Getting connected

A couple of days ago I finally got to the telephone company’s central office to order an Internet connection. This had been high on my to-do list since Day One but until Monday there had been even greater priorities. (I know; this is hard for some people to imagine.)

Apparently everybody wants Internet. Maybe they got computers as New Year gifts, or maybe the line is always huge. It was plenty long enough for me. Slightly uncertain about the options on the computer screen at the door, I printed myself two different customer service tags, for two different flavors of Internet service. It probably didn’t matter what I chose, however. It looks like any of the customer service people could have helped me regardless of what I chose at the front door.

I noticed that everybody showed their passports before receiving their modems, but I figured I would be OK with my spravka. That's the document they give you while your passport is in for service. In my case, they were processing my domestic registration, and I understood that the spravka would serve me in any moment of need as long as I didn’t intend to leave Belarus.

Unfortunately, it didn’t bring the desired result. The agent called her boss, who came and looked it over thoughtfully. Somebody else came over to have a look. They asked me if I could supply in addition a rental contract from my landlord. I don’t have that yet, so I could not. Their final conclusion was that I could have Internet service but would have to buy my own modem elsewhere. They would give me a modem only with an actual passport.

I love Internet, but I’m not so addicted as to buy a modem when somebody will give me one in a few more days. They were pretty nice about it all, and when I mentioned my disappointment about waiting in line needlessly my agent said that when I return I could come directly to her without waiting in line. Cool!

Even better, my passport came back today. Now I understand why the passport is better than the spravka: The passport includes a migration card showing my registered address. Now they know that I actually live at the address where I want to buy Internet service. I guess that’s why they would have cut me some slack if I had a rental contract.

So, I’ve got the service on order and I’ve already configured the equipment. I think. The directions were all in Russian, and they included a lot of vocabulary I’ve not learned. Fortunately, I have a pretty good idea how to set up a router anyway and the router’s menu was in English. It was an entertaining exercise to guess what the directions said without resorting to a dictionary. I’ll find out how well I did when they start up the service on Monday morning.