Ben Kaczmar GVSU

 Hey, Seth! That's so cool that you can play the piano and organ! I think that it's awesome how you were able to compare what you learned through classical music and merengue or bachata. I don't have much experience with music, so it's neat to see how someone knowledgeable in music like yourself still found the Latin American music to be very unique. I had actually recognized one or two of the songs from my Spanish classes in high school, so it was amusing to put a dance to something I had already heard. We both have different backgrounds, but it's interesting how we still found ways to build upon what we had learned in the past. 

  Hello, Ella! I also found it interesting that we got to practice Latin American dances instead of just learning about them in class. For me, learning is always more impactful through participation compared to only listening. Our culture in the United States is unique because we don't have any dances that represent the entire country. It's hard to get involved with dance and music compared to other places around the world unless you have a specific musical identity, which might not even be an American type of music or dance anyways.

This week, I really enjoyed the dance lessons that we did as a class. As we practiced more and more, I felt like I was getting the hang of all the different dances. Before the lessons, I never had practiced dancing, but I ended up enjoying myself. A lot of times when I learn about cultures through dance and music, it doesn't have a personal impact because I might never use it in my own life. It's harder to understand the importance of dance from its name compared to actually engaging in it. To be able to experience other cultures is more influential than just learning about them. Considering I have absolutely zero experience with dance or music, it was surprisingly simple to learn different dances. In the future, I'll be more ready to try new things from this experience. Out of all the activities from this semester, I would have to say that the dance lessons were my favorite.  I've had a lot of fun taking this class so far, and I'm excited for the next semester. It ...

 Hello, Illy! I agree that persuasion played a huge part in the history of Latin America. On the other hand, I think persuasion wasn't necessarily the driving force behind the success of Columbus, Cortes, and Bolivar. All three of them, in short, wanted some form of power over the Americas. To gain any bit of control, the three men used persuasion and other tricks to their advantages. Persuasion is an effective tool to gain power, which is why I think it was a common denominator throughout Latin American history. I love how you found a connection between Columbus, Cortes, and Bolivar. 

 Before this class, I had never heard of magic realism either. I assumed it was basically a fancy term for fantasy, but there was so much more than just fantasy in The Kingdom of This World. Overall, magic was only used to make key points about reality developed in the story. Your point about using magic realism to compare realities to make social critiques is very insightful. The genre provides opportunities for authors to not only be creative fictional writers but to also reveal significant lessons to their readers. Awesome post, Emma!

The Jamaica Letter was interesting to me because a large portion of what was said in it holds true to this day. What stood out to me the most is how Bolivar acknowledged that different regions should remain separate even after independence was achieved. Bolivar didn't explicitly say this, but he heavily implied that independence from Spanish colonial rule was inevitable. Due to this, Bolivar knew it was important to prepare for the future. I thought that his mindset and thinking were extremely impressive. I'm sure that the average person in colonial Latin America at the time would have assumed Spanish rule would last forever. The Spanish had always ruled, so it would be easy for regular people to assume it would continue that way. On the other hand, Bolivar's confidence was demonstrated in the fact that he was already planning for widespread independence. This confidence in himself and Latin America is what I think made Bolivar so successful in his revolutions across South ...