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| Photo by Kátia Veloso |
July in
San Diego...being with some students in an exchange program.
To
refresh this early afternoon, there is nothing like a juice well chilled. And
to enjoy this moment even more, a little chat with my family (my husband and
Kika). Just a little detail...they are on the other side, I mean, they are all
the way down in America. I'm in the north part of America (California - USA)
and they are in the south part (São Paulo - Brazil), but we can talk as if they
were right in front of me. And what is really amazing, we can communicate in
more than one way. I could use my cell phone (which was invented 40 years ago
and for sure it is a great option and for many years it was the only option we
had) or I could use my tablet (which became very popular after the introduction
of the iPad device made by Apple, in 2010). Of course we have had many ways to
communicate through these years, but what can really caught my attention is how
fast it has improved and how easy it has become during all these years. I know
I could use e-mails, but I really wanted to hear his voice...it is much nicer
than just read e-mails.
When I
was a child, my grandmother used to live in Paraná, another state here in
Brazil. Her house was about 500 km (about 310 miles) far from mine and we used
to visit her just once a year, in December or January (because it was our
school summer vacation) and we used to go there by car. During all the other
months, there were only two ways to get some news from my grandparents:
somebody that had been there with them and could bring us some news or by mail.
So, I used to write letters to my grandmother (she was the one who usually
replied them) every month. It's funny that, remembering all that now I have
this feeling of "how could I get patience enough to wait days, weeks and
sometimes even months (when my grandmother couldn't write me back so promptly)
and now, some years later, I can't spend one day without talking to my husband
- and sometimes twice or three times a day, depending on where I am or what I'm
doing - which gives me a kind of a feeling like if he was here with me,
traveling and visiting these gorgeous places in California.
It
makes me wonder... if keep in touch has getting better and better so fast...how
will we possibly be communicating to each other in the future? I don't know but
I like to think that somehow we will be able to use a kind of teleportation -
so, even if it could not be for the whole day, at least we could have people we
love for some hours, sharing our good moments and
keeping us company! But, on the other hand, could it reduce even more my
patience? Although I think so; I want to believe that there is a way to prevent
it...hopefully!
Post Question for the students: How do you usually communicate to people you care about? How often do you get together with your grandparents? Do you enjoy being with them? If you could be teleported anywhere in the world (or in the galaxy), where would you like to go? Why?
Tip: To learn more about one of the great inventions, the cell phone, listen to its inventor's interview (Marty Cooper) with the BBC. To watch it, just Click here.
