TCT Blog 2

The difficulties in communicating with Carle at Sunrise View Retirement Villa are similar to Greg Mortensons experience in Pakistan in the book "Two Cups of Tea". I had a hard time explaining different aspects of the computer to Carle who is eighty-nine years old, somewhat computer illiterate, and hard of hearing; which is similar to Greg's visit to Pakistan. In both situations there was a significant communication barrier. Greg didn't speak the language at first and wasn't familiar with the culture. However the environment Greg was in had the potential to be very hostile unlike Sunrise View.

Carle is eighty-nine and has a really hard time hearing me, I've been helping him learn to use the computer so he can edit his many poems and short stories, but he has a hard time hearing me, his vision is poor, and his memory sometimes fails him. Carle, a former English professor, loves to write, but needs help on the computer. His age has made things difficult, he can't seem to keep up with the constantly changing computer systems. The communication barrier is very similiar to what Mortenson experiences in the remote villages of Baltoro. He doesn't speek the language and there are major cultural differences. You often here Greg using anologies when describing things, which is exactly what I did with Carle. For instance using similar typewriter functions to describe computer applications.

The experiences he's shared with me are priceless, he was deployed to Alaska during World War II, where he fought the Japanese as they invaded the Aluetian Chain, I learned a lot of details about this historic event that I may not have been able to learn from a book. Mortenson has learned far more from his experience in Pakistan than he could have from a book.

J's blog

I chose to do volunteer at Sunrise View Retirement Villa. My first day I did a balloon excersize with several of the residents. We hit a balloon back and forth to each other which helped them work on their strength, flexibility and motor skills. Later I helped a man by the name of Carle with some word processing. Carle was a former college professor and avid writer. He wanted help typing up some of his old poems, so that he could edit them.