Stop the Revolution, I Want To Get Off

World History.

I do enjoy learning about people and places - there's so much that was never covered in the history classes I took. Lately Daniel's history book has been full of revolution. As in , The American Revolution, The French Revolution and today....Latin American Independence Movements. Sure, I covered the A.R. repeatedly over the years. And who hasn't heard of Marie Antoinette who lost her head during the F.R.? I found out today that my education was sadly lacking - I don't ever remember learning about Latin American independence movements. Maybe because they are still an ongoing process?

I have a new hero....no, it's not Simon Bolivar. Sure, sure, he had a cool nickname "El Libertador" (The Liberator). Yeah, he had a country named after him...and it wasn't even his (Bolivia)...but his troops had to hack their way through a jungle crawling with poisonous spiders, slog waist deep through the mud and then eat cold raw meat.

My hero is Jose de San Martin. After throwing off the Spanish yoke in Argentina he then planned a campaign to get rid of Spanish rule in Chile and Peru. He and his closest advisor, Bernardo O'Higgins - a Chilean ex-pat - planned and organized thoroughly. They had to take their troops 300 miles - AND cross the Andes. My favorite equipment? The wagonload of wheat and a baker to turn it into bread.