Friday, January 25, 2008

Raro Media

The day before school started I returned back from a summer trip of three weeks in Rarotonga. Rarotonga is the capital and largest island of the Cook Islands, which are located in the South Pacific near New Zealand. This was my first real extended stay out of the United States where I actual had a real good amount of time to explore where I was. This is a small island so most everything that isn’t grown or produced there must be flown or shipped in. I being an American that is constantly bombarded with advertising and products all day long was amazed at the lack of this in Rarotonga. More importantly I was amazed at how quickly I adjusted and enjoyed the lack of news, television, music and other media that I usually utilize in my daily life. Although some of the teenage islanders were seen with ipods and hip stylish phones, most everything else was distinctive in its own island way. I’m sure that it comes as no shock that I enjoyed the lack of advertising and media thrown at me, but I’m curious if anyone else has had an experience like mine of such a quick and pleasant transformation from the fast-paced, media driven American life to something truly unique.

No comments: