Walking the Streets (an urban experience)

Today the honors class participated in an activity titled “Walking the Streets (an urban experience).” We took the bus to the light rail, when we got off we met Pastor Jacob Gillard, and then walked to rest of the way to his church (Trinity First Lutheran in Minneapolis). Along the way, he talked to us about residents of the neighborhood (including all the immigration and the diversity), some stories regarding the poverty of the neighborhood, and then the improvements and charity organizations in the neighborhood. At his church, a DCE talked with us and we were able to ask questions about the church, school, and neighborhood in general. After that, it was back to the bus and school.
This experience could be connected to Dress Lodger. The point of today was that by walking the streets, we would be able to make observations about the economic state of the neighborhood. In Dress Lodger, by the vivid descriptions of the setting, anyone walking down the street would easily be able to make observations about the impoverished area.
I really didn’t find the experience today that helpful. First of all, it was absolutely freezing, and even though I was very bundled up, it’s very difficult to focus on academic things when one is merely trying to stop shaking and get feeling back in their toes and legs. When we were walking, some buildings were pointed out and they were briefly described (mostly showing the diversity of the organizations that reached out to the multiple ethnic groups) along with enhanced/improved security features. However, this wasn’t really that interesting. I think it would have been much better if we could have gone into some of the buildings, talked to some of the volunteers, or volunteered in some way ourselves-we would have been more involved, and that’s more what I was expecting out of today. It’s true we did talk to the DCE at Trinity First, and there was some good information provided, but I was expecting to see more outside and in other buildings as well. Otherwise, all the information we learned (building/organizations and such that were pointed out) could have just been told to us in a lecture setting in a room that wasn’t freezing. There were interesting facts (such as added security cameras, most diverse city area, 130 {I think} charity organizations) but I don’t entirely understand why we had to walk to see these things. It would be like walking down in Washington DC and not going into any of the museums. I don’t know if I learned what I was supposed to, but, due to the fact that my main focus was to stay warm (that may have been part of the reason I didn’t learn that much) I did learn something that was related, but probably not the main focus, of today’s activity. I have to say, that after walking/being mostly outside for 3-4 hours in negative temperatures, I have an even more empathetic approach to the homeless, because I was frozen, and I don’t see how they can stand it, especially when they’re not well clothed to begin with.