Disconnectable
I've been trying to catch up on some of my RSS feeds. The Rude Pundit has touched on some things in this entry that fuse with my experiences traveling to Mexico with very little ability to comprehend Spanish. All at once I'm immersed into a world that I can't understand, and doesn't understand me. I can't use my iPhone, I can't access the Internet, and the television has only three or four stations. And I find that you are forced to notice people a little bit more, even though you can't talk to them on a meaningful level. It's a good feeling, being disconnected that way, and you go looking for things to do, you go outside and enjoy the sunshine, or you watch baby goats be born. You make a decision to shovel goat crap into a trailer, then spread that goat crap on a field. You pick up hay for six hours. For the most part I find all of this liberating, and there's a certain freedom to thought and action that's addictive. The community becomes very immediate, and I see people walk up and down the street, they stop and talk to each other. They sit outside their doors and watch the world go by, talking with the passersby...