Ben Kaczmar GVSU

 Hello, Lexie! I agree that ethno-tourism is essentially a balancing act between its benefits and drawbacks. On one hand, it's great that foreign travelers can directly learn about indigenous cultures. On the flip side, if ethno-tourism grows too much, the industry itself won't be as culturally accurate as it was previously. Tourism is a great way for native cultures to make money, but that desire for money could alter indigenous practices to accommodate tourists.

 I was surprised to learn what the author was actually trying to say in the poem as well. While reading the poem, I noticed some things about agriculture and whatnot, but I didn't connect the idea that agriculture and nature were distinct from each other. I think we can both improve comprehension if we look at poems as a whole rather than making assumptions based on the beginning parts.

 Who would've guessed at the beginning of the semester that I would be writing a blog post about bird poop, yet here I am. The guano industry off the coast of Peru is surprising, to say the least. Within the modern-day United States, we use cow manure as a fertilizer for a variety of tasks. However, the United States actually had interests in the guano industry in the 1800s. In fact, the United States passed the Guano Islands Act of 1856 in order to claim unclaimed/uninhabited islands with guano deposits off of Peru and internationally. It's shocking to realize that American expansion and global intervention started partly due to bird crap. As a result of discovering the potential of the guano industry, the United States used naval force to search the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans for additional guano deposits. Additional German and British ships were investing in guano. This goes to show the importance of the good itself. Incredibly, the Peruvian guano was of a higher quality ac...

 Good evening, Dylan! National holidays have always seemed slightly confusing to me, and I'm sure there are many other countries with national holidays weirder than the United States. Obviously, it's relevant to remember the history of a nation through holidays, but days reminiscing on violence are difficult to assess. If Mexico celebrated its independence on September 24th or 28th, I think that would have decreased national pride since the date would be more about resentment for Spain rather than their unique identity. September 16th is distinct to Mexico's personal story without involving any outside group. For this, I would uphold your idea that September 16th is an excellent choice.

 Hello, Emma! The forming of nations has always been really intriguing to me. In terms of historical nations and modern-day nations, there's so many factors in addition to government that define what a nation is. I like the point that you made regarding a group of people with different political beliefs not necessarily becoming a new nation but rather altering the current one. It's important when discussing nationalities to recognize motives to better understand how countries are formed, which you did a nice job of identifying.

 One of the strangest phenomenons, which we talked about in class for a little while, is the idea that a nation or group of people is more successful when there is a national hero/leader. I haven't really thought about this previously, but powerful nations almost always have some sort of figurehead to base their patriotism. Sorry that I don't remember who mentioned this in class, but someone something along the lines of "it's easier to rally around a person rather than an undeveloped national culture." From that, I reached a mental breakthrough and realized why countries like Mexico were not as successful at creating a national identity.  Off the top of my head, countries/cultures such as the United States (Washington), South America (Bolivar), Soviet Union (Lenin), North Korea (Kim family), Britain (monarch), and ancient Egypt (Pharoah) all had leaders that were easily identifiable culturally. Additionally, all of these leaders have two things in common: they gai...

 Part of me is glad to be back at Grand Valley and the other part wants to go back to vacation. I'm excited to get back into a routine, but I would much rather be in a sunnier and warmer place than Michigan right now. Over break, I relaxed at home for a good portion of the time, but I did go on a road trip down south over break. My family and I ended up driving through 11 states although we spent the majority of our travels in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. We got really lucky with the weather, thankfully, and didn't have to deal with rain or snow until we started going back north. I planned out the activities we did as a family for New Orleans, and one place I researched and went to was actually relevant to this class. There's a building called the cabildo, which is something we talked about briefly as sort of a governmental building in Spanish colonies. Nowadays, the building is a museum in the heart of the French Quarter showcasing the history of New Orl...