Back in time..

Having just left a culture where cell phones are not the center of the universe and are often forgotten about and seldomly used, it was quite a shock to return to America for a visit and be surrounded not only by my family and friends, but by their cell phones as well. It is incredible how the use and necessity of the cell phone sky rocketed within the past year. Everyone is so accesible and so needed. I guess that's one of the reasons people cling to their phones as if this device is an extension of their arm. People like to feel needed and important. But I can't help but wonder if with that sense of importance also comes the annoyance of feeling obligated to answer. People know you are within reach and expect your immediate response.


Now having returned back to the tiny pueblos of Andalucía, I am reminded of the means of communication available here. I walk through the steep and narrow streets of Alcalá la Real and say hello to the elderly couples sitting right outside their front doors in what look like broken and faded lawn chairs. Instead of doors concealing the entrance to their cement and stucco houses, long sheets of plastic streamer-looking strips hang down. Everything is open and everyone is welcome. Why shouldn't they be? They have all known each other since their childhood when they ran through those very same streets.


I continue walking down towards the center of town where the children of this generation are riding their bikes and running and skipping around the fountain in the main square of the town. Their parents don't have to worry about using their cell phones to call the other parents to set up play dates. The children leave the house and find all the friends they could possibly ask for all together in the center of town. Meanwhile, their parents stroll around town saying hello to the people they know and sharing the latest gossip about their neighbors and updates about their parents' health. They pass by the tables of the cafes lining the main square and pull up extra chairs to join their friends and aquaintances for some coffee or a beer. Their children zoom by on their scooters chasing little dogs who have been released from their leashes to run free and play.

I suppose in the midst of all of this, some of these people are receiving text messages but they certainly don't know it yet.



A couple of weeks ago, I went with a friend to an outdoor cafe for some tapas. We were talking about our lives and differences between languages and the ways to express things. (We didn't have our cell phones out and laying on the table.) What was interesting was that instead of getting interrupted by incoming text messages, we were interrupted by people passing and saying hello from afar or physically stopping at our table to talk with my friend. You see, she was born and raised in this town and therefore knows everyone. It would be impossible to have an uninterrupted conversation anywhere in public with her because the people would constantly be saying hello. It is exactly like being in America and constantly receiving text messages begging for immediate responses. Someone says "hello" to you if they see you sitting at an outdoor cafe and you feel kind of rude to just ignore them to continue your conversation with the person you're with. If someone sends you a text message saying "what's up?" while you're visiting with a friend who has been out of the country for a while, you would also be rude to just ignore that message. That feeling of obligation exists in both cases. The only difference is the medium in which the salutation is received and then returned.

Neither place is better than the other but the intimacy of the relationships and friendships can certainly be compared. While the average American may be able to keep in touch with and constantly communicate with over a thousand people from all around the world, the average Spaniard from a small pueblo only communicates with about a hundred people but on a much more personal level. This could be good or bad depending on how involved in your life you want other people to be.



Disclaimer: In order to not sound like too much of a hypocrite, I will admit that by the end of my 6 weeks back in America, I was able to get my speedy text messaging skills back up to par.