Middle East (part 2) and Europe

As mentioned in the previous post, we spoke about the Middle East during the last lecture.  Today, I was happy to see a bit more pictures of the region, such as Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Jerusalem, and Israel.  This region is very rich in culture, but it's a shame that the constant fighting has not allowed for peace to dominate.  Later on in the class, we began learning about Europe.  I found it interesting how we as Americans follow the same concept of Eurocentrism, which is that our ideals should be applied elsewhere.  To be very honest, I was not intrigued as much to this region as I have already been there, but it was still nice to see many of the pictures of the region.

Middle East

So far, out of all of the class periods, I have to admit that this was my favorite class period.  I am not Muslim nor have I been to the Middle East, but I think that learning about a region where we are currently so politically involved is very important.  The symbolism of starting the class period with a Lady Gaga video was very awesome!  At first, I did not enjoy it as I am not a fan of her music, however, I later understood why this was done as it showed how liberal we are in comparison to the MIddle East.  Did not know that Morocco was the first country to recognize the US as an independent country from England or what was the meaning of a banana republic.  Overall, great class!

Sub-Saharan Africa

This lecture was very informative to me as I do not have too much knowledge on Africa.  In my opinion, I found this lecture to be somewhat sad as I could not help think that many regions in the continent are hopeless.  Poverty is high, diseases spread rapidly, there is violence, deforestation, and exploitation.  Despite these negative notes, I really enjoyed seeing the pictures of Kenya, South Africa, and all the other countries.  I did not know that Lagos had an emerging automobile landscape, and it was great to see some progress in this region.  I would like to travel to Africa to get to know the culture and landscapes.

Latin America

As a proud Colombian, I was especially excited to listen to the lecture on Latin America.  I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed to only hear about the Colombian drug trade, as that it a topic that many Colombians are not proud of and we have many natural resources, technology, and a growing economy.  However, I am also realistic and accept that not everything can always be positive.  On another note, I could not help be intrigued to learn about other Latin American countries, such as Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and even smaller countries such as Guyana.  I thought that the communist and social rising explanations about el Che Guevara and Fidel Castro were on point.  Overall, I found this class period to be very informative.

North America

I am particularly interested in North America as I was born in California.  Since I was born in the States, I was especially interested in learning a bit more about my country and region.  I had no idea that the "yankee" name came from lobster, that Queen Liliuokalani handed over Hawaii after her kids were murdered, and that we had a region called the "Empty Interior."  What further grabbed my attention was the information on Canada since I have a very close friend from there.  She usually gets picked on by others for being from there; however, learning more about this country made me appreciate it much more.  All in all, I think that this class period was very informative and enjoyable.