It was the year 1405 when I had taken a long walk into the city of Calicut with my father. He was a merchant and it was my turn to begin learning the ropes on bartering and trading. I was told that I had to keep quiet when the Chinese arrived, I did not know what to expect. The thought of meeting face to face with strange foreigners automatically sent shivers down my back. My father had told me that the Chinese were such wonderful people because the new ruler allowed them to trade once again with the lands across the waters. (Levathes, p. 88) He told me we lived on a land that was called "The great country of the Western Ocean."(Levathes, p.100) He said the people of the cities around us were called "barbarians" but we were not because the Chinese "treated the Zamurin as an equal and had the

I come from the city of Tlaxcala were we live with no money and are unable to dress in clothe. Our enemies are the Cholutecas and the people of Tenochtitlan, who capture our people, fatten them up and sacrifice them to the gods, they are evil and we want them gone. When the Spaniards arrived on our land in 1519. We had heard about their battle and defeat of the Otomies, this news filled us with overwhelming terror and apprehension. (Leon-Portilla, p.39) At first we thought they were on our enemy's side, which frightened us to death for we believed the end was coming. After we fought them for a little while we realized that they were not teules that we thought they were and they only came for peace. We debated and realized that we were safer as the Spaniards allies rather than their enemies; it was a smart move on our behalf. When they came to our town the streets were packed with happy men and women who threw our native flowers at the valiant Cortez and his captains who followed behind on their "deer-like" animals. (Diaz, p. 117) Soon after, we, the people of Tlaxcala and the very powerful Spaniards, who carried with them interesting weapons, joined arms and fought side by side against our enemies. Soon enough we will have revenge on our enemies and their wealth will be ours, we will be powerful and respected at last. The Spanish were very easy to manipulate, all we had to do was treat them kind and say "Most valiant lord, we wish to accompany you, in order to seek vengeance against Cholula for its insolent wickedness, and to conquer and destroy that city and its province." (Leon-Portilla, p.47) After the defeat in Cholula we were very rich in gold, salt, slaves, and finally cloth, no more henequen for us! The Spaniards changed our lives drastically; we went from "rags to riches" and no longer have to worry about who will be captured by the people of Tenochtitlan. Unlike many other cities around us we rejected the Christianity that the Spaniards tried to push on us, unfortunately though some of our nobles were killed because of our refute. (Portilla, p. 182) We are free now and we owe it to the wonderful Spaniards. We are very happy that the Spaniards helped us co

Some common words found in the essay are:
Christianity Spaniards, Indian Ocean, Western OceanLevathes, Tlaxcala Essaka, Zhu Di, Calicut Levathes, Tenochtitlan Unlike, , children hiding, people tenochtitlan, majestic looking,
Approximate Word count = 1468
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)