5c: Reflection #2 of Project 4

Choose any 1 classmate of project 4 that wrote about an entirely different set of authors and
use the following format in a blog post.

1. Who is your classmate, what is the component category, what is the name of the choice?
I chose to comment on Jeana Wiemeyer's 4a Group#3 blog on the stories of F. Dumas, D. Major, M. Chabon, and K. Goldmark. I enjoyed reading all the stories and I was able to relate to most of them but ultimately I decided to focus on Bienvenidos a Newport Beach by Firoozeh Dumas.
2. What is something this classmate said about the choice that relates to any of the assignments in projects 2-3?
It was interesting that Jeana pointed out in the summary that the author's new place in Newport Beach overlooked a KFC. The quote is kind of cliche, I think it points out how mainstream America is, we are obsessed with fast food places that there is always a few closeby in the city, i.e. the Starbucks around every corner. I think there were several students chose Newport Beach as one of beaches to compare to in our "beaches" blog and we learned about how many people assume that there's lots of wealthy people and they're very snobby as we've seen on shows like The O.C. and Laguna Beach and Arrested Development filmed many of their scenes at that location.

3. What is something different this classmate said about their choice that you did not realize before when you completed projects 2-3?
I did not realize that the streets in the neighborhood the author lived in had all Spanish names and began with "vista" yet these homes only had views of the others that looked just like them! I think it'd be interesting to know who & how these people come up w/these names and most of them have a common theme throughout the neighborhood. I know a neighborhood where the street names share the common theme of tennis like Doubles, Arthur Ashe, Matchpoint, and Deuce. and another one that shares a Native American theme like Navajo, Cherokee, Apache, Mohawk, and Sioux, it has been nicknamed "Indian Village".

4. How would you relate this to Freire's ideas regarding dialogue? For example, you went in thinking one idea, your classmate had a different idea. What new idea emerged from this process?
I think these stories also further show us how widespread diversity can be, no matter where we grew up, how we were raised, what friends we had, or where we've moved to & what we become, we all have our own unique experiences that are very special to us. Every assignment/component that we've done is a piece of the puzzle which ultimately comes together as the state of California. Not only have we learned about California through our own research and reading the personal experiences of the authors but also through our interaction w/each other we've learned much more about the state we live in & about each other b/c many students read the same stories but focused on different aspects to the story which I thought was very interesting & Friere would have been proud! It's as though we all came together, threw our thoughts & opinions(ingredients) into a big pot, mixed them together & produced a wonderful new stew!

5. How has project 2-3 helped you with the readings of the textbook?
I have lived in California all my life & have travelled to numerous cities but I never thought about how diverse California could be. I mean I knew certain things based on other people's experiences and whatnot but even then I only heard about a few cities in general. The way we approached these cities through our research & reading My California, I felt as if we took a more in-depth look and that's something I probably would've never done on a normal basis in my own life. I gained a lot of knowledge and insight upon completing these project components and these last two projects made me really want to read the book in its entirety b/c they seem so intriguing and it'll be interesting to see what I got out of it versus what other students did. Through this class, I feel like I learned so much about the inner beauty of California and it has made me appreciate living here more!