Friday, May 30, 2008
Rockridge Oakland
When I walked into Rockridge, I couldn't believe that I was in another part of Oakland. Rockridge didn't feel like Oakland at all. The streets look different and the people act different. When we were looking for a place to eat, we didn't found any fast food places. We mostly found healthier restaurants. I went to eat at a Mexican restaurant, and it was surprising to see a long line of which no one was Mexican. The streets were really clean, unlike East Oakland. I felt completely safe walking around, and the people were nicer too. There weren't any people that I would say were rude to me. There were people who said no to the interview, but they said it in a nice polite way.
I think people in Rockridge can't relate with people from East Oakland. We are so different; they have their own style of life and we have ours. Rockridge is part of Oakland and I had never even visited there before. I think the only similarity that I found was that in Rockridge there were also minorities, but nowhere near to the number of minorities in East Oakland
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Chinatown
Before going to Chinatown I expected it to be hard. I knew that these people have different views and believes than I do, and I was not sure on how to approach them. When we were supposed to go and complete our interviews, we just stood around for a while. We just stared at each other and we had no idea on how to start the interviews. I was the one who approached someone first. A lot of people said no to us, and it was hard and frustrating. There was even one female that thought that we just wanted to ask for money.
Fruitvale and Chinatown are different. They represent really different cultures and backgrounds. When I am in Fruitvale I feel really comfortable, and when I was in Chinatown I felt really awkward. The similarities between these to places were that there is a sense of community. People in both places interact nicely with each other. They feel connected.
What surprised me about Chinatown was that it was dirty. I expected Chinatown to be cleaner that Oakland, but it was the same if not worse. For example, there was a trashcan and right next to it there was a big mess. Overall it was a good experience.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Fruitvale
Today we went to Fruitvale to interview some people about what they thought about their community. It was easier to do the interviews here in Fruitvale than in Walnut Creek. It think the reason is because I feel more comfortable going up to people here because they look more like me. I learned that there are people in Oakland who actually think Oakland is a nice place. There were a couple of people who thought that Oakland is not a bad place, that actually people from other places are the ones who come here and make it look bad. Today I had fun, and it was really interesting when we interviewed some Fire Fighters. They were really nice and polite. They had really interesting views about the questions we asked. They said that the negative things people say about Oakland is not news, is entertainment. They have their 5 o clock, 6 o’clock and 11 news shows about Oakland and their newspapers that just talk about negative issues in Oakland. Something I like about Fruitvale is that people seem more together and comfortable with each other. There is always a lot of people in Fruitvale, so gang activities and theft don’t occur around there much. Around the Fruitvale area a lot of people feel safe; they start feeling unsafe in the areas where is more lonely.
A few minutes ago my principal came into the classroom to tell us that four firemen came into the school to say that they had been impressed with four students that went over to interview them. They wanted to help our school and were going to give a scholarship to a graduating senior. I felt excited of the impression we caused. =)
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
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