Day 3: Iglesia de San Andres Xecul

Wednesday, January 6.

After class we went to the town of San Andres Xecul to see the church. In Xela it's mostly protestants, but in San Andres Xecul the population is solidly catholic and indigenous. This church in particular is a fascinating example of syncretism, the blending of two different religious beliefs. In this case, catholicism from Spain and certain Mayan traditions. Syncretism isn't anything unusual, just think about our Christmas traditions. For a people being conquered and forcefully converted, syncretism provides a way to preserve your own culture and to sneakily worship the gods of your parents and their parents. Many years later, we have churches like this one. Every year they have festivals in the square in front of the church where people dress up like animals and dance, a leftover Mayan tradition.

No photography is allowed inside the church. The most interesting thing I noticed was that all of the images, life size figurines of Jesus and other people, were clothed in fabric with traditional Mayan patterns. They were really pretty.

Several flags were displayed in front, including the United States'. Besides praying for their own country and leaders, loved ones that have emigrated to the U.S. motivates them to pray for our country, too.  

When we first entered the church all the pews were standing on end and women were busy sweeping and mopping, and they were taking the images out of their cases to be cleaned. They were busy preparing for el Día de los Tres Reyes, the day that all of Latin America celebrates the arrival of the three wise men, and the end of Christmas-time.

And then we climbed a big ol' hill. 
 

We walked up to the top of this hill to see the town below us, and also for a bit of a preview of the hike we'd be attempting on Saturday. The elevation here is about 7,500 feet... which is more than enough to make oxygen acquisition a challenge. We also saw a black cat with one eye gouged out, it was gross. (If only it had an eye patch it would be Cat Fury.)

 

At the top there was a little chapel painted the same bright yellow as the main church.

Those are angels at the top, not ghosts.

Next to the chapel was a place where people burn incense and other stuff. The smell is quite tangible. Patricia, our guide, explained a bit about the Mayan tradition. High places are sacred to them because they're closer to the heavens, and they burn incense and sacrifices because the smoke is pleasing to whoever is up there (be that the Mayan gods or the Christian one). Today they will burn things like food to demonstrate that worldly possessions are not important, but rather God and spiritual things are.

And that's the view.

One some roofs there were dyed threads for weaving hung up to dry. The day before we visited a co-op of weavers called Trama Textiles, and they told us that some dyes are made out of beets and carrots. Artificial dyes are also used, which is a lot easier.

This trip raised some questions in my head about tourism and how appropriate it is to visit special places like churches. The building itself is beautiful and visiting it was a great way to learn about the town's culture, and I think that culture is something that should be shared with outsiders. However, the church building and the little chapel were in use by the people who live there, and we were in the way. People were busy cleaning the church, and people were coming inside to pray. We were a large group of 30-some foreigners with cameras and wide eyes... and I think that was disrespectful of us.