Application

Nah, it's not about looking for a new job. The title of this post may be a bit misleading, but for those who are savvy in technical novelties, the word 'application' means something else. It means a program or software available for instance in iTunes Store that you can download for free or for a small fee and install on your mobile device - ie iPhone, using as an example...


Yesterday afternoon, I got a message via one of those applications from iTunes - on my iPhone - from my friend and classmate - Fr. Marek from Kraków - who first alerted me to the one of those apps - Whatsapp. This allows iPhone users to send SMS, video and image files etc - via internet without using mobile network which involves significant charges, especially if you do this internationally. He advised me to buy this Whatsapp application for 0.79 Euro and install on my iPhone, which I did. So now, whenever I purchase a data package from Vodacom for my iPhone, I can send as many SMS, video and picture files as I wish, as it involves a insignificant usage of broadband. And what's cool about this Whatsapp software is that the interface is simple, easily readable and you get double green ticks whenever you send a message - one for acknowledgment that the message was sent properly and the second green tick for the acknowledgement that the message was delivered successfully to the recipient. I like this feature which is lacking in normal messaging operations of iPhone (no delivery reports which is quite stupid if I may be explicit, taking under consideration the sophistication of the iPhone, its price tag and fame - lacking such a basic feature is gross negligence on part of Apple Inc. - I must say!)...

So, yesterday when I heard that familiar chime sound, I knew that Whatsapp came alive and I got the message. It was from Marek and he alerted me to the existence of another cool app in iTunes store for the same wee bit fee. The application is called TuneIn Radio and is the coolest app ever - thousands of radio stations in one application, right there on a mobile device. I purchased the app, downloaded it and had the very first night in twenty years of my life in Tanzania that I fell asleep to the music from Polskie Radio Trójka. Even with our poor speed broadband internet connection, the app worked amazingly seemless! I tried several radio stations - from LA, Chicago, Toronto, NY, Montreal, Dublin, Paris, London, Poland, Africa, Asia - this thing simply works!

And now, after the morning Holy Mass in the shrine, sitting and sipping my morning coffee, I write these words while listening to Trójka. Am I dreaming? Am I here, in Kiabakari, in the old house under the blue roof? Or am I in Poland at Sądowa Street, back in my apartment, while my Dad is in another room watching his beloved Cyfra + TV stations?

The magic of a missionary detachment from the civilized world, from European reality and the sense of getting lost in the wilderness of the mission reality surely fades away quickly with these modern applications. But I do not regret. It strengthens my sense of belonging to two worlds, the charisma of being a missionary, hung between the two worlds, loving both and serving both...