Architecture And further travel

On our excursions to Weimar, Dresden, and especially Berlin, I was struck by the history of the country. Learning about buildings and monuments that are older than the entire country that I come from was both amazing and humbling. The thought that was put into the layout of the city and the reasoning behind the placement of the buildings really contrast to, for instance, Tampa's layout. Our guide also mentioned that one of the buildings remained only because the people voted to keep it. It's difficult to try to imagine the inhabitants of my city voting about a building that doesn't directly impact them or their skyline. Situations like that highlight the sense of community experienced here that was brought about  by the collective suffering as well as the collective successes of the people here. Americans may also present a united front in some cases, but because we're so heterogenous and different from one another it's difficult to find such unity. Being exposed to a different culture like this really allows you to look at your own culture with a new set of eyes. Instead of blindly declaring your own background to be the one and only superior culture, you can compare the two in order to find the strengths and weaknesses of each. I definitely feel less ignorant about the world around me as a result of our time here. I hope to continue feeling that way as I move on to other countries around Europe. Wish me luck!