Back from Mexican 'ciber'space

The eagle has landed, amidst the afterglow of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.
I was doing my own triple axles down in Mexico looking for Internet Cafes with people who spend time in virtual worlds though, spanning several cities including sprawling Guadalajara, colonial Guanajuato, coastal San Patricio/Barra de Navidad, and quaint Colima. The Internet cafes are often referred to as "cibers."
The Mexican context presented its own particularities and challenges, because unlike Korea, digital gaming is viewed as a juvenile and/or geeky antisocial activity. Still grappling with accessibility issues (one of the lowest in the OECD), the Internet cafe facilities are caught at various 'moments in time,' that may or may not enable participation in virtual worlds. Another factor is the battle between console and PC gaming. Furthermore, in the ample public spaces I previously blogged about, there are numerous 'free' and 'offline' activities.
That's just a glimpse of how I spent my "Olympic Break." Suffice it to say, "This will be in my report!"

In Guadalajara

It's been a busy while preparing for this latest stint of fieldwork...

I'm currently at the Universidad de Guadalajara, CUCEA, where I'll be affiliated as a researcher for the next two weeks. With my compadres from the institute here, along with the concurrent SFU field school, I'll be looking at the online gaming culture/Internet cafe scene in the Mexican context through my involvement in the VERUS project.

First impressions, I'm in awe of the sheer amount of collective public space and its influence on the communication ecologies here.

With amazing timing, I witnessed a large scale act of civil disobedience--a rally in support of same-sex marriage (right now it's only legal in Mexico City). We were in the state quarter, with government affiliates who were against the rally ringing cathedral bells (shown above) to drown out the protest. It felt very powerful to be in the middle of it all.

The tip of the iceberg, for now.