Tasha Haight

Crime and Punishment in Latin America

Professor Carey
4/16/15
Extra Credit Reflection
Yesterday I attended a talk given by Dr. Jaren Stolley on travel in South America during
the colonial period. Three things caught my attention the most the indigenous information
provided by Rafael Landvar and Martnez Compan, the trials and dangers presented by Jos
Pavn and Hiplito Ruiz, and her ideas and questions about travel nowadays compared to back
then.
In class we learn about the marginalization between the indigenous peoples of Latin
America and the Ladinos. It fits into our class discussions that Rafael Landvar recorded
knowledge from both indigenous and European people, but recognized most of the labor,
whether it be mining or sugarcane production, came from the indigenous people. It also shows
the early class separations when Martnez Compans works were deemed inferior, rustic, and
useless because they privileged native languages in his illustrations and records and showed the
unhappiness and misery of the indigenous people due to the Spanish. In these ways, this talk was
like a prerequisite to the crime and punishment we would be discussing in class this semester.
Jos Pavn and Hiplito Ruiz described many dangers in their adventures throughout
Chile and Peru. These dangers included deserts without roads, heat, exhaustion, hunger, thirst,
nakedness, lack of things, storms, earthquakes, mosquitoes and other insects, tigers, bears, and
wild animals, thieves and heathen Indians, betrayals from their own slaves, rivers, floods, and
falls from mountains and trees. I found this part particularly interesting because they had to face
such adversities discovering this foreign land and nowadays people can travel practically
anywhere without having to worry about such things, unless they are traveling to underdeveloped
nations. I understand that Pavn and Ruiz did travel to an underdeveloped nation, but they still
faced more dangers than most people traveling today would. Dr. Stolley then brought up the
point that travelers today must be multilingual and multicultural, know the difference between
being a tourist and a traveler, know before they go, keep their eyes wide open, be aware of what
they dont know and why, and grow where theyre planted. As a world traveler myself, I think
these are excellent tips and definitely something everyone should keep in mind while theyre
traveling.