For someone like me who is likes to stay in and watch Netflix, this project was actually difficult . Although I am a senior now and only have a few months left in Austin, I haven’t done much exploring. This project was a a good way to step out of my comfort zone and do things I otherwise wouldn’t have done.

First I went to go and watch the bats at the South Congress bridge. If you’re thinking, “that doesn’t sound fun” then you’re feeling the same way  felt when my friends suggested the idea. They dragged me to the bridge and I actually ended up having a lot of fun. Of course it was interesting seeing the bats fly but what was more fun to me was being around everyone there. There were people having dinner, a guy playing an Alicia Keys song on the guitar and kids taking naps on the grass. The atmosphere was welcoming and “chillax” as I’d like to call it. So try it out if you get some time one of these days!

 

Another thing I ended up doing was taking my little sister and brother to the Barton Springs pool. Now, I can’t swim but my little brother and sister can and they had a blast. I ended up putting my feet in the water and listening to the music while making sure they stayed out of trouble. Interesting story: the man in the photo had been dragged down to the pool by his daughter and son. His kids ended up making friends with my little sister and brother so we all went out to eat after! My little brother and sister had such a good time they have been begging me to go back.

 

 

Lastly, I went to Gordough’s for the first time. Now, I’m not the type of gal that does brunch (actually I’ve never actually had brunch) because I always wake up early and I’m always hungry when I wake up. Instead I had some yummy Gordough’s for dinner. I had the “mother clucker” which was absolutely delicious. I imagined the donuts to actually look like donuts but they were just big balls of dough with no hole! It was super delicious though. I ended up buying another donut to go called the “the freebird”. I’ve actually gone back a couple times since just to get some more!

 

My perception of the digital culture has definitely reinforced what I’ve been thinking. Before this class began I lived by the statement “If you didn’t take a pic then it didn’t happen”. This is something I and my friends so to each other all the time. For instance when my friend said she say Kanye on the drag, we told him we couldn’t believe it cause there was no proof. In this way, my phone is an archive of every special moment, specifically my pictures. These events have shown me how as “millennials” we shouldn’t be put down for being on our phones. We’re simply creating memories but we’re also making sure we can come back to it and relive it if we ever feel the need. It’s fun looking back at the pictures I had to the experiences because it takes me back to that same day. If i hadn’t taken a photo on the man at Barton Springs I may forget it ever happened. Digital culture allows us to store parts of our life somewhere other than our brain, so when we become overwhelmed and our minds are occupied with stressful situations we can take ourselves back to a time where we were carefree.

Now for part two, I must say that my phone made me feel a little “isolated”. I put isolation in quotation marks because while I was isolated  from the people in my immediate surroundings, I was still very connected to my friends that weren’t with me. For instance at Gordough’s I put a picture of my food in the group chat to show them what they were missing but that meant ignoring my friend that was right there enjoying the moment with me. There were also moments that I felt that it did the exact opposite. For instance at Barton Springs a family asked me to take a photo of them and after taking the photo, the mom and I ended up talking about how we’re happy the kids were having fun but we wanted to take a nap. In this way I feel that my phone has only added to my experiences. It allowed me to share it with others I care about and in other scenarios facilitated me knowing others.