Blog 2

Something intriguing about the cultural differences....

I thought it very peculiar how Don Alejandro de la Vega sent his son, Diego on a boat to Spain without any supervision except those who would rather sweep the poop deck than babysit. It's the strangest thing to me that a parent would care more about having his son be sent away somewhere than for his absolutely certain safety. Then again, on the other side of that concern lies the fact that the parents in our time send children to Japan unsupervised on a plane. So nobody can technically hi-jack the kid on the flight, but you never know what could happen before the kid reaches the house of the person they're getting to. However, I think that it's still safer than putting them on a boat that's creaking it's way across the ocean!


Something else that intrigued me that has to be at least 250 words...

To fill you in on what's happening, Diego and Bernardo have not been eaten by sharks or mutinied by their crew. The worst that happened to them on the voyage was falling in the water and being considered by sharks (hence, not eaten), getting a little drunk and then shipsick, and losing all of the valuable clothes that Diego's father sent along with the boys (which Diego doesn't really care about anyhow). So, it's them, in the strange city so far away from the Californian landscape that they know by heart. What's different from the two settings is the hatred, revenge methods, and the way to court girls. The hatred is shot not at American Indians by the Spanish, but at the French by the Spanish. It's really the same ignorance of the people who won't go out and learn about the different culture, so they hate eachother for being different. Secondly, the revenge methods vary from California to Spain. When one is angry in America, one usually talked it out and tried to get their way thoruhg sneaky methods. In Spain, one just shoots at one's rival in a duel to solve the issue of burnt pride. Once again, pretty similar. Finally, the courting girls methods are different. In America, you waited for the girls to come to you as a male. In Spain, you generally court the girl, and make her feel special enough to give you her riches, and her person. So, tradition technically holds out around the world, and nothing much changes.