Michigan (08/27/03)
Last updated 9/27/03
Russian translation here
Detroit
Uhm, I'm at a loss for
words to describe our Detroit experience, so I'm leaving it to Puneet.
I guess I'm still on track for updating all of our blogs roughly a
month after the actual experience, so here goes.... Before I get
into the nitty-gritty of our actual sight-seeing and all, I wanted to
thank the Relan family for their hospitality during our stay. A special
thanks to Manisha for the detailed map of the city that she drew out
for us and for giving us her room during our visit.
We saw a lot in Detroit which confirmed its "Motor City" nickname -- a
variety of car facilities were scattered throughout the region (Ford
and GM had a variety of manufacturing and testing facilties); one of
the largest skyscrapers in the city is the GM building, and another
building of marked prominence in the Hartz Plaza is the Ford-UAW
(United Auto Workers -- though their site says they are much more -- is
one of the largest labor unions in the country); we saw a prototype
vehicle being driven on the streets -- it had canvas covers on the
front and back and was painted a wierd black and white polka-dot so it
was difficult to figure out the exact shape of the car; and finally the
Henry Ford Museum which glorified everything automobile (though it had
much, much more) and was a testament to the importance of this city in
the industrial development of this country.
That said, Detroit is also one of the most ghetto cities I have ever
seen, and I can't honestly say that I'd want to live in the city...
seems that most people who have money have moved to the suburbs
surrounding the city (a departure from what I'm used to in San
Francisco, and what I've seen in Boston, NY, and several other cities
in which the homes/condos in the cities are actually quite pricey and
nice), and that most people living in the downtown area are probably
not doing it by choice. We took a tour around Detroit using a nice
monorail system (think People Mover at Disneyland; a very useful
transport system which allows visitors to get a good feel for the city
-- more cities should have something like this). Unfortuantely, what we
saw on the monorail wasn't as cool as the monorail itself. There are
quite a few large apartment high-rises in the downtown area but they
look downright scary -- graffiti all over them (I'm talking about
people's names being spelled out, a letter on each window, on say the
5th-6th floors of these buildings, get the idea?), and most of them
looking like tennements that you see in the movies. I wonder if any of
them would pass fire-safety standards... It was a bit bizzarre because
they had some beautiful churches and a few brand-spanking new apartment
buildings, which were in the midst of these other scary buildings. Most
of the time Daria could only gawk and clutch my hand in fear (which
says something since we'd been through the downtowny parts of many
cities in the country by now, and we live in Berkeley, hardly the most
posh place in the world).... lets just say that I would be loathe to
drive through some parts of downtown detroit at night -- ever seen
Bonfire of the Vanities? The scene where Tom Hanks drives through the
Bronx at night? Same idea here...
The ghetto rant aside, the Henry Ford Museum was a pretty cool place --
"America's Greatest History Attraction", and I would've liked to have
spent more time there. A happy coincidence was that the presence of a
James Bond exhibition which has toured the world and made the Henry
Ford museum it's only stop in the US (I may be wrong on this). We got
to see all sorts of props from the movies, and got the chance to become
agents and answer all sorts of difficult (in my opinion) questions
about the Bond movies... a really fun time if you're into Bond stuff.
My dad would've really enjoyed this one. They even had the Aston Martin
and Jaguar from Die Another Day.... pretty neat stuff. Anyhow,
that's all I have to say about Detroit, now onto updating other blogs.
Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI, is a lovely college
town hosting a University of Michigan campus. I was amused to notice
the similarities between this school and UC Berkeley. For one, both
campuses seem to monopolize the honor of being "the school" of the
state; the welcome banners at UMich simply read "Welcome to Michigan",
just like Berkeley welcomes its students to "Cal" (short for
California). The school flag of UMich, visible in a picture below,
proudly announces "M" -- not even "U M"! I suppose educational
institutions are allowed the liberty of self-identifying with the
state, while a church organization would be severely reprimanded for
this sort of association. What's even funnier, the official colors of
UMich and UC Berkeley (well, all of the UC system) are the same: blue
and gold. I was trying to point out the difference in the exact shade
of blue but I'm afraid I was deluding myself, they are identical. Hence
all apparel and gifts at UMich bookstore, as well as students'
sweatshirts, campus banners, and university shuttles at Ann Arbor look
very much like those in Berkeley. The difference between the two
campuses must be much more striking in winter when Ann Arbor sits knee
deep in snow while Berkeley gets, at worst, rainy... Snowfall in April
was the main reason why Puneet chose not to go to Michigan for grad
school, and since I'm not a big fan of the winter season myself, I'm
quite happy with Berkeley as our permanent residence.
Pictures
Somehow we got no pictures
of Detroit except for the Henry Ford Museum (incl. James Bond
exhibition).
At the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit
On the Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan
At the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit
