Maria Sweeting
Gates
People
from all over are one in the same. People come from different ways of living in
different countries but yet are more similar than anyone may realize. You think people are clueless as to what
another person’s life is but in reality they know more than they say. Coming
from a personal friend Bonke Rugira who is from The Democratic Republic of
Congo and my mother Fortunata from Naples, Italy. They are very different but
also very alike.
The
history of Italy begins with the arrival of the first hominins 850,000 years
ago at Monte Poggiolo. During the last Ice Age, the islands of Elba and Sicily
were connected to the mainland. Italy has only been a country for 153
years. Italy is home to Europe’s only three
active volcanoes: Etna, Stromboli & Vesuvius. The Vatican City in Rome is the smallest
country in the world. The first thermometer was made by an Italian inventor
Santorio Santorio in 1612. Up until 1999 children only had to attend school
until 14. Pizza was invented in Naples way back in 1860’s. The name Italy comes
from the Greek “Ithalos”.
The
region that is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo was first settled about
80,000 years ago. Bantu migration arrived in the region from Nigeria in the 7th
century AD. In DRC taking pictures is ill advised. Locals get very upset, for
they believe that “capturing a person’s image” removes his spirit. The Simba
beer is not only big in taste, its bottle which is often rundown and bears a
crude lion logo is nearly twice the size of most beer bottles around the world.
Those who have tasted the beverage claim it has a bready flavor. And there are
even those who say that it has a better taste than the more popular Budweiser. Because
of two devastating civil wars and decades of economic stagnation, ATMs began
appearing in the DRC only in 2010. The DRC used to have a very strange form of
currency. It’s called the Katanga cross. The metal is made of copper and is
shaped in the form of an X. A single Katanga cross, which was used for trade in
the 19th and early 20th centuries, could buy 10 kilograms of flour and six
chickens. Double the cross and it could buy a gun.
These
countries are very different as you can see but yet when I interviewed they
both had similar hobbies such as soccer and playing outside with friends. One
of bonke’s first memories was having a white person in his neighborhood, and my
my mom’s first memory was my nonno (grandfather) bringing gum and Hershey
kisses from America. Both countries are not very alike but the life styles are
similar and the favorite sport is soccer. You can see through this that the
countries are VERY different but the people are one in the same.
Bibliography
Maria Sweeting (2016) ‘Bonnke Rugira’s Interview’. Interview with 15 February, .
Citations, Quotes & Annotations
(, 2016)
Bibliography
Maria Sweeting (2016) ‘Fortunata Sweeting’s Interview’. Interview with 16 February, .
Citations, Quotes & Annotations
(, 2016)
