National Park Services

The field trip to the Salem maritime historic site was a very fun experience. I learned so much more about Salem going to the sites. One thing that struck me the most was the eagle that was placed on top of the custom house in 1826. But in 2004 it was replaced with a fiberglass replica. I love how it had the arrow showing that we are strong and ready to fight and the olive branch representing that we offer peace.

When we all first got there the view was great. Although the ocean smell was not something I enjoyed it was still a beautiful view. With the amount of space there was by the ocean I can picture many people just walking around, boats arriving and people unloading products. 

While looking around we did one natural journal drawing mines was not very pretty but as time passes by I will get better at drawing.  

Also seeing were they will measure the spices or sugars etc. got my attention because its a brass balance scale and it reminded me of lawyers since it is something represents them. 

This experience helped me better understand sense of place in Salem. Learning the history of the Salem maritime and how people worked hard to earn money, grow a business and be successful was very interesting. But overall the amount of history, stories and the hard work of the people gave it a sense of place in Salem. 

Story telling

Today in class we had two guest speakers to talk to us about Salem, MA. One guest talked to us about how she is involved in creating activities for Salem for example being involved with the farmers market. Also the other guest speaker is a Salem historian and he talked to us about Salem and how he has been living in Salem for a while now since he started college at Salem State. But what struck me the most is the historian because he talked more about Salem and how it used to be very different in the past. I was interested in one of his story that he told us which was how he will always go to a restaurant called Red's and even have his own table there. The historian told us about Salem and the many activities it creates for the community to gather around to make Salem a better place. I think that it is very important to create activities because it is one way for people to gather around and get along with each other.

I did not ask any questions to the historian because while he was talking I will look at my questions and noticed that he basically answered them all. But it was great learning more about Salem and not only the past but also the present.

What I will like to learn more about Salem is the history of witches. Ever since I heard about the Salem witches I have always wanted to go and visit the sites and read about more about the history which I think is very interesting.

One thing I heard the visitors talk about was the farmers market and how popular it is. The farmers market is a place that everyone will go to and buy anything from produce to crafts. It is a local activity they do every year and many vendors from New England will go to sell their products and produce. It is said that about 10,000 people visited the market on a single Saturday. Also it is a great place to interact with others and I'm looking forward on visiting soon.
http://salemfarmersmarket.org/


This was very helpful ad interesting I definitely learned more about Salem. Both speakers were very helpful and also nice to us having the time to talk to us and answer any questions. Also I like how they talked to us about their history too because it helps me more to know how the people of Salem are like etc.

Having the time to prepare writing down questions for the speaker was helpful. It prepared me to be more involved on what to expect when they come to talk to us. It did make the talk more interesting because since I already knew some background information about them I wanted to see how they were when I will meet them. The speakers made me feel that Salem is a very good place with many opportunities and to always try and be involved because it will help you meet new people that can become good and friends and grow as a person. I think they could not have been better they definitely were good speakers and knew what they were talking about. Having these guest speakers impacted my engagement I used to not pay attention back in the days when guest speaker will come and speak to the class but now I definitely rate myself as a one being very engaged.