I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke

I've been reflecting on our trip to help me decide on just one semana santa moment to share here. This proved really difficult for me as I have ten days worth of wonderful moments from which to choose! One moment that is particularly vivid for me is when Emily C., Dr. Bolin, and I were on our way back to Casa after a brief trip to the tienda around the corner for some Cokes. It was already dark and we were still waiting for the procession to pass through and erase our alfombra. We walked past a little kid, around two or three years old, sitting in an open doorway with light flooding all around him. He sat near his father and the boy was drinking Coke too. Only he was drinking straight out of a two-liter bottle that was nearly empty. This huge bottle was about half the size of his little body and he was so adorable sitting there trying to get to the last drop. Emily motioned towards him and his jumbo sized drink and we all laughed at the silliness of the situation. It was cute that he was surely up way past his bedtime in order to spend time with his family waiting to see the processions. The fact that we all connected in that moment and laughed together without even saying a word really made it memorable for me. It also illustrated that we all enjoy the little things in life, regardless of where we are from.

Lake Atitlan

My "Semana Santa moment" didn't actually have anything to do with Holy Week at all. The moment when the emotion of the whole week hit me was when we were riding on the boat on Lake Atitlan. Antigua is a beautiful city but I definitely was not expecting to see such an incredibly breathtaking landscape when we visited Lake Atitlan on Saturday. It was such a beautiful sunny day, the water was glassy, there were mountains and volcanoes surrounding us, and I was in the company of great people. Sitting on the boat and taking all of those separate things completed my trip perfectly. I had been filled by religious spirituality as well as emotions and positive energy by so many separate pieces coming together so well throughout the entire week.

My Semana Santa Moment (Sara Tess)

Our week in Antigua was filled with so many amazing moments for me: making our alfombra and watching the procession walk over it, hearing the music of the bands reverberate inside La Merced as the andas were brought back into the church at the end of the procession on Friday morning, seeing all of the people making their own alfombras and watching the multiple processions, and our trip out of the city to Lake Atitlan. But my Semana Santa moment was a small, quiet moment. On Easter Sunday morning, Rene drove us up in groups to Cerro de la Cruz, a park on a hill overlooking the city. Up there in the quiet morning, the sky was clear so we could see all of Antigua and all three volcanoes around the city. That beautiful site was the perfect time to reflect back on all of the activities of the past week and what an unforgettable experience we had just had. It was the perfect quiet culmination of our week of amazing opportunities.

Cerro de la Cruz: Easter Morning from Sara Tess Neumann on Vimeo.

Emily W's Semana Santa Moment

My Semana Santa moment was when I first heard the funeral processional music that followed the anda. For some reason even as a visual artist sound cues have a more powerful grasp on me. I saw those men and women struggling to carry this massive anda which intrigued and touched me but it was only when I heard the music that I really started to understand why they were all here and why we were here in Antigua. I am willing to admit that with the crash of the cymbal my heart stopped and I teared up a little. The horns radiated the sound of pain and mourning and I thought not only of the dead Christ that was being carried and mourned by the whole city but also of all my loved ones whom I have lost. I will always remember the slow and rhythmic drums along with blast of the horns and hopefully I will be able to experience them again in the future.

My Semana Santa moment

My Semana Santa moment occurred in our second day in the city. It was Palm Sunday and we were walking around the streets looking at alfombras before the procession came through. The men's procession passed by and I found myself looking more at the men carrying the anda than the anda itself. When it came time for the women's procession with the Virgin Mary, I don't think I looked up at the anda at all. I was captivated by the women carrying the anda. They were doing this because they chose to. They wanted to. Most of the women, to me, appeared to be young girls in their teens. Years younger than me. They were carrying and maneuvering this through the streets. You could see some had their eyes closed, while others were focusing on a unknown spot ahead of them. I was captivated by them. After they passed I was speechless. Not only was this an event for these young girls, it was their heritage. Then I realized we weren't just coming to Antigua to make an alfombra. We were coming to be a part of this city's Holy Week ceremonies. It was an experience I will never forget.

Dr. Bolin's "Semana Santa Moment"

My Semana Santa moment occurred when we all gathered around to take the photographs of the alfombra we had just completed. For me, it was the culmination of not just 7 hours of work on the cobblestone street in front of the Casa, but the focus of nearly 10 months planning this incredible trip. I loved every minute of it. I knew that in a few hours the alfombra would be just traces of sawdust in the street, as the evening procession would come by soon and the tangible presence of our work would be gone. But that was OK, because giving our work away to the community, both in making the alfombra and letting it go, was an essential part of the process. This was a surprising lesson I learned through this adventure. Our time around the alfombra was also a fabulous moment for me because I was experiencing it with some amazing young people who have left an indelible mark on my life.

My "Semana Santa Moment" (Jessica L.)

During one of our lectures with Elizabeth Bell, the local tour guide and Guatemalan Holy Week virtuoso, she shared with us photographs and memories of her personal experiences with the spiritual and cultural proceedings of "Semana Santa." A local since the 1960's, Bell has seen generations of alfombra-making and processions through the streets of Antigua. While each year brings something new and exciting, a few emotional events stuck out for Bell which she called "Semana Santa Moments." I don't want to put words in her mouth or others', but what I perceived she was talking about were the moments of overwhelming and sometimes unexplainable emotions that rush through your mind and body when something spectacular and moving strikes you. It's a subliminal feeling that you have just witnessed a sight or a sensation which could bring you to tears, happy or sad, with no prior warning; or leave you with an unforgettable memory that will bring a smile to your face wherever and whenever you are reminded of it. Some people may share similar times of these emotions, but for different reasons. Others may have extremely personal connections with their "Semana Santa Moment." Either way, it's an individual instance that transcends time and logic, and leaves you with something that will stick with you for a lifetime.

My "Semana Santa Moment" happened in the middle of the week, in the middle of the day, while standing out on the extra large window sills of Casa Herrera. We had heard that there weren't supposed to be any processions on this day, but when I learned that in fact there was and it was the children's procession, I knew I couldn't miss it. Just as the elder men and women of the community carry large andas with elaborate scenes, so do the boys and girls - just on a much smaller scale. While the anda was less substantial in size, it appeared that the children were still carrying a proportionally similar amount of weight on their shoulders as they processed through the streets of Antigua. As the sun poured through the window bars, the sights were all the same: clouds of incense, alfombras (although significantly sparse), purple robes for the boys, white and black formal wear for the girls, drums, the anda, people lining both sides of the street, marching bands, and the routine switching of the carriers organized also by height. The group of young carriers that passed Casa Herrera that day ranged in age, but had to be no older than 13 years old - barely teenagers. Some of the smaller children were accompanied by their parents at their side, who were providing support whenever it was called for.  And like their parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts who may have also volunteered to participate, they were carrying more than just hand carved wood, painted styrofoam, and life-like biblical characters. On their shoulders rested a tradition more than ten times their age, with a heavy, heavy significance that might not even be realized by the young children yet. The looks on their faces showed the same agony and pride of their older counterparts as they swayed back and forth, slowly marching to the beat of the band, honoring their religion. These Guatemalan children are the future of "Semana Santa" and centuries worth of sacred practices rely on their continuing and embracing of their familial and spiritual culture. As this occurred to me, tears ran down my face; goosebumps overtook my skin; my knees felt a bit weak. I'm not sure that a word exists in the English language to describe what I was experiencing, but to reduce it to a word would be an injustice anyway. I had never before seen a phenomenon so rich with history and so ripe with emotion - and they were so young and little! Children have so much courage and promise for the future, and this moment reminded me of that. I will never forget that moment, as it was life changing and reaffirming at the same time: I cannot wait to be a teacher  :)

Thank you Emily W. for the pictures.

Post Guatemala Reflections

It's now been almost two weeks since our return to Austin, Texas from beautiful Central America, and as we adjust to our previous, graduate student lives, visuals and memories of the trip linger in our minds.

Before I go any further with talks of our return, there are still a few missing days left to recap from Guatemala. Thursday left us all on a great high with the emotional building and destruction of our alfombra. With the expectations of Good Friday boasting the best and most elaborate alfombras, we wasted no time in trying to see as many as we could. Around midnight, a group of us strolled back through the streets to bare witness to the progress of some of Antigua's best known alfombra-making families. Here is a photo from the family that shared their knowledge and expertise with us earlier in the week. The team (clad with matching shirts) showed skill and technique that garnered detail unlike we had seen on any other alfombra. They even had a glittery hummingbird! Seeing this only fueled our fire to want to make another alfombra, and improve on our designs.

 

The itinerary for Good Friday was pretty open and relaxed. It was designed so that everyone would have the chance to see the processions they wished, and there were more on this day than any other one. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't on our side in the morning, and a trip view some processions in the neighboring town of Jocotenango was abandoned. Rains didn't last for long though, and flooded cobblestone streets dried up by the end of the day in time for more processions and celebrations. One I found to be particularly moving was the parade of the Stations of the Cross in the cool night.

Emily W. snapped some great photos of our adventures around Antigua on this day:

Saturday morning came quick as our super comfortable tour bus arrived early to bring us to our next destination: Lake Atitlan. This trip was our only venture out of the city of Antigua, and it was necessary to give us a more rounded perspective of Guatemala. The route to the lake was a winding two-way highway through mountainous terrain and colorful building fronts. It opened our eyes to the less fortunate, yet more common, impoverished communities in Guatemala. Often alongside these small towns are pockets of natural beauty, and Lake Atitlan is one of those gems. More commercialized than Antigua, Lake Atitlan seemed to attract the weekend boaters, party-ers, and admirers of the breathtaking scenery on the water. Sunshine and warm air were a perfect compliment to the spray of the teal-colored water as we made our way to the Women Weavers Cooperative across the lake by boat. 

Once at the Cooperative, an inspiring demonstration of the hard work necessary to complete one scarf gave us insight into the care and quality of the textiles we bought so many of! Each of the women in the cooperative grow their own cotton to be cleaned, de-seeded, softened and beat into sheets, then expertly spun into thread. Organic dyes derived from plants and fruits, such as mango and berries, produce a stunning spectrum of colored scarves, place mats, belts, purses, blankets, and rugs.

Lunch on Lake Atitlan took us to a picturesque spot with brilliantly vibrant flowers and great local food. The adventure grew wilder as we unexpectedly stalled in the middle of the massive lake for a long enough amount of time for non-swimmer Dr. Bolin to learn how to survive for days by floating in the water! Luckily we were rescued by a fellow boat, and made it safely to land with only minor nerve damage. 

As the sunrise glowed behind the volcanoes surrounding Antigua, our group arose with bittersweet feelings on Sunday morning. Our last day amongst the jade stores, open markets, mouthwateringly enticing bread bakeries, ancient ruins, and the affectionate, Spanish speaking society allowed us individual time to further explore the parts of Antigua that we each loved most. A farewell dinner at La Fonda de la Calle Real was our last opportunity to chat with Milady and Rene, learn more about them, and reminisce on the amazing week that had passed. I don't think I would be mistaken if I said we all felt deeply emotional as we thanked Milady and Rene with gifts on our last night.

After experiencing the driving culture of Guatemala for a week, the ride back to Guatemala City on Monday morning felt immensely less stressful than the first one that had brought us to Antigua. We had become so comfortable with the culture, and so in love with the lifestyle that it no longer phased our group of students from Austin.

Please check out the many photographs that were taken of our trip as they help to expand on the words of our blog! We thank you for joining us our on journey to Antigua, Guatemala - hopefully it won't be our last!

Stay tuned for some final reflections from each of the members on our Holy Week adventure!

Ready, Set, ALFOMBRA!!

Waking up early on Thursday morning, we were all pumped to get to work on the alfombra. We had one last bit of sawdust to dye hot pink, which we quickly finished up around breakfast. Milady had many conversations with the police and city maintenance workers in order to nail down a specific start time for when the road on the side of Casa Herrera would be closed. That road in particular is one of the main roads into Antigua from Guatemala City, meaning it wouldn't be closed until much later than we anticipated, at least that's what we were initially told...

While we were all trying to get things ready and some were about to leave for the market to kill some time, Milady rushed in at 10:30 AM and said we were able to get started! We frantically gathered up the materials and started carrying out everything from wooden planks to bags of sawdust. Milady and I talked out all the steps we would be going through with this alfombra making process, totaling to around 27 steps.

We started off by hosing down the area with some water and picking up any large trash that would interrupt our sawdust surface, followed by measuring out the 3m x 6m area. Using squeegies and brooms, we attempted to level out the raw sawdust to serve as the first layer for the colored sawdust. The v-shaped roads of Antigua made of cobblestones did not make the leveling process easy!

The array of tools was amazing, each having its own specific use: large and small mesh sifters for even sawdust coverage, cups for each color along with spoons for details, large and small mesh colanders for small areas needing colored sawdust, and an adapted fertilizer hose for gentle misting of water.

With our arch-topped rectangle mapped out, we measured and sifted the royal purple into the center area, free-handing the gradual arch. An essential step that became one the more fun jobs was  continuously wetting the sawdust. Of course, Thursday was one of the windiest days in Antigua, making the person with the hose invaluable. This job began with Liz but was quickly taken over by neighborhood children who had a little too much fun hosing everything down.

The middle section was the most intricate, needing many hands and diligent workers in order to effectively fill the stencils and carefully remove them. This section took the most time, even needing a three-hour warning in order to move onto other areas. Decision-making happened quickly with everything relying on the materials on hand and the amount of time left before the procession was scheduled to arrive.  The two quetzales section grew and changed, with Jessica adding branches and other laying flowers to fill the space. The octagonal rose window came together with a geometric arrangement of Birds of Paradise, organized by Katy. Volcano Agua emerged from a smooth sunset gradient along with a delicate shading across the side of the volcano, with Abby and I collaborating. White fluffy flower clouds wrapped and drifted in the space.

The border had the most hands working as well as the highest level of organization; everyone had their own color responsibility with each diamond labelled. SaraTess, Becca, Emily W, Dr. Bolin, Jessica, Abby, and Katy traveled around the border filling in the huipil-inspired pattern. Some of the stencils were altered on the spot in order to accommodate the arch. At each corner, we put an orange "X," referencing two longhorns and also the "X" in TEXAS. In the middle of the arch, an orange diamond with a piece of popcorn (Dr. Bolin's snack obsession) added to the top of the alfombra. With our extra white flowers, Liz systematically spaced them around the whole border, creating a rhythmic outline.

Thankfully, Kris, Emily W., and Becca traded off with documenting the process from start to finish.

After almost 7 hours, hundreds of conversations, and lots of sweat, we made our very first alfombra. From about 6:00 PM until 8:00, we anxiously awaited the procession and took a ton of photos. Members of the community and tourists alike were drawn to our alfombra, taking photos and starting conversations. Everyone loved the adorable quetzales with their lime green flower mohawks and bedazzled beaks!  

Alfombra: From Sketches to Sawdust

Prior to departing on our amazing Antigua adventure, the members of the group had a few meetings about how to construct our alfombra along with what designs should be present. We were all inspired by the photos of the architecture and surrounding landscape, particularly after spending time learning about small bits of the city's history. Early in the brainstorm process, we wanted to somehow include the iconic Arch of Santa Catalina and how it perfectly frames one of Guatemala's dormant volcanoes, Agua. Pulling more architectural motifs, we chose an repetitive octagonal window, which is prevalent on much of Antigua's buildings and churches. We used the windows on La Merced, a beautifully decorated church close to our place of residence, Casa Herrera. In addition to the architectural and landscape inspirations, we chose to include images of Guatemala's national bird, the quetzal. With these three elements chosen, we also wanted to incorporate some of the geometric designs from Guatemalan textiles, specifically those present on huipiles. Fortunately, we were able to view some huipiles on display at UT in both the administrative offices as well as inside the Mesoamerica Center office on campus. Every element featured on a huipil, or decorated blouse worn by indigenous women, helps to identify which community or part of Guatemala she is from, including intricate designs and hand-woven images.
Once we chose all of the elements, the master design emerged through many sheets of grid paper and measuring to ensure we would be able to put emphasis on certain areas while also allowing for decisions to be made on site. Using foamcore, a lightweight thick sheet of sealed foam donated from the Blanton Museum of Art, I drew and cut out some of the stencils prior to arriving in Antigua. I fit them into my checked bag and unfolded them upon arrival.
Wanting to directly respond to the time we were physically present in Antigua, I drew and cut the stencil for the volcano, leaving room for cloud formations. We also cut additional geometric stencils to streamline the process, needing much help from Dr. Bolin and Katy in order to get through the thick cardboard that is typically used for stencils in Antigua.

In order for these stencils to serve their purpose, we all go to work on dying the raw sawdust supplied by neighboring wood shops and carpenters. This was a timely process using colored powder dyes and mixtures of hot and cold water. With the help of Jose and Marlon, two men employed at Casa Herrera and excellent teachers of sawdust dying, we worked for a few hours on the sawdust dying. All the sawdust, with the exception of royal purple and gold, needed to be mixed by hand prior to Thursday, the day of our alfombra making. Using small buckets and plenty of gloves, we sifted and rubbed the sawdust until it reached a uniform color, many of which were surprises. For example, the sky blue turned out to be a more rich jade or emerald color, and every new batch of sawdust provided new inspirations for the design.
In addition to the sawdust, Liz, Milady and I went to the open market to get some fresh flowers to supplement our designs. Already visiting the market earlier in the week, everyone provided suggestions about which flowers to get and what colors we needed. Katy reminded us of some lime green flowers to be used for the quetzal; these were very hard to find with only one woman possessing this beautifully vibrant shade. 
Filling multiple bags with colored sawdust and soaking the flowers in water, the raw materials were prepped and ready to be used for our alfombra. 

Alfombra: Experts and Novices

Months ago we all learned what an alfombra is from articles and books along with meetings leading up to this trip. I spent time looking up photographs of various alfrombras along with watching online videos of how they were made. The word means "carpet" in Spanish, however, it involves a lot more than a covering for the ground. Alfombras in Antigua are made from a variety of natural materials such as pine needles, palm fronds, flowers, or sawdust. People have been making alfombras in Antigua for generations, providing a decorated ground for various processions during Holy Week and Lent. Families and neighbors work together to create alfombras of varied complexity. Whether the alfombra making process took all night or just a few hours, every creation is treated with the same level of respect.
From the beginning of our trip, we have been getting inspiration and advice about the process. On Palm Sunday, we strolled throughout the city and saw a variety of alfombras, many of which included intricate use of palm fronds. Only a few were created with acerin, or sawdust, and from watching this process we picked up a few tips. We had the opportunity to meet a member of the Gonzalez family in Antigua, known for their intricate floral alfombras, on Monday. Dr. Jose Humberto Gonzalez Arenas came by Casa Herrera and shared many images detailing the process from start to finish. His family's dedication was incredibly inspiring, even leading to an invitation from the Pope to visit the Vatican. Another community member and alfombra expert, Miguel Angel Armas, invited us into his home to share videos, stencils, and stories about his family's tradition and process. We purchased many of the supplies for our upcoming alfombra from his family's shop, which sells everything Holy Week related including stencils, dyes, and even the robes worn by the carriers.

With the advice from alfombra experts, us novices were ready and excited to begin!

Weaving Cultures: Sharing Stories with Art

A study trip for Art Education students wouldn't be complete without an art project for children, so Wednesday we headed to Centro Cultural Los Nazarenos-- a cultural center that offers After School Music, Language and Art programs for children.

School is for a half day in Guatemala-- from 7 am to noon, or 2 pm to 7 pm-- so programs like the one we visited are an integral part of the community. Many families work all day and need safe, fun and educative places to send their children.

Planning an activity that extended beyond the language barrier was as rewarding as it was challenging. Our first goal was to present Art making as a universal language-- a chance to communicate without words. Our second goal was to reverse teacher/ student roles. Through art making, children would have an opportunity to teach us about Guatemala.

We selected weaving as our medium, since it is already an integral part of Guatemalan and Maya cultures. An example of traditional weavings are Huipiles-- colorful, symbolism-rich cloaks-- visual representations of the tribal communities they originate from. Casa Herrera has a variety of these gorgeous hand-woven garments hanging on the walls.

In the same manner as Huipil artisans, children used contemporary and traditional weaving materials to incorporate colors, patterns and images that represented parts of their culture. Rosa Maria, the cultural center's director, played light jazz music, and we all huddled in a tight-knit group on the floor.

Children began by creating individual weavings, and finished by incorporating personalized pieces into a large group weaving. We owe a debt of gratitude to Milady, our fearless translator. With her help, Centro Cultural children, and UT students were able to share personal art inspirations with one another.

It's been awhile since I've planned a formal art project for children, and admittedly my nerves were flaring:

"Would they have fun when communication would be so limiting?" 

I shouldn't have worried. It seems children teach more to us, than we impart to them. Between colored photograph strips, pieces of ribbon, boxes of crayons, glances, smiles, and laughs, we realized Art was a medium for something else far more meaningful than paper and string weavings.

Between halting Spanish, and the children's patient explanations ("Tortuga" said a little girl when I pointed to her turtle picture), we remembered that shared vocabulary only scratches the surface of human interaction. We were reminded that sometimes the best communication exists in the invisible space between words...  the spaces where our hearts do the talking.

Alfombras Are To Dye For

Let's just say we have been very busy. Yesterday we were able to not only catch our breath, but catch up on some sleep, some shopping, some site seeing, mailing postcards, etc.

You may be wondering what our alfombra is going to look like. Here is a sketch made by Emily C.


When looking at photos of Antigua we were inspired by the architecture we saw. We divided the center of our alfombra into three main sections featuring one of the three nearby volcanos, an octagonal rose window shape taken from the La Merced church, and the quetzal, the national bird of Guatemala. The overall shape of the alfombra was inspired by the Arch of Santa Catalina. Surrounding these sections will be a thin solid border in dark green. The larger outside border of bright gold will feature a geometric pattern taken from a huipil we looked at for inspiration in the Mesoamerican Center offices at UT.

One main thing we did yesterday was dye our sawdust for our alfombra. Thankfully we had some fantastic teachers, Marlon and Jose, who both work at the Casa. We set up a workshop area with tarps, buckets, tubs, dyes, sawdust, and plastic gloves. The gloves proved to be essential for keeping the dye off our hands, even though a few of us managed to have some green and pink fingers by the time we were finished.

First the 60lb bag of sawdust was divided into 4 big tubs. A 1/2 gallon of hot water was mixed with 1 ounce of dye. Marlon mixed the dye and water by shaking it in an old fabric softener container. Then a 1/2 gallon of cold water was added to the mixture. We were making a double batch of "aqua" so we used 2 ounces of dye mixed with an additional gallon of water in the fabric softener jug.

After the dye was mixed with water it was poured evenly into the buckets. Not all of it but enough to start to color the sawdust. There were about 2 of us per bucket. It was sort of a stir/mix with your hands while rubbing your hands with sawdust in the middle to distribute the color. Constantly stirring and rubbing the sawdust. Every once in a while we'd find a color ball towards the bottom.

At first the sawdust was really powdery and easy filled the air. After the dye was added to the sawdust, the sawdust was weighted down and didn't fly as much. It was a slow process having the pale yellow sawdust turn to the dye color we added. Every once in a while Marlon would add more dye to our buckets to try to even out the color. Through this process, we realized that dying the sawdust wasn't an exact science and that the color we hoped for might not be exactly what we ended up with in the buckets.

After we had mixed the dye and sawdust completely in our buckets, Marlon dumped the sawdust onto a tarp so that we could then mix all buckets together to make sure the color was uniform. It became a friendly contest to see if there was any uncolored sawdust in our buckets. Towards the end I think we figured out a mixing process that worked, by gradually working our way around the bucket going all the way to bottom. The consistency was a like soft, moist, fluffy sand. After that we shoveled the sawdust into bags to wait until Thursday when we would make the alfombra.

We had some additionally hands helping us too: Milady, Anna Milady (Milady's mom), Juan (Milday's dad), and our Casa guard Don Jose. Milady's parents are visiting for Holy Week and have joined us on several parts of trip.

The colors we made were a faded emerald green (aka"aqua"), emerald green (another color supposed to be blue), burnt orange, and dark hot pink color. Marlon and Jose had already dyed royal purple (which is going to be the main background of the center of our carpet) and a golden yellow for us before we arrived.

Today we are going to dye black for the volcano. Grey dye is not made but Marlon suggested we use tiny pieces of aluminum foil to act as grey or mix the black sawdust with lighter colored sand. We also still have a fuchsia color and lime color that we need to finish before Thursday. Now that we have the process down it will be easy to dye those colors.

Days 3 & 4

Buenos Dias!

In an attempt to not get too far behind on our blog here, I'm gonna combine some days (as they're hard to separate in my head anyways). Monday was our busiest day so far - we had two tours and a presentation with three different people. Steven Dove was the lead-off batter in that line-up. He has been living here for about two years and is finishing up his doctoral thesis on religion in Guatemala as a UT doctoral student. As we walked to the church of San Francisco, Steven gave us some great insight to the city. In a 10x10 block of the city, there are over 80 churches! At Iglesia de San Francisco, we learned about Hermano Pedro, the adopted saint of Guatemala, and how he came to be canonized in 2002. In addition to the story of Hermano Pedro, which was elaborated on later in the week, we viewed some contemporary murals. One of these murals included images that connected traditions from the indigenous peoples in Guatemala with the ceremonies and beliefs of Catholicism. One of these traditions of the Catholic faith practiced here is the lighting of candles as a blessing for loved ones. Among usual candles to be lit, were molded wax in the shape of body parts. If you or someone you knew had trouble with your eyes, you bought an eye figure. If you or someone had a broken leg, you bought a leg. Abby's boyfriend is in medical school so she bought him one of each, and said that he should tell his patients with a problem he cannot fix to take a body part and go pray! (I'm not sure I'll be going to him).

 This is a dedication to Hermano Pedro outside of Iglesia de San Francisco.

When we returned to Casa Herrera, we were lucky enough to have a presentation from a local surgeon and prominent alfombra maker named Dr. Jose Humberto Gonzalez Arenas. His family is so well known for their unique and beautiful alfombras that they were invited to make one for the Pope in Vatican City! Pretty impressive! He elaborated on many techniques and materials used in constructing the alfombras on the cobblestone streets.

After lunch, Elizabeth Bell gave us a wonderfully detailed tour of parts of Antigua that we had yet to see. Elizabeth Bell is the number one, expert resource on Lent and Holy Week (Semana Santa) in Guatemala. This woman spat out facts and answered questions like Bing.com; there wasn't a question that she didn't have a story for. Along the way, we toured City Hall, the ruins of the cathedral in the Central Park- where we went into the crypt, contemporary art galleries in Hotel de Santa Domingo, and a jade factory and jade museum (where many of us bought presents - you might be a lucky recipient if you continue to read our blog).

Inside the old walls of the Cathedral in Central Park, open skies shine light on pieces of the fallen building.

Back at Casa Herrera Elizabeth Bell gave us a photo lecture on the local traditions of Semana Santa, primarily the alfombras and the processions. She flashed photos that she has taken over the past few years of some of the best alfombras in town, while explaining the history behind them. One of the most interesting notes that I took from the lecture was that no matter how ornate, how big or small, or how much money it cost to produce your alfombra, everyone who participates is equal. There is no judging involved.

Dinner on Monday night was a real home run (despite the fact that I personally and accidentally ordered two soups)! Posada de Don Rodrigo not only provided great food, but entertainment as well! Dressed in traditional, wooden masks and colorful, sparkly gowns (which Dr. Bolin said reminded him of some of Elton John's flamboyant costumes), they shook their booties on the dance floor! I'm only kidding, but they did shake maracas as they performed along with a band playing traditional music on what looked like giant xylophones. Liz and Sara Tess got invited to join in the dance and show off their moves :)

Tuesday (3/3) started off with more, much needed information on how to master the making of an alfombra. A family in town who has produced some of the most intricate designs we have seen yet agreed to invite us into their home to show us some of their work, including the dye for sawdust, wooden and cardboard stencils, and a video documenting the making of one of their alfombras from start to finish. We learned that it's typical for a family to start preparing for their alfombra three months in advance! Here is where we bought some dye for our sawdust. A few of us were seriously contemplating how we could fit some of their stencils into our suitcases to take home.

Here is a photo of a sawdust alfombra in the mid-stages of production. Wooden beams are used to reach the center parts without damaging the work already done. Large wooden stencils are used to create the ornate detail throughout the carpet.

Steven Dove came back to speak with us about the role of cofradias, or religious brotherhoods, in Guatemala. Being that this is his area of expertise, we discovered how these many brotherhoods were used as means to organize the religious activities in the city when there were not enough priests, and how the cofradias function within society today. Being that our time was a little rushed on our visit to the church of San Francisco on Monday, we returned with Steven to check out the ruins in the back, as well as the museum dedicated primarily to Hermano Pedro. I wish we had pictures to share of one of the rooms in the museum (photos were not allowed), because it was incredibly moving. In this hallway hundreds, if not thousands of pictures of people who were healed by Hermano Pedro, plaques of gratitude for his miracle work, and objects, such as crutches, eye glasses, baby shoes and drawings, were left as a memory of his saintly work.

As I mentioned earlier, many alfombras are began around three months in advance, and with the making of our alfombra on Thursday, we cut that down to three days. Most of the day on Tuesday was dedicated to dying sawdust. A messy process (for us at least), we dove in hands first to large buckets of super fine wood chips, massaging liquid dye into every last grain. A detailed blog is coming soon that will elaborate on this part of our day!

The rest of the night was filled with eating amazing leftovers, stencil cutting, and preparing for Wednesday's art activity with local children at the Cultural Center!

Check out our next post as we talk about this once-in-a-lifetime experience collaborating on an art project with Guatemalan children :)   (Not sure who enjoyed it more, the children or us!)

April Fool's Day (Sunday April 1st)

Buenos noches friends and family!

Sorry for the lag between posts over the past few days! They've been jam packed with stuff and things. I know that you're all probably waiting at your computers night and day for this next one to appear, and we appreciate your die-hard dedication to our whereabouts here in Antigua. Since the only detailed post in our blog so far is from our first day on Saturday, I will do my best to back-track and keep the days' activities straight as I try to recall Sunday, April 1st. (Side note: we didn't do any April Fool's Day pranks. Or at least if someone did, none of them worked out).

Sunday morning kicked off with what has turned out to be our typical breakfast here: coffee and toast. As with most things in Antigua, the coffee, bread and jam were locally made, so it's muy delicioso! Milady, the on-site coordinator for Casa Herrara, and world's best and cutest guide for the city, and Rene, a Guatemalan archaeologist and all-around cool guy at Casa Herrera, gave us an early morning orientation to try to prevent some unfortunate events (such as robberies and amoebas) and recommend some fortunate ones (such as good restaurants and shops).

Following orientation, we were all excited to see our first procession emerge out of La Merced, informally known as the wedding cake church because of it's ornate, exterior plaster work which resembles frosting! As we got closer and closer to La Merced, the streets filled with the noise of street vendors and wooden flutes, the scents of ever-enticing, yet forbidden street food, and a crowd of people comparable to ten of the most oversold U2 concerts combined (I've never been to one, but it seemed like the right comparison). Squeezing our way through families and affectionate couples, we found a warm and sunny spot on the lawn in front of the church to watch the anda (most similar to a parade float) be carried out of through the front doors by 100 men dressed in purple gowns. It's an amazing sight as the anda sways from side to side through clouds of incense, glistening in the sunlight with a life-size Jesus in the center. A band marched directly behind the mens' and womens' processions. As you might imagine, a 7000 pound float doesn't move so swiftly, so after it finally passed, we escaped the crowds to check out some of the city's Palm Sunday alfombras before the procession made it's way around to them.

I'm not sure how well what our eyes saw can be translated into words, but I'll do my best to describe the alfombras. It might be helpful to first describe to you what an alfombra is in order to better understand their purpose. Alfombra literally translates to carpet in Spanish. The people of Guatemala create these "carpets" using a variety of materials from pine needles to flowers to dyed sawdust on the cobblestone streets for the procession route to walk on. Not only is the making of alfombras a familial and cultural tradition, but it's a spiritual ritual as well. These vibrant and elaborate creations are walked over by the many men and women carrying the andas. What is left of the alfombra afterwards is believed to have been blessed by the procession, and people are eager to collect flowers and other remnants as blessings. We have videos that we hope to post that might show you this phenomenon much better than I can tell you.

After walking a few miles doing some alfombra sight-seeing, we headed back to Casa Herrera for a lunch of pepian, a traditional Guatemalan dish prepared for us by Dona Chila (who lovingly makes most of our meals!). Pepian is a stew. Pepian is good. I think it's a mystery why it's so good. Eager to spend our fresh, unused quetzales and put our bartering skills to the test, the gang headed over to the open air market around the block. For some of us, the bartering worked to our advantage, but for the majority, lack of knowledge of the Spanish language hurt our wallets. Oh well, we'll get em next time!

Continuing our walking tour of the city, we checked out a few more alfombras being made, and saw many at different stages in the process. We were definitely taking mental notes on what we saw the seasoned alfombra makers doing. Dona Chila prepared a lovely pasta salad for dinner that night, and after stuffing ourselves, we clung to the window bars on Casa Herrera to see the exact same andas that left La Merced in the morning pass by at night. Almost 11 hours later, the anda lit up the dark street with it's many glowing lights, and men, women, and children continued the procession back to La Merced. The videos that have already been posted can give you a visual of what happens on the streets of Antigua during Semana Santa (Holy Week), but there's a feeling, an emotion, a subliminal tingle deep down inside that can only be felt in person.

Then we all washed our faces, brushed our teeth (or at least I hope everyone did), and went to bed.

Until tomorrow, keep calm, carry on, and stay classy followers :)

Here are some videos of the Palm Sunday procession by the Hermandad from La Merced church. The first video is one I took of the men's procession; 80 men carry the altar for a block and then switch. The altar weighs three and a half tons. The procession lasts 12 hours, 11 am to 11 pm, and by the end of the day, 9,000 men and women have helped carry an altar.

It was an amazing experience: the smell of the incense, the music from the band, the never ending wave of members of the Hermandad walking ahead waiting for their time to carry, the Roman soldiers walking with, and all of the kids participating with their parents.

This is video from early in the procession. We saw it again later when it went by Casa Herrera at around 9:30 pm. (If the video doesn't work, you can watch it here: http://vimeo.com/39609042)



Palm Sunday procession (men) from Sara Tess Neumann on Vimeo.

Here is video Jessica took of the women's procession. If you look carefully, you can see the women switching at the beginning. (If the video doesn't work, you can watch it here: http://vimeo.com/39684019)



Palm Sunday procession (women) from Sara Tess Neumann on Vimeo.

We are Here! (Day 1)

Hola, Everyone!

We made it to Antigua safely and pretty much hit the ground running. The flights were enjoyable and most importantly on time. Our layover in Houston allowed us to relax and help ourselves to Jamba Juice. Coming into Guatemala City we saw a volcano from the plane's window.

We went through customs and got our bags without a hitch. Miladay, the on-site Coordinator of Casa Herrera (where we are staying), met us at the airport and, with some great packing skills by our driver, we were on our way to Antigua. We experienced some light traffic along the way- to our standards it might have been considered real traffic.

There was a joke with our driver that the city knew we were coming because they opened up a new section of highway just that morning. Let's just say it had a great surface but curvy and had a steep incline.

We drove on the cobblestone streets, which are everywhere, to the Casa. Upon approaching the casa, these two big wooden doors open up for us. We were contemplating on if the van would be able to fit. It barely made it through, with the driver paying close attention to the clearance of the van's side mirrors. The van parked in the open courtyard, which was originally a public space for selling goods. Through the courtyard's overhead opening, we could see the surrounding mountains and ruins.

After unloading our bags from the van, we picked our rooms. (5 in one, 4 in another, and Dr. Bolin got the 2 floor with a spiral staircase master suite) Then Milady and Rene, a long-time partner with University of Texas as an archeological draftsman, gave us a tour of the Casa and shared a brief history of the house. It is called Casa Herrera because the Herrera Family used to use it to sell sugar in Anitgua. The Herrera family is connected the one of the main sugar companies here in Guatemala.

                                       

                                                     

We carefully climbed a very small metal spiral staircase to the roof to see an amazing view (some say the best view) of Antigua.

                                                      

Awesomeness doesn't even begin to describe how it is and feels to be here.

After the tour we snacked on some sandwiches and then had a few minutes to get ready before we headed over to Casa Popenoe to hear a lecture given by our own Dr. Bolin with UFM students. After the lecture we were allowed to roam around the house and take pictures. We saw a tree that was built in the center of the fantastically landscaped courtyard in 1850. There were tons of plants and colorful flowers. It felt like paradise. You never would have known from the street that Casa Popenoe had the beautifully lush courtyards until you came inside, much like most of the residences here in Antigua. Martin, one of the gentlemen from UFM and our main point of contact, explained how you never know what is behind the closed doors in Antigua, the outside doesn't reflect the inside.

We were talking to some of the UFM students and an art history professor. They told us about all the different processions and suggested specific areas and churches to attend. (Thankfully, Milady had already included them in our agenda!) The students and professors were very impressed to find out that we will be making an alfombra of our own. They told us about how we will experience Holy Week, describing the multisensory experience including the sounds of fireworks and the people, the smell of incense, etc.

WE. CAN. NOT. WAIT!

We ate dinner at a fantastic restaurant called Frida's Restaurant, with many reproductions of Frida Kahlo's paintings throughout the space. The food was amazing, lush, flavorful. There was energetic dance music playing. All in all, it was a great first night.

We were all exhausted after dinner and upon our return we relaxed and went to bed.

Stay tuned for more!