Meet Virginia

Either CNN has done a total revamp or I really have changed a lot over the past 37 days. As Emily, Shirah, and I sat down to the glorious cheap salad bar in the grocery store we are parked near, I found myself absorbed in the T.V. Instead of tuning out information that was either too depressing or didn’t seem relevant in my life, CNN was more like a collage of stories that weaved gracefully into my thought process these last 6 weeks.

A black woman in D.C. overcoming obstacles of race and gender to start her own business, Detroit's economy and the film industry arising there because of tax incentives fit right into our discussion this week and were places that we had traveled to within the last 7 days. I am guilty of being the girl who says in a class I can't get excited about "I will NEVER use this is real life." Its been an invaluable privilege to be in a class where the text book is the people and places we visit.

Our day in Williamsburg today was no different. We started the day off at Bruton Parish for their 11:15 prayer service. One of the oldest still operating churches in the U.S. we got to experience the Episcopal church in a place full of history. The Parish was key in some of the early colonial politics and has pews dedicated to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Tyler, and James Monroe who had all worshiped there for significant amount of time.

After church and a quick lunch at a popular William and Mary hangout we set out for the Colonial Williamsburg experience. Talking to tourists, staff, members of the church, and the re-enactors lent to some interesting topics for our class time later on William and Mary's campus. At each stop we have been looking at the identity of the location and how it fits into the overall identity of our country. It wasn't hard for us to agree on a couple obvious themes in Williamsburg--patriotism and the emphasis on history. This wasn't a new idea to us in the past week, having just visited D.C., Philly, and Boston--which all show evidence of the same spirit. However, I couldn't help but wonder how some of the opinions we heard expressed today would have gone over on some of our West Coast stops.

One of the things that surprised all of us was that we sang a verse of "America the Beautiful" in church this morning. While I'm sure one of the sociology majors could write a interesting blog about the song as an example of the structural functional theory, I think it also demonstrates how much geographical location can effect the way people think and live. I got the chance to talk to one of the members of the church for awhile about Williamsburg and America at large. Janie had an unprecedented knowledge and passion for the history that had taken place in her community hundreds of years ago. She rattled off dates and names and challenged us on our knowledge of the U.S. and its history. She talked about how she could sit in church and regardless of the preacher, get the best sermon of her life knowing about what took place in the past to get her where she is today. Although it was clear we might not share all the same political views, I found myself admiring Jane for her knowledge and passion in an area I lacked.

Today we have Internet, Newspapers, and CNN to keep us up to date on the events happening all over our nation. However, my new found interest in current events, and Janie's life-long passion for Williamsburg demonstrate the impact of experiencing something first hand and reading about it or watching it on T.V. So how does that fit in on the grand scale of our country? It makes me think about the impact of D.C.'s location in our government, or why I've lived 20 years of my life without knowledge of whats taking place in places like Pine Ridge Reservation. If affirms the reason the West Coast is obsessed with preserving our environment when they have places like the Redwood Forest. I don't think travel is neccessary for these kinds of discoveries but I am thankful to have had the privilege to have my eyes opened.