Wow. I think the videos of the different countries and how they drive are very interesting. When crossing the street at the same pace, I would be way to scared that someone wasn't paying attention or didn't time their speed right. And India was a mess! Cars were just trying to overpower their right a way w/ them all turning right at one time. It's all in hope that the cars will let them pass, and not hit them. All cultures have these unspoken rules, and I think that's the hardest part of understanding them. I want to be able to visit a lot of cultures in the future, and i wouldn't want to defend anyone by something that's accepted in our culture. If only there was a way to decode this secret language of every culture. In those traveling language decoders, they should add in what gestures mean.

Bronx Tale

Bronx tale really showed how your views on certain things can't change because of how you've grown. In the movie "C" didn't want to be racist, but there's some part of him that always will be because of his surroundings. This movie also shows how everyones life contains groups of people that affect them differently. In this movie I believe that C and Sonny would be in their own group, other than C being in Sonny's crew. C and Sonny share a different relationship, and grow very close. Sonny is someone C always would listen to, and admire. Sonny didn't want C's life to turn out like his; he wanted him to be safe always. I think C's master status throughout the movie is "Sonny's boy" because everything he does relates to Sonny's influence on him. In the beginning C always wanted to know Sonny, and in the end he is running to Sonny trying to thank him for saving his life. The Social Construction of the italian neighborhood seems to be Sonny's crew, and then everyone else. The entire neighborhood understands not to get in Sonny's way or to get involved with Sonny. The neighborhood doesn't approve of the blacks passing through their neighborhood.

Roles

The idea that we play a certain role in everyones life means that we affect different people in different ways. As in, you'll act differntly around your work friends than you do your actual friends, or you may act differently around your actual friends and your family. I'm not sure if that's the case for me, though. A few of my close friends I've known since 1st or 2nd grade, and my others I've known since 5th or 6th grade. We were never those kind of people that drifted apart, which I find pretty sweet! These friends would almost fit into my family circle because I basically play the same role with both of them. In my family circle I play the role of being a sister. I have two older sisters who I am very close with. They come to me when they need help, and visa versa. We hang out every chance we get, and are comfortable sharing new ideas with eachother, even though our ideas are usually the same since we think pretty much alike. Just like my friends, My sisters and I share the same sense of humor because we've grown together. It's interesting how when we are around some people, we are only comfortable acting a certain way, and with the people close to you, you have no limits.

Enough said

I believe that learning something in school is completely different than learning something by experience. Of course in school we take in everything that we're told, but that's just the thing; we're being TOLD those things, and we're not learning it on our own. In class, a friend of Salituro's came in to tell us about her experience helping out with children's schools in Africa. Her journey was extremely interesting. She told us about learning Swahili, monkeys in the middle of the road, and teaching kids. When I hear about others adventures, it inspires me to not be afraid to try new things.
In class, I'm noticing that Salituro is really encouraging us to step out of our comfort zone. I'm very excited to do the 10 hours of experience. I'm looking forward to learning new things by actually witnessing them instead of hearing about them.
Adding to the pattern, we have read Gang Leader for a Day. This story also tells about how the student was interested in stepping outside of his classroom to learn about people in the projects of Chicago. The gang leader, J.T., told Sudhir that he wasn't going to learn about their part in society without experiencing how they live. Instead of doing a general multiple choice survey, he took the time to hang out with new, completely diffent people than he was used to. With that he was able to understand their lives, instead basing their lives on stereotypes.

internet

Has the internet changed our way to socialize? I would think so, seeing that we have switched off between multiple ways to stay in touch with our friends online. I remember the first web trend was "xanga". Then myspace came, it got a little weird, so then everyone got facebook. I think the internet is a way to stay close to friends that you don't know that well. I hardly ever talk online to the people that I see all the time. We spend so much time on the internet that it isn't just hurting our way to socialize, it's hurting our hobby-time. People are spending less time on what they love to do because they are on the web. I think we should work on limiting our time on the computer. Maybe have a little alarm on the corner of the desktop reminding us to go outside and play.