Getting a Second Life In the Third World

It's not really the third world, not even close. But it's a little odd booting up the computer to access a virtual world from a house that doesn't have central heat. And the water gets delivered to your tank once a week. If you run out - well, the water guys will be back on Tuesday.
So I logged on, created a not so creative name for myself and materialized, fully clothed, thank God for small mercies, at the welcome center. Where I promtly rushed ahead to see everything I could and then tried to fly off the island. Five minutes later, I flew back, having skipped over the important stuff. First things first : I found the LIBRARY FIRST! cha ching for me! ( Oh, on a related side bar, I went to the souk yesterday and found about 23 childrens books for our children's foreign language (ARABIC) collection. AND they are published by none other than Scholastic, go figure. So close, yet so far to come. I considered writing the ISBNs down and simply ordering them from B&T when I got back, but when we inquired about the price, they quoted a little over a dinar for each. That's about a buck and a half, people. Huh. I wondered, if briefly, exactly what truck they fell off of.
Back to Second Life: I've gone through the tutorials, and may, in fact play more and more with this thing when I'm no longer on vacation, but I can definately see the allure.When I was downloading the shareware/software, one of the banners on the site mentioned that more than 1.25 million US dollars had been spent in the previous 24 hrs. That's commerce. Turns out, one of my sisters' -in-law (the very one whose computer now hold my Second Life) has passed her exam for her Doctorate in Economics, and she's looking for a topic for her paper. I threw Second Life out as a possibility. Given the opportunities virtually, and the opportunities here (really) it might not make for a bad study. In the frist 30 minutes of my virtual resurrection I've made one friend. I've changed my hair. I've got the figure of my dreams. All things considered, there are times when I might actually prefer my Second Life. Less mess, and no one has my phone number. However, I've only just scraped the surface, so....we'll see. So for me, for the meantime.... it's back to my vacation. I'm off to bask in the glow of my husband's family's love and cheer, and to warm myself by the propane heater. Cheers!