Day Twelve, Antigua

San Francisco Church Face

Today is a hot and humid day here in Antigua. In the morning we had history class at the Casa and a field trip during religion. In history we focused on the Afro-Latin populations, indigenous populations and the influences of the differing populations in Guatemala. We did not focus on the readings from the night before, but they added context to the lecture of the day. The readings were "Collapse and Recovery: Demographic Change in the Native Population" by Lovell, and "Colonial Foundations" by Herrera. I will not go into detail about these readings because they were not discussed in class.

San Francisco Ruined Convent

In religion we went on a field trip around some of the churches in Antigua. Firstly, last evening we received an e-mail about the field trip (it was unplanned) that specified three things we needed to do to prepare for the trip 1) bring money to be able to view the ruins and look at the museum, 2) dress appropriately: no shorts and women need to have their shoulders covered (no straps), and 3) come with only a camera, since notes will be up on the blackboard site for the class. We met at the steps in front of the Central Plaza Cathedral at 11am. Our first look was at the cathedral, which Steven talked about for a bit before we went in. It is still called a cathedral even though it is no long overseen by a bishop, and due to the major earthquake which caused the move of the capital to Guatemala City, part of it is now closed off. It is of Baroque "earthquake" design; it is more squat, thicker walled, and it lacks a bell tower to prevent damage due to the natural environment in Guatemala. The facades are less ornate than traditional European Baroque, but there are distinct hints to the period in the designs of niches and interior spaces. We did not take pictures at the cathedral in deference to the people there for prayer.
After we went through the cathedral we walked to the Franciscan church San Francisco on the south-western edge of the original square plot of Santiago (Antigua). The Church is surrounded by a fortress like retaining wall, which has modern additions at the corners. The church is partly still functioning and partly in ruins. The functioning part houses a large (and currently being renovated) area for service and also houses the tomb of Pedro de San Jose Betancur, Guatemala's only canonized saint who suffered hardships to care for the sick and poor in Guatemala. Thousands flock to this church to pray to Hermano Pedro and behind the church, in the museum attached to the ruins, there are walls covered with images of those who believed they were healed by this beloved saint. We got to walk through the church and see the tomb of Hermano Pedro, after which we walked through the museum and ended the class in the ruins.

In my evening Spanish class we started the lesson by reviewing questions that we learned on the first day. Three of the four of us were there for the beginning of class and we struggled with the question-and-response exercise. The questions are very important for us to review over the weekend, as they will be on our first exam next Wednesday. After we got through the first segment, we started reviewing more verbs. Our fourth group member came to class an hour late, but he is taking extra lessons that he paid for on his own time, and when we helped him review the opening questions he had no troubles answering them. We ended the class with our maestra (teacher) reading a passage about the importance of knowing Spanish in professional fields in the Estados Unidos (United States). We also had a discussion about the difficulties faced by the Guatemalan people who try to get a visa to the U.S. for vacation, or, in the case of our maestra, to visit her sister who lives in the States.