Presentations - Day 1

Today was the first day my classmates got to present their research presentations. I was able to learn about various Caribbean countries and what the focal point of their papers were about from their presentations, and below are facts I remember from them! (I missed the first three presentations of day 1, so I have only provided facts and no opinions!)

• Cuba

• Saba

• The island has conservation foundations
• Saba is the smallest island in the Caribbean

• Trinidad and Tobago

• Petroleum takes over plantation

• Haiti 
• Natural disasters occur very often, specifically floods

• Saint Vincent and Grenadines

• Tourism and agriculture are the two main resources that supports St. Vincent and Grenadines economy
• People on the mainland make their money off of agriculture
• Tourism will help the countries economy because it is not as sensitive to harsh weather as crops are 
• Should tourism be enhanced to improve the islands economy. supporters say that due to bad weather restrictive trade rules, agriculture has declined significantly.
• Another strategy the country can do is to try to attract movie companies to come to St. Vincent and produce films 
• Tourism reached its peek in 2009
• The best strategy to improve the economy is to integrate agriculture with tourism somehow
• Overall, I thought the presentation was very good! The student's voice projected very well and she made eye contact with the teacher and audience throughout the whole presentation. Her presenting skills worked very well. One thing about the way this student presented though, she said "like" and "uhm" very frequently. I know that it is a common thing many of us say while presenting and even while talking in a casual conversation, but I remember the use of those words being a big part of her presentation.

• Guadeloupe

• In 300BCE Guadeloupe was discovered by the Arawak Indians, they were nomadic
• Body image was very important to the Arawak
• Arawaks defeated by the Caribs
• Men took pleasure in tearing out hair out one by one with knives because they did not like facial hair
• Women struggled with long hair because short hair was only for slaves
• Religion of the Arawak was Polythiesm, gods being called Zemi
• According to their folklore, the sun and moon came from a cave
• Music and dance has a big impact on today's society 
• The music type is called zouk
• Tourism is the main economic industry
• 95% of Guadeloupe are catholic
• I thought this presentation was very nice! I liked how Madison provided many pictures and rich history on the island of Guadeloupe, which I did not think about including in my presentation or paper! Much of the presentation had to do with the island's history, which I liked, but I did not completely understand the purpose of it or what her research question and claim.