South America

I had the opportunity to travel through South America in 1992. I was asked to tour several Latin countries and lecture at universities on the use of multimedia technology in education. I was working for Apple Computer at the time, and was excited to visit a place that was "exotic"...plus, somebody else was going to pay for it ; )

I was able to visit with professors and educators, to talk about their use of technology.  I found them warm and friendly...the need for technology in higher education was a universal theme at the time.

Here's a picture from one of my lectures - I had to drag a bunch of equipment down with me, to make sure they could see me actually using the technology:


I spent time in Costa Rica, Columbia, Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela. I spent the majority of the time in Caracas, Venezuela. The saddest thing is that I only have 3 pictures of the entire experience. Here's the last one:


At this time in my life, I lived alone - and my kids were small enough that pictures wouldn't mean anything to them. We didn't have the Internet, so sharing pictures with family members wasn't easy. I didn't even take a camera with me. The two pictures I have, came from other people in Caracas. I really regret not working harder to preserve my own "memories". At this time, I was more focused on documenting my kids' lives...which has really paid off, now that they're grown adults.

I will never forget, however, how green and lush each of these countries were. I remember walking/hiking in several gardens and rainforests. It's amazing - as anyone who has visited Hawaii can tell you. The other thing that I will never forget is the blatant poverty. Not only that, but the vast divide between classes. Riding from the airports into the main cities, you could pass the "slums" on your way to beautiful hotels. This was my first wake-up call, at 27 years-old, to the economic realities that existed beyond the borders of the U.S. I had traveled to Japan and Europe at this point, but nothing was as alarming as the Latin American visits.

Someday, I'd like to return with my family, so they can see the beauty of South America.  It's only a matter of time... ; )