1.The highlight of Professor Gupta’s class this week was the documentary that we watched on Wednesday. It made me think about a lot of new things. I thought that I was pretty aware of the ways I am influenced and which influences I chose to let in. However, I was not aware that undercover marketing exists. I know that there is constant marketing on social media and on TV, but I never imagined that the same kind of influences exist in our everyday lives. It is a scary thought that we can’t make active decisions about what we consume because we don’t even always know we are consuming it. This makes me think more about the question regarding marketing to children. I do think companies should be able to market to children in some capacity, but I do not think undercover marketing should target the children. Meaning, I think parents should always have the option to separate their children from the influences they do not want to reach them. 

2. This week in our internship seminar we were given an image of someone crying over the results of a presidential election and another of people cheering for the University of Michigan in full gear. We were asked to explain these images how we would to an Italian. I found this experiment very interesting because these are not things I realized did not exist in Italy. In America our political affiliation is usually a deeply ingrained part of who we are – it hadn’t occurred to me that this wasn’t the case everywhere. The same is the case with being proud of where we went to college. I am enjoying learning about these small but important cultural differences. I think that it will cause me to think more about what I do and why I do it. I have always thought that my identity was most heavily impacted by Judaism, but I am realizing that being American has also had a very significant effect on me. 

3. My internship experience was a little different this week because I was remote for most of it. At first I was excited about this because it gave me more time to go to the gym and relax. However, I ended up really missing being in person. I have found that I am much more productive in the office, but I also have more fun. When I finally returned to the office yesterday (once my coworkers were back from being away) I had a lot of fun catching up with them and moving on to my next project at work. I had been doing a lot of research and brainstorming, but I finally started building them a website. I’m having a lot of fun creating the website because it has allowed me to be creative. It is not something I have ever done before, but I think I am off to a very good start!

4. On Saturday night I traveled from Lake Como to the nearby mountains. At first my friends and I were worried about the hotel we were staying in because it was old and a little dark. However, it ended up being a really great experience. They served us the best dinner I have had since being in Italy along with delicious desserts. The next day we saw cows being herded by dogs and the little factory that makes cheese out of their milk. Then we hiked to an old church. The views were stunning and we had a lot of fun. I probably never would have been to a place like that without IES and I am grateful for the experience.