Tuesday morning was back to the classroom for the Casa students. We had our regular classes in the morning, the only difference being, we also had our language classes in the afternoon. In history we focused on the development of governing political parties in the early1800s; particularly the Liberalists and the Conservatives, both very different from our understanding of the terms today. We also discussed the cholera epidemic of the 1800s, and the effects it had on the population of Guatemala.
At the beginning of religion, I gave my presentation, which I was suppose to have presented last week, but was unable to due to illness. My presentation was on my experience in March of this year going to the shrine of Maximon in Santiago Attitlan. Maximon is a modern interpretation and hybridization of the ancient Maya deity Maam and the Catholic Saint Simon. Maximon is the deity of wealth, power, and sex; our tour guide had said "he is the god you're not suppose to want to pray to." Maximon has a large following and is probably the most well known of modern Maya religious figures; like Mexico's Guadalupe. The statue of Maximon and shrine in Santiago Attitlan moves frequently between the homes of his "priests" so I explained to the class what it was like searching for the shrine all around Santiago with our tour guide leading the way. Then I told them what it was like walking through someones house on a back alley, into their shred in the back where the shrine was setup. The shrine was something else all together. Maximon is covered in scarves given as tribute, and he stands in front of dozens of candles. The statue is hollow and the mouth is open so that the priests can give him lite cigarettes and also give him liquor, both also given in tribute. You have to pay to see Maximon, take pictures of him, or pray to him. I tried to explain the feeling of the little shed we were in; small, dark, congested, filled with cigarette smoke and the smell of booze, and the vibe coming off of the statue was unnerving. It is something very hard to describe, and really must be experienced. I also showed a youtube video of the same Maximon but in a different location. This is the video <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylEOtetGeCw&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL82892432A8441BFB>
After classes and lunch I worked in my studio space on the map project for history class. I have a page on this blog about the map project, and will be adding explanations and pictures as I continue working on it. I also figured out what I am going to do for my creative project for religion, also on its own page!
At 3pm I was in Spanish class making up the exam I missed last week. I realized as I was doing the exam that I was missing too much after missing two classes. We worked on adjectives in class and after class I asked my teacher if I could take a two hour one on one session with her on Friday of this week to make up the lost time. I now have an appointment, and I was assigned a lot of homework to also make up for the work I missed, including a composition of 25 lines, which I will add to this blog as soon as I get it back from the teacher with her corrections! I worked on the composition with both of my housemates, Gloria and Steve, and Steve and I practiced our Spanish together for at least an hour.
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