My experience in London

As my time in London comes to an end, I reminisce on all the amazing things I got to experience and the great people I got to meet. As a student, I had the opportunity to know the British culture through the courses I took. I participated in many tours such as the Toynbee Hall, Brick Lane, and Foundling Hospital. It focused on the different parts of London as social welfare, its history and at the same time its entertainment which was very beneficial for me to learn.

London has a lot of amazing markets that portray the different cultures that exist and the different things that are important to the culture as a whole. My favourite market is Camden Market. The market consists of food, clothing, and many different cultures integrating into one place. It has a punk atmosphere and an incredible sense of acceptance for different cultures. During my time at Camden, I have tried many different foods from Cuban, Peruvian, Argentinean, and Turkish and have also learned about those cultures through those visits.

Along with Camden, I have visited Greenwich Market, Portobello Market, and have found that I learned a lot about London by going to those markets and about the neighbourhood in which is located. London is an extremely diverse city so to learn about the different people and the different neighbourhoods was extremely useful to the understanding of it all.

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I have found that interning at Latin America Disabled People's Project (LADPP) has also allowed me to learn about London and the ways in which a group can often have hardships when integrating into the culture. I believe that my time at LADPP developed my understanding to other parts of London that are not apparent to a lot of people. I believe that I have brought myself to become more open to the unknown and ask questions to begin to understand the ways in which other people live in London. 

It was an incredible place for me to learn about myself, to be curious, build an acceptance for the unknown, and begin to love differences amongst one another. Overall, my time in London has been nothing but magnificent and I am grateful for having the opportunity to discover my abilities and pass a cross-cultural perspective to America.
 
Text and Photo by: Scarlyn Gutierrez

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