The Reality of Siberia:

We arrive in Siberia - and the *up-to-now virtual trip* becomes real, and our cyber-connections all of a sudden become fragile. Because we can not *connect* via E-mail as easily as we had hoped to, we are forced to focus on our context, to connect with people for information. This redefined priority helps us to understand what it really means to be connected. We begin to realize that by using the technology to connect to people, we had established conceptual links to social situations and possibilities. A shift between the real and the virtual is suddenly necessary. Our virtual connections had been quite easy, but the real is difficult, in comparison. Our real connections begin to override everything, and it is necessary to quickly deal with ways to overcome the language barrier, which had been invisible in the virtual ease of the streamlined English messages that quickly and silently criss-crossed electronic paths.

The overwhelming reality throughout Russia is the terrible, antiquated telephone lines which interrupt data flow, if and when one is lucky enough to connect in the first place. Additionally, there is no direct telephone service from Irkutsk out of the local area and the international operator spoke only Russian - a frustrating experience that required assistance.

We invalidate our initial reasons for making a relationship between Siberia and Cyberspace. It is difficult to interpret the experience at this point, not having much distance from which to evaluate it yet. We can visualize Siberia to be a black hole that seems to suck everything in and keep it hidden -ESPECIALLY ENERGY-, but which has no expression of its own. Internet communication is also a black hole and the context is always in question. Until you receive confirmation, you are never sure if you connect.

---

---

---

INDEX I EMAIL I SIBERIAN DEAL MAINPAGE I GO ON I THE STORY SO FAR PT.1 I THE STORY SO FAR PT.2I THE STORY SO FAR PT.3I THE STORY SO FAR PT.4