Connecting in Coquimbo

I’m living in Coquimbo (Ko-Kim-Bow). I’m working in La Serena. Coquimbo is the Valpo to La Serena’s Viña. They are neighbor towns so close they could actually be one town.

Our condo here is AMAZING. I can’t quite explain it, but the Pacific here in Chile is just different. There’s something more peaceful and more endless about it. And, the only things between my window and the Pacific are a few palm trees, a small road and some sand. This girl from The Middle is really digging The Edge.

There’s no WiFi at our condo. In fact, my laptop doesn’t even pick up a wireless network. Not even one that requires a password… nada. So, I’m disconnected.

At first I was a little disappointed. No Skype calls for the next 6 weeks!

I had been SO connected when I was living in Viña that I actually had a couple of skypeversations with my brother where we were both doing other things but were just connected by Skype. We’d chat a bit, then continue with our other online business. For him it was work or looking at Woot.com bargains. For me it was Google Maps, checking my bank account, or looking for more schools where I could peddle my resume. Mostly we’d hear each other muttering or talking to ourselves. I remember thinking, “This is ridiculous! If we’re on Skype we should be talking and sharing, not just sitting here!” But we’d already talked the day before, so we had each other’s news. But there was something incredibly comforting in just being able to hang with my brother. It was just the being connected that mattered.

So, here in Coquimbo I have to make a choice to be connected. I have to choose to get on the bus with my laptop and go to the mall for the WiFi at McDonald’s or the Bariloche Café. Or, I have to choose to pay for computer time at the Viva Bibliotequa. Usually in life it seems I have to choose to disconnect. The difference is palpable.

It’s not that I’m choosing to be far away from everyone back home. That choice was made when I decided to come to Chile, I suppose. The difference is in the living here and the experiencing here. Now I have to make the conscious decision to seek out Facebook and Hotmail, whereas before my online life blended in with my real life. When faced with the choice: Spend time on Facebook or Explore these two new towns… well it seems like I’d be missing out on living if I hauled up at McDo every day, doesn’t it?

When I studied in Lyon in 2001 I remember we students from the US all said it was “like the 80’s computer-wise”. Most homes didn’t have their own computer, much less internet. I remember stopping on my way home from school at a little internet café to email long updates of what had gone on in the last week or so since I’d last emailed everyone. My emails were super long and my wallet super light after I left.

With internet and virtual connectivity so entwined in our day to day life, are we really experiencing fully all that we can? Is staying connected with each other virtually inhibiting us from staying connected with life, real and in front of us? Do these virtual relationships supplement and deepen our real relationships or do they become superficial substitutes where information is shared, but real connections aren’t maintained?

Deep questions… or maybe I’ve just spent too much time on Facebook the last 2 months! Either way, while I’m here I’d like to connect to Coquimbo, not from it.