Pokemon No-Go

August 4, 2016

My favorite museum or landmark has been the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The reason that this is my favorite landmark is because I have read and heard about this landmark for years now. I have had previous history professors tell me this landmark was a must-see and I have family friends that live here that told me how beautiful the architecture of this landmark is. I have seen countless different photographs of this monument from different photographers. Seeing this monument in person was breathtaking. Our tour guide did a fantastic job at explaining the history behind how this monument came to be as well as explaining the history behind the architecture and the architect. The monument consists of different pillars raised at different levels. We are not allowed to sit on the top of them. The purpose of this monument is to get lost in it and I sure did. Experiencing this monument in real life was very quiet. You keep to yourself and your thoughts. Something that bothered me was when I saw tourists playing Pokemon Go inside of the monument. I couldn’t believe that people had the audacity to be so disrespectful. I heard them speaking in a British accent and I told them that they were being disrespectful and they looked up at me and walked away. This was something that really stuck with me and honestly ruined my mood for the rest of the day. I could not believe that at such an important monument, one that is meant to be safe, respectful, and quiet these tourists were playing a stupid game. I did the best that I could to not let this experience bother me because it wasn’t about me or anyone else it was about respecting and honoring the lives that were taken during the Holocaust.

My favorite class field trip so far has been our day trip to Hamburg. The reason that this has been my favorite excursion so far is because we had an amazing boat tour and we had time to explore. At first, I was worried that I was going to be seasick but everyone in our group was fine. Our boat tour was beautiful. This tour took us around all the different parts of Hamburg. We got to see the extremely nice areas that makeup Hamburg. I saw some of the largest, most expensive mansions I’ve ever seen in Europe so far! They looked like old palaces that reminded of me of these famous mansions that you can see on vacation in Rhode Island. During this boat tour all of us were sitting very close to each other and whenever there was a big wave some of us would get soaked. It was a beautiful day to spend time on the boat, the sun was shining and it wasn’t too hot! After the boat tour we had time to relax and walk around. This area was filled with expensive shops, quaint cafes, and countless different food shops. We went to an outdoor food place and got delicious salads and coffee. This area was much more expensive than the area that we are staying in. It was at that time I was grateful we weren’t staying in this area because I would have ended up spending a lot of money!

Written By

Thalia Carroll-Cachimuel

My goals for studying abroad are being able to immerse myself in a new environment as well as apply classroom concepts to our travels. I have chosen the Politics of Space: Islam, Gender, Sexuality in Berlin to continue expanding on my fervor for travel as well as explore personal topics of interest. I have a passion for social justice and viewing and interpreting social issues from critical and different lenses. A fact about myself is that I have participated in the Alternative Spring Break program at NEU twice. My first trip was in Tahlequah, Oklahoma where I worked on a Cherokee Reservation in the Early Childhood Unit and my second trip was in Jinotega, Nicaragua where I worked in a local learning center that provided educational services to children from low-income areas.