I am going to take a trip to Florence Italy where Sr Volpe wants me to take part in the building of the Florence Cathedral. I am currently walking down one of the smaller streets in Florence, looking for a way to be hired as a worker on the dome that I know will soon be built by the engineer, Filippo Brunelleschi. As I walk closer to the center of the city the huge octagonal, roofless structure that will become the famous Duomo di Santa Maria del Fiore casts a large shadow over the city and me.
I walk up to the base of the unfinished cathedral, on the wall I see a poster saying," Brunelleschi is looking for workers to work on the unfinished dome". This was my chance, I memorized the address and walked straight to a large palace that I recognized as the Medici Palace. I talked to a hardy looking servant about working on the dome, he had me signed up on a long scroll of paper, assigned my work hours and then told me to leave.
The next day I had to wake up early because my work hours demanded it, on the way to the cathedral I bought a light breakfast consisting of bread, olives and wine. Work on the great dome had already begun, the sandstone beams creating an arch had already been laid and there was a quite a bit of work done on the large dome. All of the construction must have cost a fortune, I'm am surprised that they are not bankrupt then I remember that the Medici family is funding this. The main part of the dome was made of brick. I saw the worker that I had talked to when I had first signed up.
Right away they had me climb up to the to of the of the dome where the workers were working, there I saw Brunelleschi drawing a diagram of the dome. One of the top workers told me to take some bricks and go to the edge where the new brick were being laid. I worked on the dome for about 4 months, gathering data on there exact building techniques of Brunelleschi for TTI scrutiny.
During one of the days that I wasn't busy, I heard about the finishing of the dome, it was said that Brunelleschi had to lay the final brick himself because all of the workers were to nervous to walk out in the middle of the dome for fear that they would fall. When It was complete, the Florence Cathedral became one of the symbols of the the most powerful cities in history. Because the dome was complete, there was no reason for me to stay so I set my time travel device to the present disappeared in a flash of blue light.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Friday, March 9, 2012
M9
I am going to take a stroll down one of the Japanese villages, have some food, have a nice time. But I just got a call from Signor Volpe, he wants me to get some info on the Japanese aristocracy. As I continue walking down the street I pull out one of the devices that TTI gave me, it lets me find certain places with absolute accuracy. I am going to the house of an aristocrat, so I type in the "the nearest house of a Japanese aristocrat. A little beam of light comes out of the device and I follow it down the road.
I have been walking for some time now, and I am in the richer part of the city, the houses are larger than the little huts on the outskirts of the city. In front of ever house that I walk by I see a gateposts of varying height, I know from my training at TTI that the gatepost represents the rank of the occupants. I come to a place at the road were it makes a 90 degree right turn and in the inside corner lies a house that I huge compared to the rest, there is a man made lake in front of the house with a lot a large docile coy in it, the man who lives here doesn't scrimp. I open the front gate, walk up the steps, and loudly knock on the front door, in a couple seconds the door is opened by a man that I recognize as Fujiwara Machinaga.
My first thought is "dang that TTI device works really well." I introduce myself as a ambassador from a different country which is pretty close to the truth, I tell him that our people recognize his great power and wealth and decided that it would be more productive if I met with him rather than the emperor, He, of coarse was delighted. After the greetings are finished and we are comfortably sitting on the ground I ask him about his role in the government. He says that there are many ways that can use to control the inner workings of the government, one of the things he does is that because he is rich, he is very influential, he influences the people and the emperor, he made sure that his daughters married people in the royal family.
"Did you know," Fujiwara asked, "that I was the step-father of four emperors, and the grandfather of three more?"
"Well," I replied," I can't say I did."
After my discussion with Fujiwara Machinaga I set out to explore the rest of the city, I saw the court were there was a group of nobles playing kemari, a game were you try to keep a leather ball in the air for as long as possible. I look at my watch and see, to my dismay that it is time for me to go back to present.
I find a discrete location, set my time to the present, and off I go.
I have been walking for some time now, and I am in the richer part of the city, the houses are larger than the little huts on the outskirts of the city. In front of ever house that I walk by I see a gateposts of varying height, I know from my training at TTI that the gatepost represents the rank of the occupants. I come to a place at the road were it makes a 90 degree right turn and in the inside corner lies a house that I huge compared to the rest, there is a man made lake in front of the house with a lot a large docile coy in it, the man who lives here doesn't scrimp. I open the front gate, walk up the steps, and loudly knock on the front door, in a couple seconds the door is opened by a man that I recognize as Fujiwara Machinaga.
My first thought is "dang that TTI device works really well." I introduce myself as a ambassador from a different country which is pretty close to the truth, I tell him that our people recognize his great power and wealth and decided that it would be more productive if I met with him rather than the emperor, He, of coarse was delighted. After the greetings are finished and we are comfortably sitting on the ground I ask him about his role in the government. He says that there are many ways that can use to control the inner workings of the government, one of the things he does is that because he is rich, he is very influential, he influences the people and the emperor, he made sure that his daughters married people in the royal family.
"Did you know," Fujiwara asked, "that I was the step-father of four emperors, and the grandfather of three more?"
"Well," I replied," I can't say I did."
After my discussion with Fujiwara Machinaga I set out to explore the rest of the city, I saw the court were there was a group of nobles playing kemari, a game were you try to keep a leather ball in the air for as long as possible. I look at my watch and see, to my dismay that it is time for me to go back to present.
I find a discrete location, set my time to the present, and off I go.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
M8
I transported directly into lake Lake Texcoco where the city of Tenochtitlan is a island on the western side of the lake, boy, it's wet. On the shore I see the city, and the 5 major temples arranged in the center. I swim up to the shore of the island, and pass into the city. I attract a lot of strange looks from the people there, probably because I am soaking wet. I am going to the Great Market in the center of the city, to buy dry clothes and try to blend in with the other Aztecs. As I walk to the market, a Aztec warrior comes up to me and says that I have been chosen to be sacrificed to the Aztec' s sun god, so now I am stuck.
Right now I am tied up to a tree, from what I can tell I am going to be sacrificed to the sun god Tezcatlipoca. The next day a couple of warriors come and untie me, the drag me to the top of one of the main temples. Gathered around the temple are thousands of people waiting to watch me be sacrificed. This would probably be the end of me except that I am in no real danger of being mauled, I can always zap to a different location, but I am not going to. I want to listen to the prayers that the Aztecs say before they sacrifice someone.
I just disappeared right before the Aztecs were going to sacrifice me, using TTI technology I also left a fake heart so I wouldn't mess with there ritual. So now maybe I can sample some of the local cuisine. I have found a small stand that is selling rabbits, so I ordered a dish with rabbit mixed with hot sauce, it is good but it is really hot. I have decided to walk around the market and get a couple little trinkets to take home.
I notice a warrior following me around, I try to escape his notice but soon two of them cornered me, this time they were quite docile.
"Great god, why do you hide from us? We know who you are because of the magic you performed during the sacrifice".
"Well, I guess this is better than being sacrificed" I thought. Because of my godly status, I was treated to a large feast and a lot of apologizing by the priests.
Now it is the middle of the night, and I am in a Aztec equivalent of a fancy bedroom, but I have to go home. I set my time device to the present and ZAP, I am gone.
Right now I am tied up to a tree, from what I can tell I am going to be sacrificed to the sun god Tezcatlipoca. The next day a couple of warriors come and untie me, the drag me to the top of one of the main temples. Gathered around the temple are thousands of people waiting to watch me be sacrificed. This would probably be the end of me except that I am in no real danger of being mauled, I can always zap to a different location, but I am not going to. I want to listen to the prayers that the Aztecs say before they sacrifice someone.
I just disappeared right before the Aztecs were going to sacrifice me, using TTI technology I also left a fake heart so I wouldn't mess with there ritual. So now maybe I can sample some of the local cuisine. I have found a small stand that is selling rabbits, so I ordered a dish with rabbit mixed with hot sauce, it is good but it is really hot. I have decided to walk around the market and get a couple little trinkets to take home.
I notice a warrior following me around, I try to escape his notice but soon two of them cornered me, this time they were quite docile.
"Great god, why do you hide from us? We know who you are because of the magic you performed during the sacrifice".
"Well, I guess this is better than being sacrificed" I thought. Because of my godly status, I was treated to a large feast and a lot of apologizing by the priests.
Now it is the middle of the night, and I am in a Aztec equivalent of a fancy bedroom, but I have to go home. I set my time device to the present and ZAP, I am gone.
Friday, January 27, 2012
M7 Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Safari
Today I am going on a safari, I plan on going into the Congo River Basin. We are going to see many different kinds of wildlife, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is known for it's diverse wildlife. We are entering the Basin now, buckle up, here we go!!
First we are going to the habitat of the bonobo, it is one of the three great apes living in the DRC. It looks just like the chimpanzee, but it is slightly smaller. All apes living in the DRC are threatened by bushunting, which is hunting but not for regular meat. The bonobos, like all great apes are very intelligent, and are known to use tools for gathering termites, to break open nuts, and other uses.
Next we are going to the wetlands to meet some hippos, don't be afraid, they might bite, hard.Oh, and they don't like it when you wince, just so you know. We arrived just in time to see to male hippos fighting over rights to dominate a mate, they fight by charging each other with there mouths open and try to bite each other with there teeth that can be up to a foot long.
Now we are going to say hi to some gorillas, did you know that a gorilla's genes are only different from humans by 1.6%. Silver back gorillas, are almost extinct, because of poachers and loss of habitat. The gorillas were originally thought to be a different species of human because an explorer described them as a large hairy man, but it is still uncertain whether he saw a gorilla or something else.
Our adventure is coming to a close, goodbyes are always the worst, but maybe if you commented it would make it easier. Well goodbye, I hoped you learned a lot, until next time.
First we are going to the habitat of the bonobo, it is one of the three great apes living in the DRC. It looks just like the chimpanzee, but it is slightly smaller. All apes living in the DRC are threatened by bushunting, which is hunting but not for regular meat. The bonobos, like all great apes are very intelligent, and are known to use tools for gathering termites, to break open nuts, and other uses.
Next we are going to the wetlands to meet some hippos, don't be afraid, they might bite, hard.Oh, and they don't like it when you wince, just so you know. We arrived just in time to see to male hippos fighting over rights to dominate a mate, they fight by charging each other with there mouths open and try to bite each other with there teeth that can be up to a foot long.
Now we are going to say hi to some gorillas, did you know that a gorilla's genes are only different from humans by 1.6%. Silver back gorillas, are almost extinct, because of poachers and loss of habitat. The gorillas were originally thought to be a different species of human because an explorer described them as a large hairy man, but it is still uncertain whether he saw a gorilla or something else.
Our adventure is coming to a close, goodbyes are always the worst, but maybe if you commented it would make it easier. Well goodbye, I hoped you learned a lot, until next time.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
M6 Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
I am traveling to the year 1884, when the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was a Belgium territory, ruled by King Leopold II. He treated the country like his own personal property, Africans were considered savages and were all full time slaves to the king, I am going to a work site in the 1880s.
The air is filled with dust, everywhere there are hundreds of African men chained together pulling huge blocks of stone. White guards stand by holding rifles, in the distance I hear a cry of pain echo up the canyon, a man is getting one of his hand cut off for not working hard enough. To prove that they are doing there jobs, the leader of the sites will often show government officials baskets of smoked human hands.
In 1908 the Belgium government was embarrassed sufficiently that it persuaded the king to give the country back to the people, but while the work was less brutal, Belgium still made large profits off the then Belgian Congo. But finally France declared the Belgian Congo free and owner ship was given to Patrice Lumumba.
Because of the hurriedly arranged election, two provinces succeeded from the DRC, one of them controlled the copper industry and so, with support from the US and Belgium a civil war broke out. To put a stop to the war, Belgium paratroopers kidnapped and executed Patrice Lumumba. The new leader of the DRC began a period of Africanization, he changed all the names in the country including the names of the citizens to African names, the new name for the country became Zaire. The first and second Congo war happened between the period of Americanization up to the present, with the second war officially ending in 2003 but hostilities continuing up to this day.
Although the people of the DRC have faced many problems in the course of history, they have succeeded and created a country with many problems, but on the rise. The DRC currently receives foreign aid from it's allies because of its strategic location.
The air is filled with dust, everywhere there are hundreds of African men chained together pulling huge blocks of stone. White guards stand by holding rifles, in the distance I hear a cry of pain echo up the canyon, a man is getting one of his hand cut off for not working hard enough. To prove that they are doing there jobs, the leader of the sites will often show government officials baskets of smoked human hands.
In 1908 the Belgium government was embarrassed sufficiently that it persuaded the king to give the country back to the people, but while the work was less brutal, Belgium still made large profits off the then Belgian Congo. But finally France declared the Belgian Congo free and owner ship was given to Patrice Lumumba.
Because of the hurriedly arranged election, two provinces succeeded from the DRC, one of them controlled the copper industry and so, with support from the US and Belgium a civil war broke out. To put a stop to the war, Belgium paratroopers kidnapped and executed Patrice Lumumba. The new leader of the DRC began a period of Africanization, he changed all the names in the country including the names of the citizens to African names, the new name for the country became Zaire. The first and second Congo war happened between the period of Americanization up to the present, with the second war officially ending in 2003 but hostilities continuing up to this day.
Although the people of the DRC have faced many problems in the course of history, they have succeeded and created a country with many problems, but on the rise. The DRC currently receives foreign aid from it's allies because of its strategic location.
Friday, December 16, 2011
M5
I am going to Jenne-jeno, it is a important African city that thrives off trade. My boat glides down the Niger river towards the city of Jenne-jeno. The city has a rather small wall by European standards, about 13 feet high.When my boat docks I walk up to the city, a guard questions me about my intentions inside the city, I tell him that I am a traveler touring the city which is incredibly close to the truth.
I walk past the wall towards the center of the city, on the way there I walk past the trading center.On the way through I happen to see a gold ring being traded for a small block of salt. It astounds me to see the value of salt, but it makes sense, salt is very rare in this area and it has many uses like keeping the body healthy.
As I continue into the city center I see a group of people huddling around a small stand shouting OOO and AHHH. I walk up interested in what is going on, when I get close enough to see whats going on I see a blacksmith with singed clothing hammering on a piece of red hot metal. In Jenne-jeno, the people here believe that blacksmiths are magical, they are often asked to perform healing and to tell the future, they are also used as political leaders and judges.
Jenne-jeno was built during the third century B.C. it existed for more than 1,600 years.The city had a population of about 20,000 during ancient times. At first it's houses were made from poles arranged in a circular fashion but later it evolved into mud brick houses.
I am done here for now, but I am yearning for food, on the way towards the gate I buy some food with the coins that TTI supplied me with. I walk through the gate and to my docked boat, I untie it and float downstream, once I am out of sight from the city I time travel back to the present.
I walk past the wall towards the center of the city, on the way there I walk past the trading center.On the way through I happen to see a gold ring being traded for a small block of salt. It astounds me to see the value of salt, but it makes sense, salt is very rare in this area and it has many uses like keeping the body healthy.
As I continue into the city center I see a group of people huddling around a small stand shouting OOO and AHHH. I walk up interested in what is going on, when I get close enough to see whats going on I see a blacksmith with singed clothing hammering on a piece of red hot metal. In Jenne-jeno, the people here believe that blacksmiths are magical, they are often asked to perform healing and to tell the future, they are also used as political leaders and judges.
Jenne-jeno was built during the third century B.C. it existed for more than 1,600 years.The city had a population of about 20,000 during ancient times. At first it's houses were made from poles arranged in a circular fashion but later it evolved into mud brick houses.
I am done here for now, but I am yearning for food, on the way towards the gate I buy some food with the coins that TTI supplied me with. I walk through the gate and to my docked boat, I untie it and float downstream, once I am out of sight from the city I time travel back to the present.
Friday, December 2, 2011
M4
I'm walking in the middle of the desert with a bunch of smelly camels. I have joined a Bedouin caravan crossing the Rub Al Khali Desert. We have animal supplies that we traded for with a clan of nomad herders. Our bags are full of goat and sheep hair, we have also brought some live animals trade for other supplies. After walking for two weeks our water is running out, we expected to find more oases than we did. A couple miles after we lost our first goat we see a patch of green on the horizon, when we get closer we see that it is a oasis, we drink our fill and fill our water skins and set out again.
On the next day it started to get very windy, every once and a while a dust devil would pop up and blow us all over. Around midday a giant dust cloud formed directly in our path, we increase our pace to try and make more progress before we hit the sandstorm. Even before we get to the storm the strong winds are buffeting us side to side, pulling at our close and burying us knee deep in sand. We wrap clothes around our head to protect us from inhaling any sand, just leaving our eyes visible. Continuing to struggle against the wind, we entered into the main body of the sandstorm.
It was horrible, one minute you would be walking into the wind, in the next minute the wind direction would change trowing you onto the ground then burying you in a foot of sand. Soon I was out of water still stumbling along in the general direction that I started, hopefully. After what seemed like hours the winds slowed and the storm moved on, and I was left there panting on the ground, not strong enough to pick myself up and keep walking, slowly closed my eyes to the harsh desert sun.
I woke up to the friendly sight of the face's on the other members of the caravan. While I was unconscious they had been dripping water into mouth so when I moved I got the precious liquid all over my face. They told me that that had been a especially fierce storm and that we were all lucky to be alive. It took a couple of hours to gather all of our camels, many of which were laying in the shadow of a sand dune, but we got them upright once more, and we were off again.
Our destination, the city of Makkah loomed on the horizon. I made it, through a sandstorm, and almost died of dehydration but I made it. I felt stronger after the journey, mentally and physically because I had accomplished an almost impossible goal.
On the next day it started to get very windy, every once and a while a dust devil would pop up and blow us all over. Around midday a giant dust cloud formed directly in our path, we increase our pace to try and make more progress before we hit the sandstorm. Even before we get to the storm the strong winds are buffeting us side to side, pulling at our close and burying us knee deep in sand. We wrap clothes around our head to protect us from inhaling any sand, just leaving our eyes visible. Continuing to struggle against the wind, we entered into the main body of the sandstorm.
It was horrible, one minute you would be walking into the wind, in the next minute the wind direction would change trowing you onto the ground then burying you in a foot of sand. Soon I was out of water still stumbling along in the general direction that I started, hopefully. After what seemed like hours the winds slowed and the storm moved on, and I was left there panting on the ground, not strong enough to pick myself up and keep walking, slowly closed my eyes to the harsh desert sun.
I woke up to the friendly sight of the face's on the other members of the caravan. While I was unconscious they had been dripping water into mouth so when I moved I got the precious liquid all over my face. They told me that that had been a especially fierce storm and that we were all lucky to be alive. It took a couple of hours to gather all of our camels, many of which were laying in the shadow of a sand dune, but we got them upright once more, and we were off again.
Our destination, the city of Makkah loomed on the horizon. I made it, through a sandstorm, and almost died of dehydration but I made it. I felt stronger after the journey, mentally and physically because I had accomplished an almost impossible goal.
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