UNIFE Day 2

     Today was a busy day at UNIFE for our entire class. As with yesterday, we had lunch with some of the UNIFE students, and alternated between conversing in English and Spanish.  After this, we had our first classes at the university; I was assigned to the Intermediate Spanish 1 group, which took classes in literature and in history. The literature portion was a fascinating timeline of Peru's writing history, starting with the Quechua epics of the Incan empire. After the conquest, Peruvian writing was quite deliberately remade in the Spanish language and its styles in an attempt to completely dismantle all traces of Incan culture. However, after independence, Peru began to diverge from Castilian Spanish and used many new styles from the outside world in addition to its own. Several writers were key to helping create a distinctly Peruvian literature, the first and foremost being Ricardo Palma; his melding of romantic and realist themes in his writing was key to setting Peru apart from its neighbors and from the world powers. 
     My second class was focused on the history of Peru, specifically the hundred year reign of the Incans and their conquering by the Spanish. The class studied the political dynamics of the Incan Empire's dynastic politics, administration, and its consolidation of different Andean cultures. Next, it overviewed the reasons why the Spanish were able to defeat the Incans despite being at an extraordinary numerical disadvantage against them. The truth is, the Spanish had most of their fighting done for them with smallpox, the flu, and other diseases they brought from Europe, which killed millions of Incans and other Indians throughout the Americas. Meanwhile, their possession of horses, firearms, and good ships allowed them to have greater destructive power and maneuverability than the Incans could ever hope to have.
     Finally, we concluded with a panel by the Northeastern students about what life is like on campus and in Boston generally. We each had a student translator for us who would speak in Spanish after we spoke portions of our speeches in English. We talked about how Northeastern coordinates co-ops, how we go about studying, and how students live in dorms. I talked about the university is excellent at networking among its alumni and employers, and how it has an extremely wide base of connections amongst experts and professionals in all kinds of fields.
     After that, we spoke in Spanish with groups of the students to get to know each other. Overall, today was an excellent start to our academic and personal exchanges amongst the UNIFE students. We each learned about our respective home countries, and how they handle many different parts of life socially and academically. It will be great to do more tomorrow, and then go to the Museo Oro.