Blog from LAX

And so, as I have so many times before, I kiss my homeland goodbye. Goodbye LA (where I did, in fact, grow up, to the extent that term applies). Good bye California. Good bye USA. Off I go to Bolivia.

Once again, it is the leaps forward in technology that I notice most. This time the airport is filled with businessmen in blue suits talking to themselves confidently. If one looks more closely, you can see their ears adorned with a small black earphone/miscrophone combination which makes them look a lot like Borgs, the half machine/half human beings from Star Trek the Next Generation. I gather these are connected in some way to the small divices on their belts -- that is the belts of the men in the airport not the Borgs. Borgs have internal hardware.

People here are in touch. Cell phones, bluetooths, laptops, earphones, hotspots...am I missing something? Americans are in touch. What are you all in touch with again? Each other? The home office? Nature, no skip that.

Again, no self-righteousness here. I have a cell phone that I just use when traveling in the US. To work here I guess you have to be connected.

Of course you have to be disconected to. What does all this technology, this rapid pace, this hurry, what does it disconnect us from?

This time tommorrow I will be in Cochabamba once more -- the dogs of my neighborhood will greet me. The rock-paved roads will be bumpy. Starbucks will be replaced with the woman on the corner who cooks and serves soup from a cart.

Hasta la vista!