Friday, January 17, 2014

Marco Polo's Mongol journal -Raquel Scherlis


Journal Entry #1
Before I start my journey I have to do some research on the people I would be spending most of my time with, the Mongols. The Mongols weren’t just the name they were called, they were also called the Barbarians. In other words they were “bloodthirsty marauders, destroyers of cities, and slayers of innocence.” It intimidates me how they would destroy every city they walked through, not just burn down the houses, but killed the people by cutting off their heads and throwing them into piles. During my research it said that they carried a disease, called the black death, around the land they traveled. It was told to be a deadly disease that flies carried from rats, it traveled with them to many cities, killing many people. As I had heard from many other men that walked on the long desert trips, they told me that when they were thirsty they would make a cut in their horse’s neck, and drink the blood. I understand that they were thirsty but this was also animal abuse. So far the Mongols kind of scare me I’m not so sure if I want to travel with them, but whatever happens I just have to be safe on my journey.

Journal Entry #2
     It has been a couple days since my last entry and I have done much more research on the Mongols. They weren’t that bad after all they were also pretty good! They were “promoters of trade, supporters of cultural exchange, and connectors of East and West.” I knew how trading kind of worked down in China, but what I didn’t know was that there were so many resources that could be traded. Gunpowder, silk, animals, carpets, that wasn't even all of it. They have this own road just for trading it was called the silk road, and they connected Europe and Asia together also making it easier to trade. The best thing was their culture. They accepted every religion from near and far and they wanted to learn so much more about them. Knowing that the Mongols are semi-nice people I hope for the best on my travels!

Journal Entry #3
     My view of the Mongols as a 21st century person is that they are many things. The Mongols can be described as powerful, intimidating, culturist, and sweet, but you can’t really trust those opinions from other people. I think the reason why people have different views of them is because it’s their opinion and thats why there are 2 different answers, the good, and the bad. They would best describe me as if they were Spartans. The Spartans and the Mongols are very much alike they both have multiple alike characteristics such as welfare, leadership, and freedom. There also alike because they are both positive about winning and defeating. 

Bibliography:
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"Mongols." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Jan. 2014. Web. 17 Jan. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongols>.


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