Theme for Project

Preferred Topic: Fashion

Alternative Topics: Food or Music

When is comes to Fashion I would love to not only see the difference in the America fashion versus the German fashion but even more specifically I would like to research the change in fashion from the time the wall fell to now and the difference in fashion on both sides of the wall then as well as now.

Alter:  the physical places that I would sue for the topic of fashion would be clothing stores mainly.  I would like to explore clothing stores on each side of the wall as well as the different designers who are represented by each side for wall.  The stores will be my main alters in Berlin.

Ghosts of Berlin...

Although this should have been posted two weeks ago, I wanted to finish reading the entire book before I decided to reflect on it.  While the beginning of the book started a bit slow and had a very "history book" feel to it's writing style, I was soon able to look past it and truly sink my teeth into the story it was trying to convey.  The ghosts that it refers to in the title of the novel I have come to interpret as the the mindset that is only now, 25 years after the walls falling, beginning to change.  Berlin's troubled past was something that I originally didn't know much about or have a particular interest but the one part of the book that really started to catch my interest was when they referred to the different smells on different sides of the wall.  Since smells have the strongest ties to memory, I think that it is a very interesting idea that if someone who lived on the east side of the wall were to smell a specific thing it would immediately bring back those strong memories of a different time.  I thought the book was very interesting as well as extremely informative. 

The UW "Median"

When asked to write about the different borders in our life and immediately the first thing that came to my mind was the border between the University of Washington and the University of Washington Greek Community.   As a member of the Greek Community we are privy to certain events, parties and other social functions that are not available to those who are not members.  This becomes a border for me specifically because I am very good friends with many individuals who are not members of this community and are therefore not allowed to attend these events.  For example, every quarter we have an all house Dance.  Although we are allowed to bring other people to these dances it is very frowned upon because of pre and post dance events.  This border drives a very strict fence between not only UW students but also those who are members of the Greek Community and there 'outside' friends.  This photo is of the UW "median" that helps divid the UW campus for the Greek Community.

The Devil's highway is a book that originally I was not excited for.  After the first 5 pages, still not very interested, but after about halfway through the first chapter I couldn't stop reading.  I thought it was such an interesting viewpoint to read about, I have always had a strict view of immigration rules, but after reading about what the Mexican immigrants have to endure just to make a better life for themselves and their families, I was amazed.  I loved the book so much, which is an accomplishment in itself, that I continued to read past the required assigned readings.  To follow the reading assignment we had a speaker in class who also showed a very interesting side of immigration, I thought the speaker was incredible!  He was extremely captivating as a speaker and his photos and information was very intriguing. I wish we could have had more time to listen!

My Wall

A wall in my personal life that I have always struggled with is the language barrier in my family. My mother, born in Cuba, spoke Spanish as a first language and later helped my Father learn as well.  Considering that my mother's side of the family speaks Spanish, reunions can be a difficult situation for me.   I am one of few in my family who has been unable to master the Spanish language, restricting me from communication with much of my mother's side of the family. Without a English/Spanish speaker close by I can't have a conversation past the hellos with my relatives.  This is a barrier that I will continue to try and overcome but will always be a struggle for me.