Day Five, Antigua

The first of September was the first day of classes for all of the students at Casa Herrera. The beginning of this semester, Sept 1st-Oct 13th, we have only two of the four classes we are taking. From 9:00-10:30am we have History of Guatemala, and from 1:00-2:30pm we have Religion of Guatemala. The first homework we had for the classes was a reading called "Place and People in a Transnational Borderzone City" by Little. This article explores the concept of Antigua as a "heterotopia": a space that juxtaposes "in a single real place several spaces, several sites that are themselves incompatible" (Foucault 1986); the city is both authentic and inauthentic, Ladino and Maya. The article also "...looks at how Guatemalans and tourists use Antigua and the types of contradictions that arise from that use" (p65). The chapter is broken up into scenarios which explore the different concepts of "heterotopia." The first scenario explores the concept of tourist using maps and lookout spots to separate themselves from the reality of the city and city life. The "tourist gaze" not only effects the tourists interaction with the city (an illusion of distance from the real) but it also effects the Guatemalans who know they are being watched and censor their actions based off of that knowledge. The second scenario explores the creation of the "modern-colonial" city. The city is both a modern, functioning place where people live now, and a recreation of what the city was in colonial times. Tourist want to experience the "colonial-city" while Guatemalans want to live and thrive in their home. The Guatemalans did, however, reconstruct themselves to fit into the concept of the "colonial-city" in an attempt to profit from the tourists who are looking for that experience. The third scenario is a typical Tuesday for the author who is an anthropologist working and learning in Antigua. It is interesting to read about the author moving through Antigua on a typical day when I myself am moving through it and recognizing where and what the author is discussing.    
In class we discussed the article and the concepts/issues it raises about our place and expected actions in Antigua as turistas (tourists). We also discussed what the expectations of the class are for this semester. We have three main projects for the history class this semester: a map project, a journal, and a paper all due at the end of our mini-semester in October. We were also told to come up with two questions for every reading to help start discussions. The same information was laid out in our second class, religion, with the exception that instead of a map project and paper, we have a paper and accompanying presentation at the end of the mini-semester.
In religion class we went over the important terms we will need to use in the class and some of the more important people in the development of the scientific study of religion; including Rudolf Otto, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, and Clifford Geertz. I have never taken a class on religion before, so I am very excited about what we will learn about the Maya and Ladinos of Guatemala.

Spanish Class in Antigua at PLFM

At 3pm we had our first Spanish class of the full semester. Our class is entirely in Spanish, and the four of us students take notes from what our teacher writes on the white boards as well as verbally repeat and respond to questions in Spanish. As a visual learner, and having never taken much Spanish in the past, I can say with some certainty that I was not doing as well or catching on to the language as quickly as my classmates. Despite my discomfort, the design of the class works very well, and I have managed to retain much more information than I originally expected.
We learned the Spanish alphabet, the conjegations of Estar and Ser, some adjectives which go with these irregular verbs, and Llamarse, Poder, Tener, and Gustar. Practice was difficult and my hands started sweating whenever I realized she was going to ask me questions I had to respond to. Overall the class was very good and I learned a very important sentence to use when I got back to my home stay, "Yo estoy tratando de habla Espanol" ( I am trying to speak Spanish). From this day on I am "banned" from speaking English at the dining room table, which is a great way for me to learn and practice more Spanish.