Marco Polo was an intrepid fellow.
I’ve been reading many of his accounts that follow his journey along the silk road to get a better understanding of what the terrain, people and other features were prominent during the time. Polo, who traveled with his father (and initially some priests which were sent along to convert pagans), speaks about the land and the people of places he visits. He seems to have an incredible talent for linguistics and grasps many of the languages of the people whom he interacts with.
He is also more curious than afraid. The priests who I mentioned above, took off when they heard that the next city had been invaded by a ferocious army. Honestly, from the accounts, Polo doesn’t really seem to care. He and his father (Nicolo) are hoping to arrive at the Great Khan’s court before he dies, so they keep trudging along from Baghdad to Hormuz.
Along the way down the Tigris river, Polo talks of a new “breed” of people who are inhuman in nature and acted like wolves. The Kurds were of course just normal people, who happened to be attacking Marco and his party. The fact that he describes them as “the savage and vindictive race who dwelt in those fastnesses, and whose occupation it was to rob and murder,” doesn’t really give them a great rap. Unfortunately, we don’t know what the Kurds thought of Polo and his party of flashy armor, strange amulets and terrifying weapons…
This just reminds us of the fact that having a written language and keeping records, skews the perspective of history toward the victor (and often the European). The Han Chinese wrote about the Xiongnu pastoralists in an uncannily similar manner, calling them “Barbarians and animals from the North.” Quite interesting how the “opposition” is related to animals, both from the Han China and Italian point of view.
After a few paragraphs dedicated to insulting the Kurds, Polo finds himself in the port-town of Hormuz. He then proceeds to insult the Persian ships docked at harbor. I judgmental character to say the least… However, not all is bad. Setting out from Hormuz, Polo remarks on the beauty of the natural landscape with in all its flowering magnificence. In fact, he spends the same amount of time discussing the nature around him as he spends describing an attack in which he and his father had to kill 3 bandits before barely escaping with their lives!
The trails of the silk road are already proving treacherous for our venetian explorer. Will he make it to the hall of the great Kublai Khan, or will he succumb to the dangers of the barren deserts? All will be revealed next week. Until then, a great quote from our drama king:
“(Polo and his squad) leading their horses and camels, sometimes on a path so narrow and so high above the gorge by whose side it ran, that it seemed inevitable that the travellers would fall and break their necks.”
Charming.

Buenas noches,
Hope you’re doing well!
Just imagine: flower-pot tandoor, homemade naan, first person narrative, interactive table, beautiful spiraling maps.
This is a sliver of the creative ideas the Tongue group has fabricated. Since bonding over food we’re feeling much more comfortable around each other and more open to brainstorming ideas.
Zach is still developing his idea to make a cheap tandoor oven. Apparently the cheapest way is about $200, but that’s still too much for our budget. We’ve discussed getting a club, perhaps the Asian Cultures or International Club, to sponsor the project and then donate it to the college. I’ve personally thought of cooperating with the Bonner Food Market or the Farm in some way..perhaps they could incorporate a tandoor into their efforts to diminish hunger. We want our final presentation to coincide with a meal that we prepare ourselves, with fabulously timed tea pouring skills.
Thus far, we’re all slightly frustrated. We’ve done research and brainstormed ideas, but feel as if we don’t know the destination to hone in on. We’ve done loads of research, but feel like it’s not making much progress towards our goal. Even after the sessions with Rachel I’m still slightly overwhelmed by the myriad of sources, but plan to meet with her to narrow them down. Additionally Eric’s and Zhihong’s remarks about unapologetically honing in on a narrow topic, as long as you discuss that there are other factors and topics left untouched, are valuable.
I feel like the whole group is stuck in a limbo where the deadline simultaneously feels far away but the work feels urgent.
Some productive work we did was on story maps. We discussed multiple story map ideas, like  following the experiences of a traveler leading to a culminating meal, each of us embodying a person along the way, or focusing on a virtual table. We were fond of the first idea, but decided that it would limit our ability to highlight histories and processes that the traveler themselves wouldn’t experience. Therefore we thought it would be really intriguing and unique take on the persona of “middle-men” in Kashgar.  To keep to his research themes of spices and livestock, Chris would be a shepherd, butcher, merchant, or perhaps a cycle through all three. Zach would be a cook or street vendor to focus on beverages and cooking. To illuminate cooking equipment, utensils, and clay Billie would be a potter or metalworker. We even found a real 7 year old potter from the region named Anwar Ali!!! And finally to manifest how eating relates to culture and customs I’d be a homeowner, or the one hosting a guest.  As for the table idea, Billie suggested that we make the table holding our meal the focal point of our map, and zoom out from each dish to our respective research.
Here’s our expert sketches and ideas: