Aranjuéz

I learned that the city of Aranjuéz was once only inhabited by Spanish royalty. If you were not noble, you were not allowed to live there. About 200 years later, commoners were first allowed to live in the municipality. The palace for which the town is so well-known for was built during the reign of King Philip II and is extremely beautiful. Joaquin Rodrigo was a composer who wrote the popular concerto "El concierto de Aranjuéz". He was almost completely blind, but his wife helped him tremendously with that. 

As I listened to his famous concierto, images of summertime kept popping up in my head. I visualized flowers blooming, birds singing, and bright green grass rippling in a soft breeze. Rodrigo wrote the concierto because he wanted everyone to feel what he felt as he walked around the exquisite palace and gardens in his city. I liked the second movement the best because it was the most exciting.

Conversation with John Suarez

I thought conversing with John was very interesting. It gave me new insight into the plight of the Venezuelans, Cubans and Ukrainians. The main idea I took away from our conversation with him was that if a group of dissidents can manage to maintain a peaceful protest, then that will have a more powerful effect on changing their country than if the protest becomes violent. I also thought it was astounding that the people protesting and risking their lives in Venezuela are mostly college students who are just a couple years older than I. They are very brave to be willing to pay the ultimate price in order to gain freedom from Maduro for their country. I agree that peaceful protest accomplishes more than violent protests because in this day in age, any kind of revolution will garner international attention. If the revolution is violent, as it was in Syria and Egypt, then I think the international community views the revolutionaries with extreme distaste. However, if the revolutionaries are peaceful, then I think they gain respect from many nations and the leaders of their government begin to be pressured to step down. Mankind is incapable of achieving true peace because so many leaders only care about their own well-being. There will be many leaders of the future who only care about themselves, and so their people will suffer, and there will always be people who want change. War is probably the only thing that will remain constant. In Venezuela, the protesters are being viewed as terrorists by the Maduro and Castro regimes. Cuba is sending its military over to try and stop the revolution. There are widespread shortages of basic necessities in Venezuela such as diapers, flour and milk. If I were a reporter in this country, the first place I would visit would be a hospital so I could publish photos and firsthand accounts of injuries and deaths inflicted by the government and military. If leaders of other countries heard firsthand accounts of the atrocities taking place, perhaps they would put more pressure on Maduro to step down, or act on behalf of the protesters in another way.