Stupid Technology

Let me just express my utter frustration for technology here. We have a love/hate relationship. Although I am in a rural village and there is no electricity, I have managed to capture all my work on the computer. This country has CRAZY discrepancies. I have created visuals, teaching aids, booklets, projects, even several different courses and curriculum on the computer. Just before Christmas, my flash drive holding all my data decided to stop working. I was quite upset and asked some tech guru volunteers to help me recover my data. My backup files were somehow erased from the school's computer, which I find somewhat entertaining since no one knew they were there and probably deleted them accidentally without realizing what they were doing. Jeff, my computer hero, was able to save most of my files and transfer them onto a new flash drive for me. YAY FOR JEFF!!! Job #1 at school for me on January 25: back up the files on the school's computer again.

Since I had a few days between my vacation and Steve's project, I took my flash drive into the Peace Corps office to work on my grant final report and submit the paperwork so I do not have to mail it. I finished the paperwork and edited some old things, making them like new. I wanted to step away and come back to revise and check for any mistakes before submitting anything. I took my flash drive out and when I came back was ready to edit. Unfortunately, when I plugged in my flash drive, it no longer works. It has died and I have lost all my files. They cannot be recovered. I'm so frustrated and upset. I'm hoping Jeff, my computer hero, still has some of my files on his computer from when he transferred them the first time. I'm not looking forward to starting over from scratch!