In La Romana, the sun weaves itself underneath my skin. It’s nearly 90 degrees and I forgot my water at home. I wipe the sweat off of my forehead and rummage through my bag to find my iphone to check the time. I wonder if I have any messages and ask my cousin Camila to turn on her hotspot. I’m connected and green bubbles dance around my screen: “hey,” “what are you doing today?” “Let’s meet at the beach at 5” and “What’s for lunch?” I am here, enclosed by the gates of the orphanage Fundación Niños y Niñas de Cristo, and I am also there, a resort in the heart of town that Junot Diaz likes to write about. “Any average asshole would love it here,” he writes in his novel This is How you Lose Her. He says this because it acts as its own country. People who go to Casa De Campo see more of the Dominican Republic when they drive there from the airport, even with the purple tinted windows of the taxi. Being Dominican and having traveled to the island each summer, I know enough about the Dominican Republic to know that Casa De Campo is by no means an accurate representation of the rest of the country. And I am active in reminding myself of this to break free from the illusion that the resort has created  with it’s man-made beach, endless lush golf courses, and oceanside villas. One way I do this is to visit the orphanage about 20 minutes away. It’s there that I talk to real Dominicans, who have nothing but big hearts. At the orphanage, the girls braid my hair and write me letters. When I take out my iphone or ipod to check the time, they are astonished. They know what it is but they haven’t handled one for large increments of time for themselves. I am somewhat envious of their oblivion. They are forced real social interaction as I resort to artificial platforms. But they have no choice but to live this way-- the internet is not available to the lower class.

In the article “FCC Flip-Flop could Turn the Internet into the Superhighway of the Rich,” by Juan Gonzalez (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/gonzalez-fcc-flip-flop-net-loss-article-1.1768404), the accessibility of the internet to different social classes is brought to light. The internet has become more of a commodity than a resource, with only larger corporations being able to afford it. Gonzalez states, “Once providers start to privilege some applications or website over others, then the smaller voices get squeezed out and we all lose,” (3). Gonzalez reveals how smaller businesses are not able to share their ideas to a wider public because they can’t afford fast internet. Websites with less money therefore have a slower internet connection than a website with more money. Consequentially, the internet has become a business. Gonzalez concludes, “It doesn’t need another high-priced athlete. It needs leaders who will fight to keep it free and open.” If internet prices dictate the kinds of ideas that are circulated, we must work hard to keep it as available and unbiased as possible.