not too distant future to get back to two weekly meetings and even being made a congregation ourselves. If there are any keen Elders out there wanting a challenge my email is....
One benefit of returning to NZ was we were able to bring a projector back here. Now our group has a picture theatre! I will also use it tonight at the service meeting to show the video "Why study the Bible"
Along with congregational changes, we have inherited some new territory so all in all many changes ahead. It seems as my son in law said, that just when you think you are getting your head above water, they put more water in the pool.
Anyway here are a few photos and of Dubai, we enjoyed a few days there on our return. I will add a video of us riding camels in the desert if you check back tomorrow it should be downloaded even with our internet!
p.s. Emirates rocks!!