Notes From Guadalajara

Guadalajara, October 18, 1998

By Jennifer Shire

This past weekend I went to Guadalajara for the day. I saw a famous painting in an art museum. It was painted on the roof of an old monastery and the roof is a dome so when you move around the room the picture changes because of the persepctive. I couldn't take any pictures because I can't shut the flash off on my camera and I took one anyway and got into trouble.

The rest of the museum didn't excite me. It was like an abstract art exhibit and I can't understand that stuff. For example, a yellow line on a white peice of paper. It had me mesmerized for about two seconds. We then continued walking through the downtown.

Guadalajara is a beautiful city. The buildings are are very old and colonial.

We went to the famous cathedral which is unbelieveable. It has cemetery under the front part of the church and people go down and throw money at the coffins. I felt pretty uncomfortable there. There were a lot of people praying and I felt like I wasn't respecting their beliefs by not praying with them, or crossing myself, or something like that.

The really interesting thing was all these people at the front, kneeling in front of a glass case. This is a mummified girl. Three hundred years ago she came to this cathedral without her father's permission because he didn't believe in God. When it came time for her first communion she went without telling him and he found out. He came into the church and cut her hands off in front of the whole congregation killing her. They mummified her body and have kept it in the church ever since.

We only stayed one night in Guadalajara because we are planning on returning later in November. All for now.

Jen