Tikal-Ancient Mayan World

Suddenly, arising from the midst of the jungle, there stands an impossibly enormous Mayan temple. More than 60 meters tall, it is shockingly just there.
I've read a lot about these ruins. The guidebook has told me that Tikal is the most magnificent of the Mayan sites. Nevertheless, I am unprepared for the size of this structure. I am unprepared for the incongruity of its surroundings. There are hundreds, if not thousands of structures here. Some of them were constructed as long ago as 250 B.C. Most are still buried in tons of dirt, trees and roots. Only in recent times has Tikal been "rediscovered," and serious work to excavate and restore began only in 1956.
The people who created these masterpieces seem to have disappeared around 900 AD. It appears that severe climate changes, including extended draught, may have scattered the remains of the group, but no one knows for sure what happened to these fascinating people.
It is not possible to describe this place so I'm not going to try. Here are a few of the pictures we took. It may be true that a picture is worth a thousand words, but there is no way you can get a sense of this place from the photos. If you ever get a chance to visit Tikal, jump on it. It is truly indescribable.

Iglesia y Convento de Santa Clara

Santa Teresa & How to Tip

We were just walking up the street after having a nice little lunch near the park. Suddenly there was another awesome ruined church. I was taking photos through the iron gate and wishing I could get inside to see more when the caretaker arrived. He invited us in, said it was ok to take pictures and told us about the history of the church.
This convent and church were built from 1677 to 1687. Originally housing 3 nuns from Lima, Peru, the convent ultimately grew to 18. The 2-story building was badly damaged in the earthquakes of 1717. Some 20 years later the convent was restored. Then in the earthquake of 1773, it sustained extensive damage again. The impressive façade of the convent survived all the earthquakes, including 1976. The northern section of the building still stands and now houses the city jail for men!
I asked our friendly guide if he had been in Antigua and remembered the earthquake of 1976. Yes, he said, it was horrible. Actually the first one, on February 4, happened at 2 o'clock in the morning. The second one occurred on February 6, during the day, and was terrifying. When you see the enormous pieces of buildings which are now lying around on the ground, you get a feel for just how terrifying it must have been. The 1976 earthquakes left 23,000 dead and a million homeless.
I often marvel at how the people here seem so proud of the ruins, and want to tell the stories to outsiders. I am embarrassed to call a ruined building " beautiful," although of course they are. I'm not sure exactly how this works, but my feeling is that they are proud that they survived, and that their city is still one of the most impressive and beautiful cities in the world.
As we started to leave, our informal "guide" told me that it was "customary" to give a small "propina," or tip as a thanks for the information. This seemed totally reasonable to me, but I was embarrassed that I had no idea what to give. We gave him 10 quetzales and he seemed satisfied with the amount. Chiqui later told me that while it certainly is not required to tip such "informal guides," if one wishes to do so, 5 or 10 quetzales is considered adequate. So I think next time I will try to have the cash in my hand, ready to give when shaking hands good bye and thanks.
So many things to learn. Cultural differences are fascinating but bewildering. I have a tendency to not want to embarrass someone by offering money inapproprately. I guess it's better to offer it, but to do so in such a gracious way that it won't be considered an affront if offered at the wrong time to the wrong person. Much easier to do if fluent in the recipient's language. Another reason to keep studying!

La Iglesia de San Francisco

We did our class all day today because we're going to take Friday off because of all the festivities. We took our teachers to lunch around the corner at Fernando's. Then in the afternoon we all took a break and walked down to la Iglesia de San Francisco.
The original San Francisco church was badly damaged in the 1565 earthquake. Work on the current location comenced in 1579, and it became a cultural and learning center for the region. The school taught theology, canonical law, philosophy, physics and mathematics. Ultimately there was a library, music and art rooms, and a printing press as well as a beautiful chapel. The massive 3 story hospital was damaged in the 1689 earthquake. Reconstruction began immediately and the complex ultimately covered 4 city blocks. In 1717, another earthquake hit. This time the complex sustained massive damage. All of the church arches were cracked, the bell tower was partially destroyed. Engineering mistakes made in the reconstruction this time resulted in even more destruction in the 1773 earthquake. Most of the church lay in ruins until the 1960's when another renovation project was undertaken. Walking through the ruins, it is hard to take in just how massive this place originally was. It is said that the current church is very simple compared to what it used to be. It still appears very beautiful and elaborate to me. It receives massive numbers of visitors each year, many of them to pray to Hermano Pedro de San José de Bethancourt, whose remains lie here, and who is credited with miraculous powers of healing.
The church also houses the remains of Fray Augusto Ramírez, who was declared a martyr by Pope John Paul II during his visit to Guatemala in 1992 for his efforts and death at the hands of the national police in 1983.
In many ways this beautiful church seems to represent so much of the history of this amazing country. Earthquakes and rebuilding and earthquakes again. Prayers for miracles. Martyrs at the hands of the police. But always beauty and an attitude of endurance.
After a really busy day, we spent some time studying and then went up to the church plaza for some munchies. We had some surprisingly good pizza and then brought some churros home with us to eat with hot chocolate. We're in heaven. They actually make churros like the ones we loved in Spain. If I eat these as often as I want to, I will gain another 20 pounds.

Procesión de Los Niños

Breakfast around the corner at Fernando's again. Walked to la Catedral de San Jose on Parque Central to watch the Procesión de los Niños. While waiting for the procession to begin, we watched the creation of one of the beautiful alfombras (made of colored sawdust and sand) on one section of the floor of the church. Fascinating to watch this piece of art come together as stencil after stencil was used to apply different colors. We came across a freelance guide, Don Oscar, who showed us through the churches & ruins at Catedral San Jose as well as Iglesia San Francisco. Both left a huge impression on us, realizing the destructive force of the earthquakes which, along with other disasters, both "natural" and man-made, have left such huge scars on this country. We plan to return to spend more time at these sites.
After our guided tour, we returned to the Catedral as the niños (young people) prepared to lift the huge floats (with their statues) onto their shoulders to carry them out of the church and through the streets of the town. You're going to hear a lot more about these processions, how they are done, how many people participate, etc as I learn more about it over the next week. For now let me say that the girls were so fun to watch. While the boys wore traditional purple robes and head coverings, the girls were dressed in black skirts and white blouses. They wore head coverings and white gloves. It was clear that they took their jobs seriously and some were quite nervous. The boys' float, carrying the sculpture of Jesús Nazareno del Desamparo (made by the Guatemalan artist Salvador Posadas in 1913) is carried on the shoulders of 40 young boys. The float with the sculpture of the Virgin de Dolores is carried by 24 young girls. We watched the procession depart the Catedral through the huge front doors. Followed by the bands and hundreds of onlookers, they descended the massive stone steps and continued down the steet, swaying to the music under the weight of their heavy loads. None of my schedules and books told me how long this procesión was, but it passed our apartment 2 1/2 hours later, so it had to be at least 4 hours total.