When we hear the word we are by now used to think of “chatting to people online”, “poking”, “connecting”, “e-mailing”, etc. We are always informed, always reachable, always “in touch” with everyone.
What about walking 10 miles to go see your uncle who is sick? Or seeing the new born baby of the cousin who lives three villages away? What about sitting at the fireplace, telling stories with friends who seemed to be long gone and suddenly reappeared? What about calling the “phone booth” of a village, only to have one of the boys run to the house of the person you are trying to call and announcing the phone call?
To be sure some speed has been added to the process, a general “easiness” of keeping in touch, but are we really that much closer? Didn’t we loose some “poetry” in the process and are we really being able to use all this speed to our advantage, or does it end up just being all more superficial?
After reading your blog I think our blog will be of interest to you especially because of where you live and you seem to be interested in cultural diplomacy as well. Enjoy.
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