Week 7

I belong to many communities. First off, the main community I would say I belong to is Christianity. I feel I have strong faith. I was born and raised a christian but I think that I truly became a christian when I was in 8th grade. I just finally felt like God was actually talking to me in Church and he was. Now no one is perfect, yes I make mistakes and I sin but that does not make you not part of the "community." I think you can always be in this community even if you don't attend church or don't practice faith at all. I think if you believe that God died for your sins and is your savior I think you will always be a part of the community. Over the years, I would say I do not attend church as much as I did when I was younger and I am not very active in church anymore but I always feel welcomed. It is not always clear who believes or who doesn't. I do not judge, I believe you have the right to believe in whatever you want just like I have the right to believe in God. There are many values and beliefs I share with this community. I do not agree with all of it but I do believe in God. I believe Christianity is an important part of who I am. I have based my morals and believes on this community.

Another community I belong to would be athletes. I love working out and playing sports. I'm not good at every sport but I am not horrible either. I was very young when I first starting playing sports, I started with basketball and continue to play today. I also played soccer, softball, and gymnastics. I am not on any teams but I play basketball at the gym all the time just for fun. I wish I would've kept playing on a team but someone with my height does not usually make it too far is basketball without being amazingly good. I feel less a part of this community because I am not on a team but I still feel like I workout and play enough to still be an athlete. I think that it is clear who is and is not an athlete, you can tell by their level and energy and activity. Someone who is not is not very energetic and not active obviously. I don't think you have to be good, I think you just have to love playing. Sports and athleticism are a part of who I am because I have been playing for so long and I just love to play sports. I love beach volleyball and everything. A think a certain value that sports helps to develop is competitiveness and sportsmanship. Learning how to deal with losing is something everyone should be able to do. You don't always lose in sports but you lose "battles" with life all the time. Being able to accept things and move on to try harder is something I have gained from being an athlete.

Week 5

     If I were going to give a tour of Detroit, I feel like I would need to go to more than five places. If I had to choose just five I would start with the heart of Detroit, being The Spirit of Detroit Statue. I have always loved that statue. During hockey season is my favorite when he is wearing the Red Wings jersey. I feel like seeing that statue is very important. It's a great statue, shows "the spirit" of Detroit and our love for hockey during the season. It is a very important part of Detroit, it sits in front of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center. The statue is suppose to symbolize human relationships and God. The best part of the statue is the verse behind it. From, II CORINTHIANS 3:17, "Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." 
     The next place I would go on the tour is either the Northville Insane Asylum or Eloise. Both of these places are known for being haunted. I think it would be a cool place to stop to show people that we have some superstition in Michigan and that's pretty cool. These spots would be to scare my tourists a little, there have been documented pictures of ghost and old patients that were treated badly, beaten, given electroshock therapy and wrong treatments. Eloise was also suppose to house the poor, people were always crammed. Now you can still hear their moans.


     The third place I would go on my tour is probably one of the most places hit on a tour but the DIA. The DIA is probably one of the coolest places in Detroit. They have an exhibit on Detroit also. There are so many cool places to go into the DIA. One the best rooms I have ever seen is in the DIA, I'll post a picture. 

        

By far, the coolest room. There is so much great work in the DIA and it's pretty cheap for students. 
     The fourth place I would go on the tour is Campus Martius. Ice skating in Campus Martius is so fun and the fountain is beautiful. Campus Martius is cool because it was the center point for a new street grid after a fire destroyed a lot of Detroit. Campus Martius is where the rebuilding started. Detroit holds quite a few events in the winter around Campus Martius. 
     The last place I would go is Belle Isle. Belle Isle is one of my favorite spots, and also my mom's who is a professional photographer. There is a beautiful fountain that is on most of the time. Also, this is a great place to get a great view of the skyline. When the lights are on at dusk, is like an unforgettable image. It's a great big park, there's also an hold casino on the grounds that I have seen being rented for weddings but otherwise I don't think it's open to the public. The casino is really cool and people go swimming in the Detroit River, I personally wouldn't, it's too cold. There is also a conservatory and aquarium on the grounds. The old yacht club use to be right at the entrance of the island. Definitely one of the prettiest places Detroit has to offer. 

Week 4

I am going to use a very common example. The Wizard of Oz. Dorothy's real world is black and white and then she goes to the land of oz and its all colorful. Also, the whole area is colorful then when she's at the witches castle, it's all dark and gloomy. The colors really set the emotions. The creator uses the idea of a dream land with inanimate objects coming to life like the scarecrow and the tinman. The lion is obviously a real thing but they make him a person instead of just an animal. The creator made the witches castle gray and smoky, this is obviously to show her evilness. Throughout the movie, each character keeps talking about what they need, like Dorothy needs to get home, the lion needs to get courage, etc.. Each thing they need represents a theme, Dorothy's theme is there's no place like home. The brain, heart, and courage represent the idea of good characteristics in a person. In the end, the wizard tells them that they posess these items or could achieve these things all on their own, this represents the idea of strong self esteem and to believe in yourself. I personally would not want to live there just because it isn't my scene.

Week 3

After I saw the movie Leap Year, a cheesy chick flick, that is filmed in Ireland and throughout the whole movie I couldn't help but watch the scenery. There were so many parts in the movie where I was just taken away by the view. I don't think I could just stay in one city but if I had to, I would pick the Dingle Peninsula. What I love about Dingle is all the green hills and mountains. At the end of the movie, the main actress is standing by this cliff and they pan out to a full view and all I wanted to do when I saw that is go cliff diving even though there is probably rocks at the bottom and I would die, but it was just so pretty and look like a lot of fun. Also, I am a huge fan of Sons of Anarchy, the t.v. series, they do most of a season in Ireland and all I could see again of the scenery is beautiful green hills and mountains. I definitely would live there if I had the chance. Of course, just like any place on earth, there is an ugly side. Luckily I haven't heard or seen anything bad about Ireland except for the IRA which is a terrorist group but other than that, Ireland is my dream spot.