ninas's blog

In Christopher Columbus’ Four Voyages, readers are given a primary account of one of the most celebrated and taught about explorers in history. Columbus provides his readers with his own personal narrative, his memoirs in a way, of his journeys from the Caribbean territory all the way to Central America. The book reads like a report. Readers are given information regarding the weather during the voyages, the mood of the ocean, the people he meets. While readers are given an almost scientific account of one of some of the most significant voyages in all of history, there is something noticeably lacking from Columbus’ account, something that was prevalent in almost all other texts of travel we read throughout the semester: the emotional aspect of the journey; the anxiety, excitement, heartache, and spiritual discovery that takes place.
Ibn Battuta’s offers an account of his own spiritual travel experience. In The Travels of Ibn Battuta, Battuta describes his experience being a Muslim making his pilgrimage to Mecca. The reader is presented with a wide array of Battuta’s emotions throughout the experience of his journey, beginning with his decision to go. Readers are able to see the anxiety he feels about leaving home; leaving friends and families, departing from the only place he has ever called home. We are able to see the intense emotional experience he has during the anticipation of his journey, and ultimately, his arrival at Mecca. Unlike in Columbus’ account, the importance of Battuta’s story his personal experience traveling, not only the details of the journey.
In Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Prospero makes countless journeys, all in hopes of protecting his magical powers. The journey is rarely about where he is going, where he will end up, even how he will get there. Instead of being driven by a desire to journey, a yen for exploration as Columbus was, Prospero and the other characters in The Tempest are driven by how the journey will affect their personal lives, their emotions, and the well being of those around them.
The most significant example of the emotional journey that travel brings about came from Cabeza de Vaca’s account. While it seems, at first, to be a similar storyline to Four Voyages, readers are able to watch as de Vaca both learns about the natives he comes into contact with and becomes one with them. Readers read the emotional account of the hurricane that forced de Vaca to land in Florida, killing many of the travelers that were accompanying him on his journey. There is significant amount of text about the factsof de Vaca’s exploration, but an equal amount about his personal experiences and feelings.
Recently, I have had a lot of friends travel to Israel on Birthrite, a program that allows Jewish adults to travel to Israel for free in hopes of helping Jews across the world feel connected to their heritage. While I know a huge attraction to this trip is the fact that it is free, each friend came back feeling emotionally connected to where they had been. They felt more connected to Israel and more connected to their Judaism. The trip was less about going to Israel and more about what going to Israel had done for them personally and emotionally. Regardless of the absence of such an account in Four Voyages, I doubt Columbus experienced his voyages without having the same emotions we were able to see in the travels of Battuta, Prospero, and de Vaca. In fact, I would be hard pressed to find any journey, regardless of the trip’s intention, that did not possess a strong sense of emotion involved.

In the chapter entitled Southern Arabia, East Africa, Arabian Gulf our explorer takes a section to write about the coconut, Account of the Coconut he calls it. This section really stood out to me, yes I know that is weird, and I wanted to write about it because I think the coconut is extremely overlooked as a food we should have in our every day diet. Our author writes, “This is the ‘Indian nut’…These trees are the most peculiar trees in kind and most astonishing in habit…” What is so interesting about coconuts is that they are nuts that grow off a tree and considered fruits. Battuta tells the story of how the coconut apparently came to be, I loved this story of the man who had his head chopped off and the coconut grew from a date-stone that had been planted in his head. Battuta writes of this fruit because upon discovery of it he is immediately aware of how important it is to the human body. My mother’s nutritionist swears by drinking coconut water because she reasons that coconuts have been an important part of the proper nourishment for people for thousands of years, as the fruit has helped people excel at maintaining a positive and fit lifestyle. On this website that I discovered one can see the different coconut products available for purchase in many stores, as well as the medicinal qualities of this fruit. I have always thought as the coconut as providing brain food, juice for the mind. Battuta describes the experience of this juice, “a liquid of extreme sweetness and coolness,” what could sound better than that on a hot summer day. Or even in the middle of winter the juice from a coconut gives that thirst quenching kick you sometimes need in the morning. So next time you find yourself wandering by a smoothie shop of health food market, order a coconut. They will chop of the top and stick a straw into the nut, and you can drink the juice right out of the fruit as you walk down the street.

After reading The Tempest and watching the play in class today I started thinking about movie versions of plays and books. According to Wikipedia more than 420 movies have been made based on Shakespeare’s writing alone which makes Shakespeare the author who has had the most movies ever made. My favorite comparison is of two versions of Romeo and Juliet, the Leonardo DiCaprio version and the Zeffirelli version. What is interesting about these two, though made many years apart, in 1996 and 1968 they are two versions that are almost always shown in school when students are reading the play. I have always wondered about this and the best answer I can come up with is that these two adaptations stay very close to Shakespeare’s original writing but also vary greatly in the way the lessons are brought across on the screen. Listed below we see the different versions of The Tempest, as parlayed directly into film version as well as adaptations. Performances The Tempest, (USA, 1911) BBC Television Shakespeare The Tempest (TV, UK, 1980) Released in the USA as part of the "Complete Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare" series. Quantum Leap The Tempest (aka "The Shakespeare Collection") (TV/video, USA, 1983) The Tempest (TV, Russia and UK, 1992) The Tempest, (USA, 2009) Adaptations Forbidden Planet (USA, 1956) Tempest (USA, 1982) The Tempest (USA, 1998) King of California (USA, 2007) Examine this adaptation of The Tempest with Evan Rachel Wood in King of California. Explore sci-fi in this oscar nominated Tempest influenced movie.

De Vaca Didn't Have This Parka to Keep WarmI really liked that De Vaca’s explorations were written in such a prideful way. With each chapter titled “How….” it was not so much a how to but more a description of what they know they did well. Follow? When we are not learning how something was achieved we are learning about another people, in the most straightforward way. In all 38 chapters we never feel that De Vaca is leading us on or creating entertainment from a voyage I found myself kind of enchanted by the fact that he can admit his hunger at times, admit they needed help at times, and mostly that they can admit that they cured sick people. While reading De Vaca’s journey I began to think a lot about the idea of travel, especially because his takes place in North America. Normally, when we travel it allows us to look at foreign lands and then examine ourselves with different eyes and ears. The concept of travel can many times be enlightening for us as it allows us to see the differences among many nations and understand our own with regards to what we have scene. For De Vaca, travel does not do this it more seems to be a show and tell for him. A chance to see what exists in North America, and that is that. Many of these traditions De Vaca sees as bizarre, meanwhile the entire time I was thinking about the possibility for improvement in his own life and nation if he has thought about these customs in respect to his own. When I finished the book all I could think about was how I would have put it together. I have this weird idea in my head that the book could almost be seen on a giant map of the places De Vaca visited with little blurbs coming off of it. For example in Apalachee De Vaca sees deer, rabbits, bears and lions, how easily I think this could be put into a picture book and used for small children to teach them about exploration. I think this idea comes from the simple way in which De Vaca writes about his discoveries, of all the explorations we have read I think this is the one that could be translated for children the easiest. In chapter 21 the author writes, “At night I did the following to protect myself against the cold: I would go to the thickets in the woods near the rivers and stop there before sunset. I would dig a hole in the ground and in it a lot of firewood from the many trees…”The description continues on page 78, and for some reason his attempt at keeping warm drew me in I like how detailed and description his instructions are, it is almost as if he is writing them to himself incase he were to forget.

Columbus' BoatsHow do you imagine Christopher Columbus? I totally see him as this smooth talking, jet-setting guy. He always knows what to say, who to say it to and how to get his way. How else would have he been able to travel to so many foreign lands? What lead me to think this? On page 33 the book states, “In no way disconcerted when Columbus saw that his services would not be accepted in England, he began to open negotiations of the same kind with…” What I thought was really good about the writing and grouping of the organization of the first voyage were two things. One, I liked that each section begins with a short write up of what is to follow. This prepares us for Columbus’ experiences and allows us to organize his travels in a way that is more structured for ourselves, as there is a whole lot written. Essentially, these short descriptions are helpful in the setting of the scenes. The other thing that I found really helpful was the specifics of the writing. Especially, the mention of time, which was broken down to very precise experiences at very definite times. This makes the idea of a “journal” more real. Every since I was young I have felt an affinity towards Columbus for one reason, his ships. The Nina, The Pinta and The Santa Maria. Having the same name as one of his ships was my one tie to history, and funnily enough I had never read Columbus before the assignment for Travel Classics. So, I set out on my research. In which I found THIS WEBSITE dedicated to my ship. Apparently one can visit this historic replica, a floating museum that visits ports all over the United States. Take a look at the website it has some interesting information about the original Nina and the creation of the replica.

How many people hear glanced at the class syllabus and immediately thought of playing a game in the pool during your childhood?  That’s what usually comes to mind when I find out I will be reading Marco Polo.  Funny.  I think.  That such a celebrated traveler would have his name connected to a pool game.  Quite a way to be remembered!  But I guess it perfectly does explain our author’s quest.  The search for something more.  To find, to see, and to touch anything that is far off and seems unreachable.  In writing the writing in The Travels we see this desire for discovery in the way that Marco Polo describes his findings. His descriptions are exactly as her sees everything, almost as if he is writing in a journal.  In chapter 1 The Middle East the author writes about the traditions in Baghdad he writes, “I might have told you about happenings and customs in Baghdad; but, as this would run to a tedious length, I have cut short my account.”  This may seem like a weird sentence to choose as one that stands out to me but I love that the author states something that is so true about tradition.  In describing something else we can never say enough, but if we tell the right story then a small amount can be perfect.  This is so true about tradition; we have to be careful when explaining the customs of others because they belong to others.  Marco Polo is aware of the vast belief of these people and proves it by prefacing his example with his knowledge of their traditions.  If he could share all of them he would, but there is not enough room to do their practices justice.  It seems important to remember this fact, not only about foreign lands, but also the people we meet on a daily basis.  Everything they are about cannot be written down in a chapter, their habits far extend that.  What I also enjoyed about Marco Polo’s writing was the way he made the towns, though so foreign to me, come alive.  He spoke of the land, the government, the people, the merchants (even went as far to write about what the merchants make and the colors they produce the items in), the food, and even the animals.  The author writes, “They make cloth of gold and silk of every sort.  Cotton grows there in abundance.  They have no lack of wheat, barley, millet, panic-grass, and every type of corn, besides wine and all kinds of fruit..”  The paragraph continues and the author speaks of the special steps the people must take if they desire to drink wine.  His descriptions are clear and artistic; they come alive on the paper.  When I am done reading the images I am seeing are far from my childhood playing in the pool.

Herodotus Stands TallIn the excerpt Snakes with Wings and Gold-digging Ants I really enjoyed the way the author set up the descriptions of the tribes on pages 36-44. Each is split up into different paragraphs and the author seems to be moving around a map, clearly enough that we can understand the apparent differences.

Another thing that I found interesting in this section is that we can sometimes forget how things that occur at home are really only associated with beauty among the inhabitants. Things Herodotus sees as barbaric are commonplace to the tribes that he speaks of and account for tradition in their lands and communities. In the beginning of the excerpt we read about these traditions, for example: what certain tribes eat, the way in which they make their own clothing. This got me thinking about my concentration topic and rationale and I decided to look back at what I had written in the fall. My concentration is identity and the idea that our identity is most reflected in the place we call home. It is where we learn to be ourselves and discover what interests us. In preparation for my colloquium I have come across many memoirs that focus on the home and the idea of place as being a central theme to our own lives. Herodotus got me thinking about the idea of foreign customs. He writes about the tribes that because he is in awe, they amass in situations and ideas that he has never seen before. I wonder how much I write about will be foreign to my readers, and how much they will be able to recognize or identify with. I think about boundaries about the idea of sharing other people’s traditions and the different reasons we do this: to expose, to share, to teach, to learn. When we write about traditions and ways of life we must be sure of ourselves, of not only what we are writing but also whom we are writing about. Relaying information about others demands that we completely understand something, even if it is not our own way of life. Herodotus’ histories tell us stories that we expect a student in a home stay to come back with, they are vivid but at some points do not seem real; they are imaginative and almost seem unattainable. In many of the sections Herodotus gives us smell, which is a really important descriptive element because it is something that can unite people because it is familiar. The author writes, regarding the collection of cinnamon, “So much for the perfumes: let me only add that the whole country exhales a more than earthly fragrance.” (42) I thought this to be a beautiful sentence, and a sort of final remark regarding a country as a whole- it is a smell that we can all relate too.

When thinking about idea of home, I am constantly reminded that we are taught to be whom we are because home is the one place where there is always margin for error. It is where we begin to learn who we actually are. The idea of place defining our identity is interesting because it can be transitional, as I have learned from the readings this semester, because it is not so often that someone stays in one place their entire life. We learn that more than one place is capable of representing who we are. It is interesting that I began the semester reading about the idea of home being defined by memory this then stretched out into different ideas of home. Throughout the semester I have read about the different ways that space can represent you. May it be through your home, your bed, your town, or your travels. These are all forms of place that we can assume as our own. I think my favorite memoirs were Tales From The Bed and From Where We Stand because they both taught me, in clear examples, how home can be defined by many and different aspects.

I have spent some time thinking about the idea of memory, of it developing in the home because that is usually where memory begins. What happens when memory is jolted? And, thus we begin to make new memories somewhere else. When does this become necessary? My only answer can be when we are old enough to make our own homes, which will follow our beliefs where we can pass them on. Each place that we make our home, wherever that may be allows us to grow as an individual and define ourselves in terms of a place where there is room for error, this allows for discovery of self.

When We Say We’re Home is a book of four short stories about memory and place, for my response I read the last story Where I Live(d) by Wendy Bishop. I was first drawn to focus my response on this story by the title as it was listed in the contents section at the beginning of the book. The idea of Live(d), with the parenthesis around the D made me think about existence. About moving from place to place, about life. In my rationale I question the idea of moving – how if you move someplace new does that place become your home. Can we adopt a new home? Do we have to make it ourselves overtime? The idea of live(d) tells us that wherever we have been and wherever we will go will always feel like home to us if we make it that way. For example, I may not still live, per se, at my mother’s. I sleep at my apartment every night, but it is still my home first and foremost. The idea of live(d) makes things last. Experiences and memories, even if you move will always not only exist within you but also exist within the place in which they first took place. This makes feelings and emotions last. If we choose to believe that we live(d) somewhere it will always be a part of us, even if we are not presently there.

Tales from the Bed is a memoir written by the late Jennifer Estess who was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) in her early 30’s. As the disease eats away at Jennifer physically she becomes the strength in her family for herself and her sisters and starts her organization Project ALS. The memoir was written overtime, dictated by Jennifer and written by her sister Valerie. It begins with images of the Estess’ childhoods and proceeds to after Jennifer’s diagnosis and finishes with the day following her death, as if being told still by Jennifer. I thought this an interesting way to explain Jennifer’s death, but then it made total sense to me – of all her sisters she was the only one who would be able to handle stuff heart wrenching stuff, thus Valerie did it for her. She wrote, “I died on December 16th,” for her sister. Following this line the memoir sinks back into Jennifer’s dictation and it works, it just does.

Tales from the Bed is a heartbreaking and poignant story of discovery, of what one can do when they put their mind to it, even when they may not have their legs to walk with, their hands to write with and towards the end of her life, their mouth to speak with. What is so wonderful about the memoir is that just as Jennifer is told to prepare for her own death she actually prepares herself to really live. She begins to work harder than she has ever worked in her life and starts Project ALS, an organization dedicated to finding a cure for ALS. What starts out small develops into something huge, soon Jennifer is meeting with Katie Couric at her bedside and being flown in private planes to Project ALS events to speak, to put a face to a disease that so many people know so little about.