Silent Communication....

In this day and age we have some new communications tools. We have blogs, a site called myspace, and various other venues where we can post pictures, have informative links, express opinions, tell stories, and express our emotions. These are all forms of what I like to call silent communication. I’ve gone through all different forms of communication over the past 30 years from the old fashioned “snail mail” that almost no longer exists (especially with the post office raising it’s prices on a monthly basis) to this new wave of silent communication. I was never a phone person, but it always felt good to get a call once and a while or even a letter in my mailbox. Sometimes just a good ole visit in person, and hanging out for drinks or coffee or something. Then came college and the world of e-mail. We’d be ridiculous and e-mail (or rather a version of instant messaging) each other about going to dinner even if they were in the next room. It was fun and exciting and my mailbox would fill up with a myriad of short little messages about hanging out later, going here, or going there. Once in a while I’d get one from a distant friend. Then my family got into the kick and that was exciting. It was a new way to express myself in writing, and when I couldn’t get to a phone in my travels. I got my first cell phone and it became easier to keep in touch while traveling. E-mail became popular with everyone and I almost never received a physical letter. Now I don’t hear much from certain friends who have tapped into the new generation of “silent communication.” It’s like a secret window into someone’s life. You can look in and read about it, but you don’t really interact with them. It’s like watching a play or more close to what’s happening these days, watching TV (or rather TIVO). People’s lives get so busy now that the only way to know what’s happening is if you read a blog, check out a myspace page, or read the general bulletins left on friendster. I was talking with a friend some time ago and she mentioned of how another friend of ours began to tell a story. After realizing it was on his blog, he simply stated that she could just read it on his blog. Once I even told a story that was posted here and a friend said, “Oh, I read about that story.” Oops. I never know who reads this thing. I just like to use it as a way of expressing an opinion, telling a story, or giving a travelogue. Lately my friends and family have been excited about viewing pictures of the places I’ll be seeing. I’ve been trying my best to get some out there especially of the places that affected me the most. I’ve even been guilty of this silent communication at times, but I try my best to keep my inbox empty. If I get a letter, it stays there until I respond to it. Now that I’ve been keeping up, I’ve even gone out and started a chain of letters. The problem is that they don’t last long. I love to read into my friends and family’s lives, but sometimes that personal letter is all the more special. Especially when I’m cut off from my phone.

In other news, I’ve been lax on my travel experiences. Mostly because in this new technical era of speed, I’ve been frustrated with the speed and cost of Internet on board. We get so impatient in this new era since everything comes to us in a microsecond with cable and wireless interfaces. Out here we have satellite communication that one would think would be fast, but alas there’s a slight delay when talking on the phone and the Internet is even a tad slower. I’d say about year 1999 slow at times. A few ports have been truly amazing thus far and that’s Venice, Athens, Turkey, and Egypt. Hence the extensive posting with pictures. Right now we’re on a course north to the Baltic Sea. We just left the Eastern European portion of the Black Sea and will be making our way through the Mediterranean Sea out to the Atlantic Ocean before heading north. In the Black Sea I went to ancient places like Istanbul, Turkey; Odessa, Ukraine; Varna, Bulgaria; and Constanta, Romania. Countries where even the writing on the boards and signs I don’t recognize because the alphabet is different. The architecture is fascinating and the styles. Oh My God! The styles of clothes people are wearing. All kinds of cute shops and such. Sometimes cheap and sometimes not. It’s just enjoyable just to promenade through these cities sometimes just like walking down a side street looking at buildings and people and hearing the cacophony of languages being spoken. To someone who lives there, the walk is nothing special, but to me it’s a new experience and something I’d never thought I’d see. Even walking along the beach in Bulgaria on the Black Sea. The Black Sea. This isn’t Coney Island or Pacific Beach anymore. This is the Black Sea. Two other places that have been fascinating are Corfu, Greece, and Dubrovnik, Croatia. The nooks and crannies of these places that you can stroll through are just beautiful. Castles, forts, and blooming vines crawling up the sides of buildings. Sidewalk cafes and cafes that are right on the water. Sipping cappuccinos and foreign beers in the warm Mediterranean sun. I can’t wait to see what this cruise along the Riviera and up north has in store. What adventures lie ahead. Especially with an overnight in St. Petersburg, Russia.