Plumbers and Computer Experts

Plumbers and Computer Experts / Yoani Sánchez
Translator: Unstated, Yoani Sánchez

Everything was planned for weeks. We would escape far from the city,
disabling our cellphones so State Security couldn't track us, and have
our first break in five years. Just as we were about to leave for our
two-day vacation a pipe broke inside the wall and started to pour water
on the neighbors below. "Bad sign," said Reinaldo. We repaired the
unfortunate leak and were ready to spend 48 hours far from keyboard,
screen or mouse. We left on the run, before anything else unforeseen
could happen… But bad news has a way to get to you in an almost
telepathic way, parallel to the technological paths. When we'd had just
one day to decompress from the daily stress, we learned that the entire
Desdecuba.com site was out of service. In this case our skills as
plumbers were of no use, because repairing a server is a far cry from
fixing a leak.

We returned to the city blaming ourselves that our absence had been
taken advantage of by some restless hacker to do something like this.
Most distressing in these cases is the sensation that with a fairly
efficient Internet connection I could have quickly fixed the situation
myself. But reality contrasts with all the conspiracy theories that
claim this blog has so many links to the "powerful" and "sophisticated."
When a simple technical problem presents itself, the rusticity and
helplessness of this personal effort becomes clear. What these
"conspiracy theorists" never take into account is the citizen solidarity
that is put to the test in such cases. This is, without a doubt, my most
precious capital and the most effective help I receive.

María, the English translator, called her friend Karen, a computer
expert, and via email I sent the steps of what I thought might be the
solution. Out out damn complication! As if it would not have been
easier, from the beginning, to have hosted my blog on a national server
and count on a domestic Internet connect that would allow me to repair
it. But no. The lives of Cubans have always been more complicated. A
portal with opinions different from those in the official media will
never be able to have a ".cu" URL and my longed for vacation will have
to wait for a better time.

What is sure is that GY has come back to life thanks to the work of many
young citizens like me. It was not as easy as a broken pipe, but put the
ingenuity and friendship of many to the test. Thank you!

14 July 2012

http://translatingcuba.com/plumbers-and-computer-experts-yoani-snchez/