A Day in the Life

   

This blog post represents how I might have spent a day in my life as a common folk in 17th century London.

London, 21 August 1672

I woke today early. There is a play in town today, and I want to look marvelous for it. My wigmaker will be by soon with my new wig, and I am very excited for that. I will also be wearing the three piece suit that my tailor brought over yesterday. It is the new style in the city, and I will be sporting it most handsomely. I will also be wearing Ceruse, which will hide my past infliction of smallpox. I do not care what the apothecary says, looking good is more important than smelling bad or “being poisoned.”

London, 29 August 1672

We had a feast today with foods beyond imagination. We had parts of a lamb and a large chicken to feast on, as well as three freshly caught carp. There were also two sweet pies, which went along perfectly with the meat. Next we had a large amount of freshly picked fruits and anchovies were served in the banqueting house. To drink we had many types of fine wine and some weaker types of beer. It was a fantastic food and fun filled night!

London, 5 September 1672

I fell quite sick today. My mother fetched the local doctor to have a look at me. He said that to fix me, he would have to make me bleed and reluctantly I chose to do so. Unfortunately, I was not quite fixed yet. I was taken to a building with tables and fancy looking equipment, what they called a hospital. The doctor told me the operation should be simple, but the drug he put in me made me sleep. When I woke up, I felt pain in my arm, but the doctor said I was better and sent me home.

London, 9 September 1672

The criminal is set to be hanged today. He stole from the Queen’s castle. I decided to go down to town to see the execution. I had been quite bored lately, so this was thrilling. They put the man up above the stage, put the noose around his head and then killed him. People wanted to see bloodshed so they cut open his stomach just after he died. Afterwards I decided to go for a long walk and enjoy the warm afternoon.

RAFT C- A Letter to Louis

Dear ☼King Louis XIV☼,

         

                I had the pleasure to come visit Versailles, your palace, and it is marvelous. During the 2 days that I spent here, I have really appreciated what it is like to be nobility. I have also seen where some of the issues in our country have come from. Do not get me wrong, the palace is majestic, but there needs to be focus on the people of France too.

         When I arrived at Versailles, I was in awe. I had never seen anything so beautiful. The outside was magnificent. The royal gardens were my favorite part. The lush green trees and vibrantly colorful flowers made for a jaw dropping display of colors and wildlife. In the middle of the garden there was a large stone fountain, spewing water 10 feet into the air, in all directions. On the inside the floors were made of bright, white marble and the walls were lined with shiny metallic bronze. There were salons with polished chandeliers and clear, crisp mirrors. One of my favorite rooms was the Salon de Guerre, or the hall of war. Besides for the beautiful minerals that gave the room dazzling aesthetics, there were oil paintings of war, and statue of heros. In the middle, there was a large bronze statue of you as a Roman god of war. There were hundreds of rooms throughout the palace, that were able to fit upwards of 10000 people at a time. Before going to sleep we went to a “going to sleep” ceremony where you would undress and get into his night clothes. The higher ranking nobles were eager to receive your shoes and other clothing garments as this was a great honor. There was another ceremony in the morning, which was almost the same except for the fact that you were getting dressed, not undressed. The two days I spent here were the best of my life.

          With that being said, there needs to be change. For the first time in my entire life, I slept on a large, comfortable bed, by myself. I was able to eat all of the food that I wanted and I was given comfortable clothes. At home, I sleep on a small, uncomfortable bed, with my wife. I live in my house with my wife, our 3 children, her parents and her brother. That is 8 people crammed into a small house. We are fortunate enough to have two rooms. One was for cooking, eating, storage, and a place to stay during our waking hours. My parent-in-laws sleep in there as well as well as my brother-in-law. In the other room i sleep with my children and my wife. I work about 11 hours a day, and get paid skimpily for it. I am writing this letter asking for change. People all around rural France live a horrible life. They work all day to come home and get little to no sleep, and then the go to work the next day. I think that working this much deserves more pay, so I can have a nicer, more enjoyable life. I saw the way you live every day. I am not asking for that. But am asking for a better life, and I want all of the people in France to be given the chance to enjoy life and be able to live comfortably.

           When I walked into your palace I was awestruck. As I walked through the halls, I saw things I had never seen before. But that night, as I lay in bed, I realized there needed to be change. The people of France deserved to live a happy, enjoyable life, and they are not given that opportunity. There needs to be change in France in order for it to still be a thriving country, and that change needs to happen now.

                                                                         -Erik Bonnabeau

The Untold Story of the First New Englanders in History

              In the book Mayflower, by Nathaniel Philbrick, the epic story of the pilgrims trip to America is portrayed in a factual and entertaining way. We read the chapters called "The Heart of Winter" and "In a Dark and Dismal Swamp." They explained their arrival to America, their colonization, and their interactions with the Native Americans that lived in the area. In class, we read these chapters because we are learning about the Pilgrims trip to America. Also, we are having a literary circle to talk about what we read at a greater depth.

               
                  I thought that the book was interesting, and had a lot of detailed, interesting facts. I also thought that Nathaniel Philbrick did a great job turning facts into a story. I think one of the most important parts in the story is their very first interaction with the Native Americans. Squanto came walking towards their settlement at a constant pace. He walked right through the village and would have gone right into their sick house, when a couple of Pilgrims stopped him. He addressed them by saluting and saying "Hello, Englishmen." I think that this is important because we know that the relationship between the Natives and the English was not so good. What people don't realize is that there is a period between their meeting and when they fought, and that was partly due to Squanto's ability to speak English. I thought that the reading was good, not great. Because we had learned about some of this stuff in class, it got repetitive. I do think that if I read the book in 10 years, I would find it much more interesting because I think that it is a very cool story, just more of an adult read. I would recommend the chapters to someone who is in to history, or just wants to read a good story. I think that between the amazing facts and the wonderful storytelling, it would be a great read. I think that for younger readers, it could get boring, so I would probably recommend it to older readers. I think it was a well written book, and the author did a great job writing the amazing story of the first New Englanders.

A Journey to the America's

                       In 1620, the pilgrims made their voyage to the Americas. In 1957 however, my grandfather came to the Americas and had a similar story to many of the pilgrims who came to America, seeking freedom. I didn't say religious freedom, because that would not be true, but there are many aspects of his story that are the same as the Pilgrims.

     
            In 1931, my grandfather was born in Germany. This means that by the time he was 11, World War 2 had begun. He had to live through many hardships. He ate the same food for weeks on end, and was not able to live a fun, happy childhood like we did at his age. In many occasions, he was forced into a bomb shelter to stay safe from attacks.  As he aged, he started to work in a paper mill. He grew more and more knowledge of the Americas, and opportunities there, him and his family decided that that was the path to take. He knew that there was a lack of technology in America at the time, so he decided that with all of his college career focused on the paper mills and how they work, it was the opportunity of a lifetime. One of his father's friends worked in New York, so he knew that he would be able to start life somewhere.  In 1957, he took his trip to America, aboard the USS United States, pictured above. The only items that he brought over were in a large chest and two suitcases. At first, life was challenging. He had little money and he knew English fairly well, but was unaccustomed to a New York accent. In a short book that my Grandfather wrote bout the first years of his life, he says that one of the hardest changes he had to make was switching languages. Although he was familiar with English, he was not used to others not being able to speak German. He was used to translate things from German to English in his head, but now he knew he would have to think, talk, and listen in English. His first job started directly after he had got there, at a mill in Albany. Two of his first friends in America were Finnish and Dutch, so he could relate to their newness in thee country. After he settled in, life got better for him. He bought his first car, he had friends, and he met my would be grandmother.


                  Like I said above, I am not directly comparing the voyage of the mayflower to the voyage of my grandfather, but there are multiple similarities. My Grandfather lived a life in Germany that he could have lived in, but he saw a better opportunity for  better quality life in America. The pilgrims also could have kept living in England, but to do what they thrived to do, they could not. They wanted to worship their own choice of religion, but they were not allowed to. They were both only allowed to take the bare necessities, and they both had rough journeys coming to America, whether it was not having a lot of room, or leaving their family, respectively. When they got here, the pilgrims faced the cold, disease, and low supplies of food. On a much less intense scale, my grandfather had to convert from speaking German to English and focus on living life by American standards. Lastly, they both made friends, whether it was the Native Americans or fellow Europeans, who made their lives easier and more enjoyable. Things like the severity and conditions of life and the trip were different, and their reasons to come were different, but the overall outlines of their trips were the same.


                Two journeys, 337 years apart, yet strikingly similar. One of the stories has personal meaning to me, but the other does not. Both stories are very interesting, whether it is the pre-trip, the trip, the arrival and life in the new place, and all of the details in between. I think that it is truly amazing how both of these stories come to an end, and that is one of the many, many reasons that I decided to write about this topic.