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Amanda Humbert

Dr. Erin Dietel-McLaughlin

FYC 13100

2 December 2010

Close to Home

I was dancing to loud music on stage while my audience clapped in unison. Suddenly I

felt someone pounding on the floor next to me« It was my eight-year-old brother who wanted to

open the Christmas presents. ³Exelente´ 1I mumbled sleepily through gritted teeth. As I stumbled

through the hall between my room and the living room, it came to my mind that I would not be

getting any surprises this year since I was thirteen, and had helped my mom buy the presents.

After greeting my siblings and my parents, we started opening the presents, and I remember

going through my pile to see if there were any that I did not recognize. To my surprise I found

one!

At the moment that I ripped off the paper from the box, I got a glimpse of a half-eaten

apple. The French toast smell coming from the kitchen, my sister¶s laughter, and the dog¶s bark

became indistinct. The house was immediately filled with my roars when I jumped up and

screamed madly ³Es una laptop, esuna laptop! Ayala vida, esuna laptop!´ 2 It was pure ecstasy!

It was not the first computer I owned, but it was the first one that belonged just to me! I did not

have to share it and I did not have to come back to see someone had changed the beautiful

daffodils on the wallpaper I had spent hours looking for. In general, I did not have to worry about

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1
Spanish for ³Great´ (sarcasm implied)
2
Spanish for ³It¶s a laptop, it¶s a laptop! Oh my god, it¶s a laptop!´cc
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privacy. My parents explained the reason I received it was to stay in touch with them when I

departed for boarding school on January.

Two weeks later, on a snowy Sunday, I arrived at `
 
where I was going to stay

for two months to learn French. It was there that I discovered my laptop¶s true value. As I lay in

my bed, I looked nervously around. My other three roommates had been there since the

beginning of the academic year and they already knew each other. I was terrified, and I kept

staring at a ping-pong table that was covered in snow at the other side of the window. That

afternoon I downloaded 
 to call my mom. One second I was clicking the green call button,

and the next, a window popped up with my mom sitting in the kitchen table. I felt I was at home!

I was astonished, we were physically thousands of miles apart, yet here she was, in front of me

smiling and comforting me. I could perceive the figures of my sister and my youngest brother

carrying our little puppy, Mia, in the background. At first I could not manage to talk, and then,

with tears in my eyes said: ³I miss you already,´ and she said: ³that¶s why I got you the laptop

sweetie, so you can reach me from wherever you¶re at.´ The next day when classes were over, I

went running to the computer pavilion with my laptop in hand to connect to MSN Messenger and

chat with my friends. My laptop became my most treasured possession.

As time went by, I met numerous interesting and friendly people in `
  with

whom I became close, and I no longer felt the need to call home so often. By this point I was

struggling to reserve some time to communicate with those I had left back in Panama, and I felt

guilty about not reporting to my parents more frequently. They said it was not a problem and that

they wanted me to benefit from this experience as much as possible, but I was still conscience-

stricken. As I grew familiar with the place and my schedule, I was able to both enjoy the

opportunity to the fullest and recount my experiences to my family. However, I knew Skype, my
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iPod and my laptop had saved me from a possible depression at thirteen. By the end of winter I

had built such solid and close relationships that I did not want to leave the place. We all said

goodbye to each other on a sunny Friday, and as my bus left the wooden chalet behind I felt

good. During my two months away I had learned that distance did not represent a threat to my

relationships anymore, and with technology I could stay almost as close to anyone as I wanted.

Last summer I had the opportunity to go to Florence for two months to take Italian and

Art History lessons with a friend, but I had to leave behind my family, and this time, my

boyfriend. In this case it was my divine Blackberry Messenger that saved me. I could text my

family and Diego from wherever I was without the need of a computer. As I walked fifteen

minutes everyday passing by cafes, piazzas, leather stores, cathedralshurches, beggars, and

tourists from around the world, I did not once lift my head. It was buried in my phone¶s screen. It

only took a text message for me to submerge myself into the virtual world. I now come to think

that I might have even seemed hypnotized. This trance lasteduntil my companion pointed out my

rudeness, or until I became aware of the incredible things I was missing out on.Even though my

Blackberry meant the world to me at the time, I had to constantly remind myself to take complete

advantage of this experience, the beauty of Italy, and its unique culture.

At this moment, I find myself in my small, shared room at the University of Notre Dame.

While brainstorming on memories for my narrative, my Clarocom3 phone rings and I literally

jump from the couch to answer it. It is my sister Lupita who I am especially close to. I smile to

myself because this service offers limitless minutes for a monthly plan, therefore I can talk for as

long as I wish. Here lies the delicacy and complexity of technology; it requires mastering a

balance between involving yourself and being present in mind and body at the moment, and
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keeping in touch with those who are distant. In this particular situation I am having more trouble

assessing my time. It is not anymore a matter of enjoying an experience, rather of being

responsible and meeting my classes¶ expectations. Keeping control over this situation is a

challenge I have to accept. I feel confident about the way I plan to manage my time in order to

talk to my family and succeed in college at the same time. Ultimately, technology has taught me

that there are no distance barriers for a relationship to continue; allowing me to both travel

abroad and discover the infinite possibilities technology has to offer while feeling close to home.

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