My New Home (a virtual tour)

I'm midway through my seventh day here in Guatemala, and starting to get the hang of life here.  This first week has gone by in a blur of new sights, new experiences, and barely understood spanish.  I'll start this entry with a brief description of the city I'm living in.

Esquipulas Guatemala is a city of about 18,000 people, with another 23,000 living in the rural areas around town. 

It is a major pilgrimage site in Central America because of the thousands of healing miracles that are attributed to the "tierra santa" (sacred earth) in the area.  One of the monks told me that over 1,000,000 people make a pilgrimage to the city every year!  Because of this the city has over 5,000 hotels (most of them are just houses with rooms for rent).  The picture below was meant to be a picture of a street with a bunch of hotels, but in the chaos of the picture it's impossible to see that there are 6 hotels on this block alone.

Pope John Paul II called the city the "spiritual center of Central America."  Esquipilas is home to the "Black Christ of Esquipulas," a crucifix in the basilica that has been stained black by the constant burning of candles in the church, a tradition that was stopped a few years ago. 

Esquipulas is in the lower of two mountainous regions in Guatemala, at around 3000 feet elevation.  In this picture of the main road taken from the basilica steps, the mountains in the background can be seen but, as always, they are covered by clouds.

Coffee beans are grown in the mountains just south of town, and the coffee here is really delicious.  It is about 100km to the Mayan Ruins of Copán, a site that I hope to drive a motorcycle to while I'm here.

  The monastery that Kenan and I are staying (Abadía Jesucristo crucificado) at is connected to the basilica in town.  The basilica is the centerpiece of the town, and has been standing for 400 years, through multiple earthquakes that have leveled the rest of the town! 

The monastery is huge.  There are only 18 monks, but 40 rooms all exactly like ours. The rooms, as you can see in the picture below, are pretty spartan.

Not much, but definitely all I need.  I even have my own bathroom!  There is a shower, with a terrifying contraption consisting of a giant head with poorly spliced wires connecting to it.  If it ever gave any indication that it worked, I might be a little nervous, but it appears that hot water is more of an abstract concept here than a concrete reality.  

The monastery is complete with all the necessities though, a dining room, which I have only seen about 25% full.

There is even a game room, but the pool table is treacherously off kilter, with plenty of sinkholes to suck your perfectly shot balls dangerously off course.

While it seems that most of our BVC compatriots are staying in guesthouses, Kenan and I are staying inside the monastery.  This has its pros and cons, but at times can be a bit taxing, as almost all of the inner part of the monastery is supposed to be silent, as are most lunches and dinners (I'm not exactly the silent type of guy).  Most of the monastery is really beautiful though, as you can see below in the picture of the courtyard right outside my room.

 

Given my affinity for the woods of Minnesota, I think the local climate and flora and fauna might take some getting used to.

 As you can see, the trees are quite different in this rain forest than in the minnesotan boreal forests.

 The monastery we are staying at is also home to a school, a barn with quite a few Cows,

 

a citrus farm,

a beekeeping place, a few soccer fields, 

what I think is supposed to be a fish pond, but the brown water and barbed wire laid over the top of all of it seems to suggest something else...,

and a library, where I now work.  

All in all, this place seems really nice, and though I still feel a bit out of my element, I could see myself calling this place home before long.