OLD VS NEW

Azerbaijan is a country which is in transition… so it seems. I stopped at shop the other day to purchase a few things. There was an electronic cash register. The numbers were blinking at me brightly. But the shop keeper didn’t use the register. She used and old, beat up wooden abacus. Do you remember those? Some days when I pass one of the many local meat shops during my walk to the university, I see a cow tied up in front of the store on the sidewalk. Then later during my walk home the live cow is gone replaced by a fresh haunch of meat hanging on a hook and the cow’s head sitting in front of it. There are internet cafes, wireless internet and smart phones. (Which I've been told has become more common fairly recently) There is public transport with 30 year old buses that are falling apart and sometimes you can even see the ground moving through the holes on the floor. There are sleek, shiny nice new cars zipping around. There is the older generation of people who are trying to hold onto and practice traditional Azerbaijani ways. (And, 20 years post Soviet rule, there are younger people trying to recover those traditions also) And of course, there is a younger generation that wants to see the world and learn all the new technology. There is the capital city of Baku which is very western, and my little city of Sheki which is paved with cobblestones.

Baku

Sheki

 Azerbaijan is a country which has experienced new development and technology. But some people are afraid of losing the old ways. Some talk to me about old traditions that define them that are no longer being practiced. They are afraid of development swallowing the traditional ways.

Technology brings opens people up to the outside world. Good new practices come through contact with everyone else….and sometimes bad new practices infect the good of old ways. I am 7000 miles away from home and I’m grateful to new technology that allows me to “chat” and see peoples photos and know what is going on in their lives. I love being able to use Skype to talk to people for free face to face. But when I am home, sometimes I use these ways to communicate with the people I love because it is easier… I am lazy. I lose the fact that looking into a person’s face and seeing how they really are is more important than the convenience of technology. And I do admit, sometimes receiving a letter that I can hold onto and look at… knowing that the person took the time to write it and mail it… that can be priceless!!

Old vs new…. Which one is better?  I think both are valuable and can help us grow in our humanity. What do you think?