walking in a bubble

An article we read for my Latin American civilization class got me thinking about how different living in a city is compared to what I've been used to or what my previous thoughts were about living in a city.  I've come to realize that, although there are 800,000 people living in Valencia, it could easily be a very solitary life here.  The article we read was about how the cities have evolved over the years, and how the streets and plazas became a place of communicating ideas and interacting with people.


The article mentioned how with the increase in modernization and urbanization, our methods of communication have become more and more impersonal.  It used the example of how someone can go to an airport and not need to use any type of personal communication to get information or find their way.  There's electronic communication for everything.  People can go to the grocery store and not talk to anyone- the level of anonymity has risen so much that even with living in a city you could go days without talking to anyone.  I've realized this several times here, usually on Sundays if I'm just doing homework, walking around, or going for a run.  Sitting on the bus for a half hour every time I go to the track gives me a good opportunity to people watch- and wonder where everyone goes when they get off the bus. 


Sometimes I feel like I am just wandering around in a bubble as more and more cars and buses fly by when I'm walking to school.  It reminds me of the scene in Across the Universe, where they sing the song "Come Together," as the massive crowds of people on the sidewalk somehow manage to walk like they have been choreographed not to run into each other.