Tuesday, April 16, 2013

A Fez of the Heart

1.  One passage that I found interesting while reading was "in its twenty-year transformation, it seemed that Pomegranate had lost more than it had gained, and it was hard to see what could reclaim it" (page 11).  This was in regard to Halil saying that life in Pomegranate was no longer fun and all everyone does now is business. I found this interesting because it made me think about the exercise we did involving what people in other countries thought of Americans.  The Turkish people strived so hard to be technologically advanced that they ended up loosing their culture and being caught up in the business aspect of life much like Americans are.  It amazed me how westernized the city had become in such a short amount of time.

2.  The fact that wearing a fez is illegal unless its to promote tourism is a good example of how culture and economics interact.  The Turkish people saw very quickly that tourism was going to better their economy and wearing a fez was a way to take advantage of that.  Making it so that tourists were having a good experience meant that they would spend more and more money and in turn change the economy.  By changing cultural values, such as wearing or not wearing a fez, the Turkish people were able to boost their economy.

3.  A major tourist attraction in Spain is El Prado.  Tourists like to visit there because they have a chance to witness a lot of history in one place.  The museum is filled with hundreds of paintings of all different styles from a number of different artists so there is something for everyone to enjoy.

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