The Computer Keyboard
The computer keyboards here are not the same as they are in the US, making them quite difficult and annoying to use. Why do I use them then…? Good question. It is because I have to.
In order to successfully lesson plan at Intercultura you need access to the server and the server is only accessible on the computers at Intercultura and the computers at Intercultura only have these weird Spanish keyboards. They are extremely frustrating because they never do what you want them to do. If I want a semi colon, I have to go through fifteen sequences of symbols to hopefully stumble on the button combo that produces me a semi colon. Shift 8 and 9 may look like it will produce and open and closed parentheses, but it doesn’t. It is part of the keyboards deception. It does not only hold true for parentheses, it holds true for almost all punctuation. The question mark which is weirdly positioned and inconveniently located next to the 0 is one of the few punctuation marks that does not deceive. Trying to find the apostrophe is almost impossible, it’s like a game of hide and seek if you were blind. I’m convinced it changes every time I sit down to use the computer.
Don’t let me forget about the non existence of shift 2.
I don’t know why they don’t have the @ symbol in this conveniently located position because I’m pretty sure Costa Ricans write emails as frequently as we do. Instead, you must press alt 6-4. Would this be impossible to find (if not for the sign at Intercultura and people to ask)….yes. On top of all the weird button combos and configurations the keyboards are constructed differently. I put a lot of the blame on the ñ for this. I know it’s not right because there are others too share the blame, but the ñ creates an extra space making the enter button farther away and uncomfortably out of reach. Instead of a nice simple pinky reach it becomes a whole hand reach. I never thought using a keyboard would prove to be so difficult.
If you really want a challenge, forget moving to another country to teach English, move to another country and learn how to use their keyboard.