It's a big big world

Today my darling Mims is taking a flight back to Zambia and it will be a year at least before I see her again. It makes me sad, but at the same time I am happy that she likes it so much over there, that she has found her love, her serenity and her family! I just wish I would get to see her more often.

Sometimes the world is still too big. I can't even imagine how it must have been a century ago, how difficult when your friends and family lived in another country, not to mention another continent. We are lucky today. I can live in Switzerland, with my half of my family in the north and half in the south, with my boyfriends family in yet another country, and with friends spread all over the world. I can live here and still get to see most of them at regular intervals. And when we are not seeing each other we can chat, e-mail, phone, and even see each other live via skype.

Technology is really an incredible thing. Only less than 15 years ago when I spent a year in the States, my only means of keeping in touch with my family was through letters and some rare phone calls (as it was really quite expensive). E-mail was around but not really used yet for personal mails, although this was more or less the time when I started using e-mail occasionally. Today, it's another world. Skyping with my mother gives me a lot more than just merely talking, being able to see her reactions are great. Being able to show a new haircut, show people around the apartment although they have never set their feet inside it, show something you bought or made or.... And even cooler is it to skype with small children, even babies. They can't yet speak to you, or they do not have the patience to once they're a bit older, but you can see them. You can stick out your tongue at them and have them stick their tongue out in return. You can smile and have a beautiful smile back which warms your heart. It's great!

But albeit there is all this technology, some places are still far away. In Zambia, mobile phones work well so Mims and I can sms each other - and we do quite frequently. And it's not more expensive than to sms someone in France. But calling each other? Too expensive except for special circumstances. E-mails work, chat usually works. Skype usually does not work regretfully - and this is really regrettable. We would be able to talk on a regular basis, to see each other, she could show me her house, her family, her cat or whatever else she felt like. So it sucks.

Flights of course work, but are expensive and it takes a day of travel. But I will go there to visit. I have been invited several times, and one day I will go. Most probably in 2 years from now, as I plan to end my travel around the world with a month or so in Zambia and the surrounding countries. But before that I really hope that Mims will come back to Switzerland next year, at the latest! And that skype starts working one of these days!

Miss you my friend!