Research paper

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)