The place we visited was Brick Lane and the ISCKON temple. One of the more interesting parts of this visit was seeing the architecture of the Brick Lane and how it differs from the rest of central London. The entire lane to the curry house we went to clearly got its name from the red brick buildings that were surrounding us as we made our way through various grocery stores, sweet shops and curry houses. As I was walking down this lane, I began to notice how different life in this particular part of London is. From starting with the French Huguenots, to later accommodating the Jewish population from Europe, to eventually allowing the Bangladeshi people to inhabit the area. This area is now the highest concentration of Bangladeshi people in England. It is amazing to me how this has been a place for many people to go and exist when they need refuge from oppression in other countries.

We also visited the ISCKON temple, which was very unimpressive from the outside and I had no idea that it would be such a sacred place on the inside. as I walked in following my classmates, I. began to realize. the intricate inner workings of the temple. It was amazing to me how efficiently they were able to use the space on the inside. When I walked into the the temple itself, I was taken aback by the music and dancing that I was witnessing. The best way that we were able to learn about the temple was through the song and dance that was present throughout the space that. we. were in. Even when we were in the lecture about the history of the Hare Krishna religion, there were devotees on the streets singing to the passersby and turning  the street into a Hare Krishna Party.

The other thing we did was eat at a curry house which was much more interesting to me than I was expecting. As we have gone through this course, we have learned about different foods that the British adapted from India. I tried the National Dish of England, which is Chicken Tikka Massala. I was expecting a very spicy dish that was difficult to eat. Instead I found a very mild dish that tasted a lot more like chicken marinated in tomato sauce rather than actually being marinated in a spicy sauce. While I was expecting Indian food to be spicy as it is in many stereotypes, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it has been so blended with current British tastes to reflect a milder taste palate.