Storytelling to figure out ones place in Salem

Today in class we had two visitors come visit us to talk to us about their experiences and stories in Salem, MA, and finding our sense of place. One of our guest talked about her partnership with the Salem Farmers Market and the second one was a local historian who talked about his finding of a sense of place in downtown Salem. I found it really interesting when he was telling his story about the community he came a part of living on derby street and always going to RED's Sandwich Shop! This struck me because communities have always been a big part of my life growing up. To me being a part of a community helps create a sense of place.

I did not ask a question.  However I found out that a bar called in the pig's eye closed and it was a local tragedy. This came up with a question asked from a classmate who played guitar and was looking for a place to get a gig at. I found this interesting because live music events have always been an interest of mine.

I would love to learn more about the rich history of downtown Salem as it is always changing. Just from hearing about how our first speaker was talking about how REDS was in the past and how it s now, the whole atmosphere has shifted.

RED'S Sandwich Shop- "WHERE THE LOCALS MEET TO EAT" (redssandwichshop)
They like to pride them selves on being where the local go to eat. After looking at RED'S website I have learned that they have opened up a new location in Peabody. Also it has been a popular landmark for Salem for over 50 years! RED'S is definitely on my list to go check out with friends to get a sense of the community of Salem!
http://redssandwichshop.com/

In preparing for our speakers to come tell their stories to our class about Salem, learning some background on them was fairly helpful. It allowed for me to understand a deeper meaning on what they were actually referring to. Understanding the background information made listening easier and it made me more interested to hear more about their stories.

Both of the speakers mentioned places and ways to get involved in the Salem community to help identify a sense of place. For me these resources will help me to develop my sense of place and where i fit into Salem's Community. Our first speaker effectively made it interesting to listen to his story by making it relate-able and funny; while presenting important lessons on finding a sense of place. It could of been better to break up the days on which we heard from both speakers. This would of made it easier for me to fully engage in our second guest speaker's story. For our first guest I rated myself a two as being engaged with the experience. I gave myself a two for engagement because I was interested in what he was saying but it was very long and toward the end  I found myself loosing focus. For our second speaker I rated my engagement a 4 because my attention span was gone from listening to our first speaker and I found myself spacing out a lot and adding to my map of SSU. Although I did find what I payed attention to about the farmers market and the dog parade was very informative.