7/15-  First Day in Chile!

I met Danielle Litak at the airport in Dallas TX yesterday on my layover as I was finishing the previous journal entry.  We had a great chat and then she found the other 8 on that flight from our class and we met before reaching our destination.  It is so lovely to finally meet everyone from my class since we have been sharing an online graduate experience over the past 1.5 years. It really contextualizes people within media and makes me appreciate the technological advances that we have today, along with the ability to connect in person.  I think both are essential- we can’t have just one or the other.  Meeting Danielle also bolstered my appreciation for people in the arts as she is an active member of AFTRA- the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, where she serves as a stunt double in Los Angeles.  Coming from a creative background in the performing and visual arts myself- I was so pleased to meet someone who was active in a different area but in the same industry as myself.  It will be interesting to see where the creative individuals from our program find their niche within the global educational paradigm.

As we all arrive in Santiago, we are all traveled out and exhausted.  But we are here and finally cozied up in a small apartment- nice and clean and on 16^th floor with a great view of the Andes Mountains.  The thing that struck me most today was when we were checking in at the hostel- EVERYONE in the room, instead of socialize g with each other like I usually see at hostels especially, was wrapped up in their electronics.  It was truly bizarre and it struck me as sad that people don’t talk to each other anymore.  Why are our devices so much more interesting than people?  I’ve seen this in other parts of society but not like I did today.  It made me think that all companies and especially people on vacation should take full weekends away from technology.  So they learn to appreciate each other more- appreciate company.  Globalization and internationalization have happened so rapidly that people are sometimes sucked into the Internet zombie zone to connect with others.  This leaves one to one contact limited.

View from my apartment in Santiago, Chile

(Sasha Harrison, 2012)