Technologic

As I sit at this work study desk in the English Department, looking outside, I’m struck by the number of people passing by with cell phones or IPods in hand. Eyes fixated on tiny screens held inches away from their faces as they walk awkwardly down the treacherous walkways composed of potholes and ice, aka Hawthorn Street.

What could be so important to deem it worth twisting your ankle in order to read that text message at that exact moment? Why not wait until a later time, preferably while sitting or at stand still?

Or even more dangerous, texting up and down the Jonas Clark building stairs? That must take quite a feat of coordination and dual-focus in order to pull that off!

A lot of people criticize technology in that they believe it encourages isolation. Classic example? A bunch of people in a room, all playing on their phones and not speaking to one another.
Yet, of course the counter-argument to this lies in the fact that these people might be texting family and friends or facebooking individuals who are hundreds of miles away. Technology could be used as a fast and efficient way to break this barrier, thus encourage communication! Not isolation.

But for some of us, technology can become a crutch. This is something we’ve all done before: You espy someone you’d rather avoid or not get in a conversation with, so you pull out your cell phone and act as if you are texting. Perhaps they will think you are busy and won’t notice that you don’t want to confront them.

And isn’t that what technology is all about? Getting rid of confrontations. These days you can email or text someone, rather than actually speaking to them. You don’t need to personally confront someone in order to reach them. Being impersonal gets the job done just as well!

How many people these days are not afraid to sit in the dining hall by themselves? If you are hungry, do you go to the dining hall and risk the fact that you might sit at a table by yourself? Or do you text people to make sure they will be there first? And if you do end up sitting by yourself, are you content to sit there alone, or do you pull out your cell phone and text people?

Maybe technology isn’t about isolation, but rather the fear of confronting it.

Moments in Paradise

As I wrote before, I spent my Winter Break in gorgeous and warm Colombia. I was there to visit family, rest, and quite by accident break my finger. But in reality my vacation was amazing. I got to sit by a pool, get some much needed sunshine and when possible explore new places. But my favorite place was this, my family home in Villavicencio. This was where I spent most of my days enjoying my time with my family.
This is the pool I spent my days at. I discovered the joy of not necesarily listening to music but listening to all the birds and animal sounds around me. Cloud watching was also wonderful, because the weathe changes to quickly there. The trees around the pool where citrus trees so I got to pick an orange or a tangarine when I got hungry and lie back down. Let me tell you this is the life.

Another wonderful thing about vacationing here was that we often got dinner guests. Here is one of them his name is Alberto. He has a friend and together we call them Los Albertos. Here he is enjoying dinner together with us. He was the braver of the two. Alberta would hardly talk while Alberto loved to greet us in the mornign with an Hola and wave us goodbye with a Cio. He was very fond of hollering at us until we finally gave him attentiona and talked back to him. Yet because he was a free bird, there would be days when we didn't see him at all. Alberto loved red grapes but was not as fond of the green, we never quite understood why.

One of my favorite things to do winter break was to sit on the chair I chose as mine on our porch and drink my morning coffee. Most of you know that coffee in Colombia is amazing, so just drinking it was already a treat. But what I loved the most was the view. The wildlife around me was just gorgeous and I felt like I was staring at a painting. Sometimes I had company who also loved the gorgeous scenery. Here are two of them of a date and clearly loving the view as much as I did.

Well I could keep writing about my experiences, but I think I will leave you for now. We are back and Clark, classes are starting and everyone is busier than ever. I am looking forward to the new semester and all the adventures that await here. As my time at Clark is coming to a close I'm starting to realize you have to cherish every moment you have here as well. From your roommates waking you up in the middle of the night, to the scattered snow, and doing work in the AC. So I wish all of you an amazing start to the semester and lots of new adventures. I will leave you with my favorite time of the day in Colombia. I hope it fills you with peace and joy like it always did me. Have an amazing 2012 everybody!