The Final Blog

This year has flown by and it seems like just yesterday I was sitting on my couch looking at all the different sequence courses and trying to figure out which one to take. I ended up taking this class because of my love for the Spanish language, and I thought it would be really interesting and beneficial to learn more about the Latin American culture, since I knew nothing about it and have never left this country. I was not really excited about this class and I just wanted to get it done and get rid of my gen eds, however, I am really glad I ended up taking this class. I learned so much from it and really enjoy all of the people in this class. Unlike my 200+ student BMS class, this class was really small and allowed for many friendships and fun moments. To be honest, I was pretty terrified at the beginning of the year, and the work for this class was really intimidating, but looking at the 2 foot-tall mountain of books sitting on my desk and the 100+ pages of writing, I can say I did it and that I am extremely proud of myself. I think that in this class alone, I have read more and wrote more than I have in my whole life. Sad I know. But really, I feel like I have grown as a reader and as a writer, along with pushing myself to think for myself more and question why things are the way they are. This class was definitely the hardest class I have ever taken in my life, as expected, but I really felt like I got a lot out of it. It definitely pushed me outside my comfort zone and taught me to think. The best part about this class was Prof. Serrata's part and the group discussions and projects. I thought it taught valuable group skills and lessons that will be useful in the future and it was fun getting to know all your different classmates. Thank you Prof. Serrata and Stark for caring about our learning and pushing us to succeed. Though at times there was anger, frustration, weeping, near death experiences, and sleepless nights. There were many good times and funny moments with classmates that made this class worth it and great experience. I shall miss the people, but never the work ;)

Reply to Caitlin's Blog Post 11

Wow that video is really powerful. Good work in finding it. It made me angry that's for sure. As you said, I can definitely see how this one minute video could and did change peoples' view of Nicaragua. I also like your point that this is how media can be used for good. Nowadays, we see so much crap and pointless things from the media. Media definitely can be used for good, it just depends on the people and whether it will be good or just pointless crap. I would say that it is pretty lucky that the camera man also was not killed and that the footage survived. I wonder what would have been different if this footage was not taken. I definitely think that the U.S would not have withdrew their support as soon as they did if this footage was not taken. It is always interesting how one person or one small thing or event in history can influence the future in an enormous way. Thank you for finding this incredible footage! I am sure Prof. Stark will be very happy!

Blog 11- Two Poems

I guess for this blog I am going to just talk about the two poems we read over the last week, "The Heights of Macchu Picchu" by Pablo Neruda, and "In the Language of Memory" by Gioconda Belli, and the similarities and differences that I mostly saw between them along with what I liked and did not really like of the two poems. These thoughts are probably not going to be new to you but it just helps me to think it out and remember by talking (or typing) random ideas.

Obviously, the biggest similarity I saw was that both poets talked about and remembered the past indigenous culture. The way that my group and I saw them differ was that Belli seemed to express her emotion more in her poem than in Neruda's poem. Belli expressed more anger and showed that she was upset with what happened and the outcome of the Spanish Conquest while Neruda seemed sad and disappointed but did not seem to express it as anger as much as Gioconda Belli did. Also, Belli brings about the past indigenous culture through memory while Neruda actually visits Macchu Picchu and remembers and brings about the past indigenous culture through looking at the actual ruins. The poem "In the Language of Memory" also talks specifically about the Spanish Conquest and addresses the fall of the indigenous people while in "The Heights of Macchu Picchu", Neruda seems to be curious as to why and what happened, but does not specifically address it. The final similarity/difference is that both authors write about a journey and something that they are searching for, but Neruda is kind of searching more for the truth of life (his own life), while Belli seems to be more interested in learning more about her indigenous ancestry and their way of life. Obviously there are a ton of other similarities and differences, but these are a few that stuck out to me and a few that my group discussed in class.

Overall, I would say that I am slowly beginning to enjoy poetry more. I have always appreciated it, but never really liked it because of the difficulty it gives me. I enjoyed Gioconda Belli's "In the Language of Memory" more because of the simple fact that I was able to understand it better than the other poem. Both were a challenge for me, but I felt as though that in Neruda's poem, I had no clue what he was talking about and no clue what the general theme was... I would say it does help a lot just being given a broad direction in what the poem is talking about, but of course, there is an infinite amount of ways to interpret literature. That is why I like math and science, because there is one answer and it is not just guessing. Also, in Neruda's poem, I felt as though he was just throwing together random words with no meaning or reason... and it made me frustrated. These were just some random thoughts from the group discussion and from what I felt when I read these two poems.

Reply to Matt's Blog 10

Yeah this family was weird. I did not understand what the brothers were trying to accomplish. I was pretty impressed by Juan Yarur, the father, and his entrepreneurship skills . I remember in the book that his opponents even called him "the best business strategist that I have ever seen." I agree with you that when Jorge took over it was quite comical. Looks like his father did not have too good of a relationship with that son. He took his father's success and as you said, threw it out the window for his own style of business, where production and cost were everything. The Taylor System was also interesting and good for money, but a worker's worst nightmare. I also am kind of curious as to how the brothers got such different views, and although Amador was like his father, as you said, still lacked the charisma and ability to make connections like his father. These are good thoughts and I feel the same way you do. Kind of a comical situation and family.

Blog 10- The Heights of Macchu Picchu

This past week we read "The Heights of Macchu Picchu"by Pablo Neruda. I enjoyed some parts of it, but other parts I found to be extremely confusing and extremely random. For example, Section IX seemed like a just a series of completely random words thrown together that had no relation to each other and made no sense. Oh poetry... I will never understand. I always feel proud of myself when I figure something out, even if it is extremely easy. Like in the third section, I thought that when it talked about "eight to four or nine to five" that it must be talking about work, and that it somehow related to the death that he was talking about. I feel as though this suggests that the urban people and workers are the ones who experience many deaths. The many deaths would be just the struggles and repetitions of life that the ordinary worker experiences. Maybe Neruda is trying to inspire people to do something that they love instead of boring work, because that type of work eats away at people each day. I found Neruda’s description of Macchu Picchu kind of interesting specifically in section IX. Though confusing, a few words stuck out to me. I noticed that starting in line 5, he uses the word stone in 7 straight lines. This obviously has to be important if it repeated so much. He might use stone in reference to the buildings or solid foundation of the city. The phrase “bloody rock” also stuck out to me because it gives the reader a vivid image of what happened to the people of this great city. I think it would be awesome to travel there and see the ruins of Macchu Picchu. Well, I know it would be awesome actually. I feel like it is one place I really would love to see and seeing that I have never left the country in my life. Why not? That would be an awesome opportunity to visit a Latin American country and see an incredible historical site that I now know about and have learned about the culture of the people who lived there. 

Reply to Gabbie's Blog 9

I was also kind of surprised by the ending. I feel as though throughout the first part of the story you kind of get the feeling that Balthazar is a skilled and kind of smart and humble guy. I also felt as though Balthazar and his wife were very different people. He was caring and did not care too much about money and she was not caring but cared all about the money. I honestly would not have expected him in the end to blow all his money and be as irresponsible as he was, so that kind of confused me. I also wish that the ending was a little more epic and I like the way you wished it had ended!

Blog 9- Assassination Attempts on Fidel Castro

Don't laugh at me. I really do not know anything about Cuba or Fidel Castro's reign. When Professor Stark assumed everyone had heard of Che Guevara before. I have never even heard that name ever in my life... All I associated with Fidel Castro was bad. I did not really know why but that is all I ever thought. During the lecture, I honestly had no clue that assassination attempts were made on Fidel, but these attempts really intrigued me while reading a chapter in Chomsky which went into a little bit of detail behind these attempts. So I am decided to do a little more research behind these theories.

The one thing I keep seeing while researching this topic is "638 ways to kill Castro", which I believe is a film about the assassination attempts. My first reaction is that there is no way that this can be true and he could have survived all of these attempts. Apparently, there actually were around 600 assassination attempts according to a man named Fabian Escalante who was the head of Cuban Secret Service, and he has survived all of them... Hard to believe. His survival is really because of the protection and caution that his protectors and security people take. There are some very complex ways that people have tried to kill Fidel. The CIA has made an explosive cigar, a poisonous cigar, a syringe that looks like a pen, along with some more creative attempts like putting spores and bacteria in a wetsuit and making an exploding conch shell. The CIA also tried to bribe a mistress of Castro, Morita Lorenz, to poison Castro with special pills, but Fidel knew something was wrong and even gave her a gun to kill him, but she said that she could not do it. Even in 2000, there apparently was a plan to kill Castro during his visit to Panama by placing 200 lbs of high explosives under the podium from which he was going to speak. Again, this was foiled by Castro's security team. All of these attempts have desperately affected the way Castro lives his life. He is no longer able to talk with the people and wander the streets and he has moved his home around 20 different times.

Obviously we do not know all of the specifics on all 638 of these apparent attempts on the life of Fidel, but these are a few of the known ways that I found kind of interesting. It still amazes me how a man can survive over 600 assassination attempts. Either the assassins are complete failures or Castro is invincible...

Reply to Caitlin's Blog Post 8

This is really interesting! I am really intrigued by these specifics of this assasination. I agree with you that when I think of an assassin, I think of a person with no feelings, no heart, and not really caring about their own life. However, the fact that these assassins held off because there was a crowd of school children is interesting. I really wish that no one would ever murder anyone, but hey, this is a fallen world and the chances of that are basically zero... I would love to think that these men did not shoot Villa at this specific time out of the goodness of their heart, but it is kind of hard to believe that they really care about others when they are trying to murder someone. However, this story does lead one to believe that these assassins did take the children into account and did have some kind heart and caring feelings although their acts may prove otherwise. But maybe there was a risk that the assassins saw with the children, not necessarily because they cared about the children, but maybe like if they shot Villa in front of the children, then maybe the word would spread quicker and there was a higher chance that they would be caught (if they actually cared about that). Maybe... It is so hard for me to believe that murderers actually care, but that is just me. Again, as Gabrielle and Caitlin said, we will never know the true motives unfortunately, but thank you for the intriguing story!

Blog 8- Thoughts on "The South"

Before spring break, we read "The South", by Jorge Luis Borges. I thought it was a pretty interesting short story, and again, I really enjoyed the fact that it was fiction. With fiction, there are almost always many different ways to interpret the reading and many different ideas that can be taken out of a story. One thing that I believe became pretty clear to me by the end of this short story was that Juan Dahlmaan never truly left the sanitarium.

Dahlmaan is hospitalized by a pretty careless injury, hitting his head on something while running up the stairs. He initially talks about basically experiencing hell and the pain that he experienced with this injury. The surgeon actually told him that he was on the point of death from septicemia. First of all, I looked up sepsis and discovered that even today; sepsis takes the lives of millions of people each year. This is one fact that might lead the reader to believe that Dahlmaan never made it out... Another hint that Dahlmaan's wound was fatal is that in the beginning of the second paragraph, Borges states that "destiny can be ruthless at one's slightest distraction." This statement kind of foreshadows that this injury is going to prove to be fatal and that this is his unfortunate destiny. Also, later in the story (supposedly after he is released from the sanitarium), Juan rides a train and gets off at a general store where he recognizes the shopkeeper to be one of the male nurses from the sanitarium. This leads me to believe that he is actually just imagining this whole experience and that the shopkeeper is purely a figment of his imagination, and he is actually the male nurse. Finally, at the end of the story, Dahlmaan is able to choose his own death. He describes it being "a liberation, a joy, and a festive occasion" which to me seems quite an odd way to describe death. He also relates being stuck with the needle in the sanitarium to being killed with a knife and that "this would have been the death he would have chosen or dreamt." All of these signs lead to the main idea that Dahlmaan never really got better, and that the events he experienced after being released from the sanitarium were all just a figment of his imagination and a dream that would never truly come true.

Reply to Elena's Blog 7

I really enjoy all these images that you showed. I agree with you that the general goals of mural and graffiti artists are similar. However, I feel like there are key differences between the two. Sadly, I know almost nothing about murals or graffiti, but I feel as though the huge problem with graffiti art is that it is illegal... I do agree with you that both artists are trying to convey their ideas and thoughts to the public through their art and that they are similar in that sense. I feel like they are different though because murals are normally more realistic and planned out while graffiti is more cartoony and spontaneous. Artists who make murals are also normally formally trained and have the right or consent to do their art, where graffiti artists are still extremely talented and as you said, self-taught, but they do not have the property owner's consent to make their art. I like both types of art although I do not know much about either kind so let me know if I am wrong about anything. Both types of artists are amazing and I wish I could experience this kind of art more.

Blog Post 7- Mural Thoughts

I was completing this weekend's discussion questions and found the questions on murals to be intriguing so why not write about some of my thoughts for my blog post this weekend. I have not actually seen any murals in person to my knowledge, which is very sad. One of the questions was what is a mural, and I thought that a mural was a work of art completed on a permanent surface, such as a wall or ceiling. The one example I could think of was the Sistine Chapel. I remembered having to do a project on it my junior year of high school in World History class and found some of the murals pretty interesting. I am pretty sure the paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel are considered to be murals, if not, they should be. 

I specifically remember one of the images and murals from the Sistine Chapel being pretty powerful and interesting to me. It is the one about the origin of sin and the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. By the way, Michelangelo painted all of these images, and they all are representations of stories from  the Bible. 

The Fall and Expulsion from the Garden of Eden

This mural depicts the fall and the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. I really enjoy Michelangelo's representation of this scene from the Bible and the powerful imagery he uses in this picture. Obviously, one of the most salient features of this mural is the snake-like human, or the human-like snake (whatever you think). This image is also kind of divided into thirds, and it displays two different scenes and times simultaneously. The leftmost third of this image shows Adam and Eve before the fall, created in God's image, perfect and pure. It shows them falling into temptation and taking from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the one thing God specifically said not to do... In the middle third is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and a snake-like human creature reaching out to Eve. One of the most interesting parts of this image is definitely this creature wrapping around the tree with the body of a snake. Then, the rightmost third of the mural depicts Adam and Eve again, being banished from the garden by the cherub who is pointing the way out with a sword-like thing. Notice how before the fall, Adam and Eve were brighter colors and after the fall, they turned to darker colors. I believe this represents the sin that occurred and the change that will no be eternal. Also, in the left of the picture, the background behind Adam and Eve is rocks and leaves while the right side is barren, because of the fall and the sin that Adam and Eve committed. Another point that may be significant, is that the tempter in the middle, has female-like characteristics. This might be because of the fact that Eve was the one that was tempted first and gave the apple to Adam. I really enjoy this depiction of a very important scene from Genesis Chapter 3 of the Bible which I am familiar with. There is a lot more symbolism in this mural that you can probably see as well. I really enjoy the symbolism and powerful imagery that Michelangelo uses in this classic story. 

Although, this is not an image from Latin America, it is the one mural that I could think of that is very interesting to me! I consider this practice for the murals that we are going to look at this coming week. It shows that murals generally use symbolism and powerful pictures to get across their point and to convey the artists ideas. I hope you enjoyed this image as I do and can see the power in this important scene from history. I am excited to see some of the murals from Latin America this week and the ideas that they attempt to convey to the the viewers. 

Reply to Caitlin's Blog 6 Pancho Villa

I really enjoyed that you took the initiative to look up additional information just out of curiosity. I think that is something that a lot of us need to do more. However, of course it is very important to be careful where you get your information...  I found a lot of what you said to be very interesting and saying to myself "Oh! I didn't know that!" Who knew that his name was not actually Pancho Villa, and that he fled to the mountain as a young man and led a group of bandits. I didn't! I also really like how you said that he was a "real life Robin-Hood". I need to try to compare people and different things in reading and history to things that I know really well so that I can comprehend it better. Thank you for posting this interesting information about this interesting and important person that we would not have known about otherwise.

Blog 6 The Underdogs Randomness

In class this week we began to read The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela. I did not really know what to expect from this novel, but when it turned out to be somewhat of a fictional story I was happy! I guess I am just going to talk about what parts of the novel I have enjoyed so far and what I dislike about the novel. As I said, I am happy it is story. Stories are always easier to comprehend which makes the read so much better if I am able to understand and actively picture what is going on. However, parts of this novel are confusing to me because the dialogue. A lot of the time, it is not too specific on who is talking so I have to look back at the beginning of the conversation and follow it line by line to figure it out. I do like, however, the interactions between the characters and the amount of dialogue that occurs between the characters. To me, it keeps it interesting and exciting. When I read, I always try to put myself in the character's position and figure out why they act the way they do, but a lot of the time, my brain is way too different than the characters brain so I just frustrated and ask, "Why would anyone do that...?" For example, the way that Demetrio's band and army treat women and just destroy towns and the homes of innocent people is beyond me. Humans who act like reckless animals always confuse me... Of course, this is a fictional novel and written to prove a point or to convey a main theme, but it still confuses me. It is also interesting to me how Luis Cervantes changes throughout the novel, how he goes from being not so sure about the pillaging to willingly lighting a house on fire. One ironic thing I found is that in the beginning, Demetrio's house was burned down and separated from his family, and later, he is the one destroying the villages and being cruel to innocent people. These are just some of my random thoughts about the novel through parts I and II, as I have a lot of trouble finding connections with the reading and something else, but I hope someone out there got at least one thing out of this random post.

Reply to Alexis's Blog 5

I really like the points you made in this blog and these too are questions I struggle with and ask myself. I feel like we think we have good intentions and believe we are "helping", while acutually we are kind of being selfish. I think a lot of whether or not intervening is right depends on the situation. As your third question states, I feel intervening with a humanitarian crisis is necessary, but that is a good question. How bad does it have to be?... I do not know... All your questions are really good and they make my brain hurt! I agree with you that the US should focus more on its own problems, because we probably have the same problems as other countries if not worse yet we think that our problems are solved and other countries problems are worse. However, we have so many issues it is not even funny. I also really like your point that us intervening and pointing out the problems of other countries really just makes us feel better about ourselves and that our problems are not that bad. These are extremely good questions that need a lot of thought. Thank you for bringing these questions up!

Blog 5- Strenuous Life

The reading this week that I found most interesting and thought provoking was The Strenuous Life. I do not know why but normally I do not really think about history and the importance of it. I never really recognize that society and what the world is like today was because of peoples' actions and efforts in the past. Sounds silly and obvious. Maybe I take a lot of things for granted and do not appreciate or recognize the importance of the past and what brave people did back then that affects me now, but this reading got my brain going a lil bit.

In The Strenuous Life Roosevelt encourages Ameicans to live a strenuous life, obviously. He praises "the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil." This was kind of an interesting idea to me. That life is not supposed to be easy and America did not become what it is today from people sitting on their butts and avoiding the problems of the world. I think this is an important point that Roosevelt is making that many people forget, including me. Usually, I do not enjoy difficult tasks or situations that make me uncomfortable and I avoid them at all costs, but Roosevelt is encouraging people to do the hard tasks and to work hard for what they beleive, because that is what an American does. He also mentions specific people, Lincoln and Grant, and thanks God for their efforts and "iron in the blood of our fathers." I also was curious about that parts where Roosevelt states that the problems of the world and in other countries are the United States' responsibility. I do not know if I agree with this. In some instances, yes, we should intervene if innocent people are dying, but I do not think we are responsible to impose our ideas on other countries as if we are the best and know everything. There are times to intervene and a lot of times to leave the countries be. We had struggles in our history that made us stronger and wiser and other countries might be experiencing similar struggles. We do not need to hold their hand throughout the entire process because they too need to learn from the past as we have.

There are many more points and interesting parts to this reading, but these are a few that I recognized and thought of while reading. Trying to figure out my opinions and what I think about certain topics is a problem I struggle with so I am trying to force myself to take a side and decide what I believe. I am starting to enjoy some of the readings and really trying to appreciate history more by actively thinking about how I am affected by those of the past and how I can contribute and "play a great part in the world."

4th Blog- Cecelia Valdes Randomness

This reading is actually one of my favorites so far in this class! I really enjoy the story-like readings rather than the more informational and educational readings. Specifically, in this novel, I enjoyed the imagery used by Villaverde. As kind of a slow and bad reader (in my opinion), descriptive words and imagery in a reading really helps me picture what is happening rather than just reading boring old words that are strictly informational. I am also starting to enjoy the symbolism that is used by a lot of these writers and am able to pick up on it a little bit better as the semester goes on.

 In Cecelia Valdes, there is a young mulatta girl named Cecelia Valdes (shocking) who is portrayed as beautiful and desirable. At a young age she was very cunning and liked to run off and cause trouble on the streets. She grew up in Cuban society without a mother and father in her life, therefore, she was living with her Grandmother. Throughout the whole story I was curious who her mother was and even more curious to whom her father was. And now that I now that her father is a wealthy slave-trader basically, I am even more curious how she would react to knowing that fact. I also wonder whether or not she will ever actually find out who her father is and meet him face-to-face. This actually just reminded me of Star Wars. Probably a really bad connection and they are completely different but Luke and Cecelia both did not know who their father was and both of their fathers are important, powerful, and wealthy people in society. However, Cecelia's father is obviously not a dark Lord... And many, many, many other differences. I cannot believe I just compared those two. I laugh at myself. I hope we get to read more short stories and story-like readings like this in the future. I really enjoyed how he describes Cuban society in the first few chapters along with how he describes Cecelia. It makes it easy for me to make a picture in my head of Cecelia and what society in Cuba was like at the time. In class we also talked about how Villaverde made Cecelia sounds like she lacks character and is very superficial. To be honest, I did not really pick up on that the first time I read it but I have really been enjoying the group discussions in class. I am getting better at sharing and questioning my ideas along with other people's ideas.

This was a really random blog and I apologize for the randomness. Basically, I really enjoyed Cecelia Valdes and hope to do more story-like readings for this class. Finally, is this story completely fictional and made up by Villaverde? Or was this based off of a real person and story? If so, who is the author in the story. Hopefully we will discuss this in class sometime because I do not know.

Response to Caitlin's 4th Post

I really enjoyed your thoughts on the ending to this novel! I am curious to read how the novel actually ended because this reading actually was really good and interesting to me. I enjoy the short stories/novels way more than the more educational and informational readings (although I know they are necessary and important to read). I agree with you that she needed racial equality and thought that marrying a white man high up in society would help. I bet it might of helped a little but I do not think that Cecelia and Leonardo would last very long seeing that their values are kind of messed up. It is interesting to me how stubborn Cecelia is and how she would only even consider a white man. I agree with everyone else along with you; That there is not much hope for a happy ending. I really enjoyed your alternative ending and creative writing and hopefuly, that is not the way she dies... because that is sad.

Reply to Leah's Blog 3

Leah! That is really cool. I had no clue you enjoy music and play the violin and the cello. I also enjoy music and have been playing the trumpet for 8 years and just started the playing the guitar and love it. That first video is awesome, the way that guy strums is insane. I also never knew that about the bridge of the violin as well, but it makes complete sense! I really like how you found a sweet, musical video from a word that intrigued you in Sarmiento's reading. Thank you for sharing, Leah!

Blog 3 More Comparisons?

This week we read Echeverria's "The Slaughter House" and discovered that it is filled with a bunch of analogies and symbolism. One certain part of this reading really interested me and reminded me of something else, which I am kind of surprised no one mentioned...

The part that I related to and caught my attention was the story of the killing of the young Unitarian man. Many parts of this scene reminded me of the Crucifixion of  Jesus that appears throughout the Gospels of the New Testament in the Word of God. In "The Slaughter House", Echeverria clearly states this analogy to the death of Christ in this line from the reading: "...they finally dragged the unfortunate young man to the bench of tortures just as if they had been the executioners of the Lord themselves." I believe "executioners of the Lord" is pretty clear. It is also interesting to consider the fact that Echeverria opposes the church, yet he relates this event in Catholicism, his enemy's religion, to a character he uses to get the readers on his side, against the Federalists.

These were a few of the connections that popped into my head while reading this part of the story:

First of all, just as Jesus is brought before and judged by Pontias Pilate and the Jews (Matthew 27:11-26), the young Unitarian is brought before and judged by Matasiete and the Federalist people. Just like the way they treated the Unitarian with their "Death to the savage Unitarians!" chant, reminded me of the death of Christ and the people yelling "Crucify him!" in Matthew 27:22-23. Again, the people of the Slaughter House were chanting "Long live Matasiete!" while the Jews similarly chanted "We have no king but Caesar!" in John 19:15. The mocking of the Unitarian also reminds me of the people and soldiers mocking Jesus (Matthew 27:27-31). In "The Slaughter House", the Federalists mock the Unitarian by cutting his hair and taking off his clothes. Similarly, the soldiers take off Jesus's robe and place a crown of thorns on his head while continually mocking Him. Along with this, the Unitarian was beaten and tied down to a table, which again is somewhat similar to how Jesus was beaten and nailed to the cross to die.

I normally struggle with making connections and comparing different readings, but this actually caught my attention and reminded me of something I was very familiar with, the Bible and my faith. Again, these might be somewhat loose connections but they completely made sense to me and worked in my head so I hope you too can see a little similarity between these two completely different readings and events.

Blog 2 Reply/Reaction to Gabrielle Gomez Post

This is also a question I have been thinking about. Who is civilized and who is barbaric? It is kind of funny, but not really funny, to think about how the Europeans automatically inherited the ability to rule over the indigenous just because they are from Europe, I guess. The ironic thing is that they call the natives barbarians along with "savages" as Sarmiento describes them, but you have a point. The elite Europeans are the ones acting as savages. What determines whether a group of people is barbaric or civilized? I feel like the word barbaric kind of has two meanings being: 1) cruel or brutal and 2) inferior or unsophisticated and primitive. So I guess if we look at the two groups, the Europeans and their ideas like you said, probably are considered to be barbaric as in cruel and brutal. While at the time, the indigenous were kind of automatically "considered" to be primitive, unsophisticated and inferior to the Spanish which apparently makes it right for them to punish them and treat them in a cruel manner? Oh history. It befuddles me.

Blog 2

So I guess for this weeks blog post I will talk about a little bit about what I found interesting in my favorite of the readings this week, which for me was Chapter 1 of Sarmiento's Facundo: Civilization and Barbarism. Compared to the other readings for this week I found this one easier to understand and a little more interesting. I actually did a project on Argentina way back in 6th grade so I was trying to remember a little bit about the country and the history, but really, how much do you actually learn and remember from 6th grade. I really enjoyed how the first few pages in this chapter were very descriptive in the geography of Argentina. It was really useful and interesting to actually be able to picture the landscape in which each of the types of people reside. He talks about the two very distinct types of people, the Spanish and the Indigenous. I always struggle with comprehending why people think certain things, specifically about other people. For example, why do the elites and "superior" European people think so lowly of the indigenous? I always feel as though a lot of people throughout history are really selfish and it frustrates me and does not make sense to me because I guess of who I am and how I think. What makes the Europeans automatically better than the indigenous people? I feel fortunate to live in a time where most people are respected and loved, even though obviously there will always be issues and people who do not do so. Another thing I found interesting was that Sarmiento referred to the natives who lived in the countryside as savages. The word savage makes me feel like they are not even human. He does describe the conditions in which they liveas basically horrific and animal-like which is appalling to me. Why not just help them out a little bit to get them off the ground? Is it because they are frightened of the natives and want to control them and keep them far away from the "civilized" state or do they just not care about the conditions of another human being? I know these are silly questions, but I guess with the way I think and the way I am these are questions are difficult for me to comprehend and understand why people do certain things and think certain ways. I even struggle to understand what I believe as well. Hopefully, the second chapter of this reading is even better than the first chapter!

Blog 1- Introduction

Salutations fellow classmates.

My name is Ian Felten and I have never really done a blog before... To start and to be honest, which I normally always am, I struggle a lot with knowing what I am thinking and forming opinions on different topics, so this blog should be a good way for me to think it out and record it! First, a few things you need to know about me is that I love science and math, therefore, I am a Biomedical Science major. Second, history, english, and especially reading are very difficult for me so this class is extremely challenging! Why did I choose this class? In high school, I took three years of Spanish and really loved it. I really enjoyed the different culture and thought that knowing a second language was really cool. Also, ever since I was little, I have wanted to go on a mission trip to a Spanish speaking country. Unfortunately, I have not been able to leave this country at all... I would love to study abroad sometime or at least travel to Latin America. This class has really reinforced my desire to travel, seeing the different cultures of Latin America and learning the history behind the people. More honesty now... I really dislike history. Sorry Prof. Stark and Serrata. I know you do not like to hear that. It just does not work in my head and it is extremely frustrating. I try my best, but my comprehension of history is just not there. However! This class is really challenging me and forcing me to think and question a lot of things, which is good. Also, this class is helping me realize that history is extremely important along with the useful life skills we are learning. This next semester should be a fun one. I am looking forward to spending it with you guys and hopefully I am at least a little bit interesting!