Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Day 17!
We met at the motor pool at 8:30 a.m. to head over to San Fernando Cathedral, founded in 1731 by Canary Islanders who settled in San Antonio. Spain's king, Philip V, wanted 400 families from the islands, which Spain had controlled since 1460, to sail across the Atlantic to settle the region. He got 15 families by promising them livestock, land, and a better way of life. (Evidently, the Canary Islands were a poor place, inhabited by wild dogs.) The Spanish king wanted to settle the San Antonio region so that France wouldn't get any ideas about encroaching into New Spain's territory.
The families, approximately 55 people total, set sail and got as far as Havana, Cuba, and then Veracruz, Mexico. (Veracruz is the state directly on top of the state of Oaxaca. It's a long way from San Antonio!) From there, they began the trek to San Antonio, fighting tropical fevers, cactus-covered land, and hostile Indians along the way. They made it, and established San Fernando, the oldest cathedral sanctuary in the nation.
A 1828 fire destroyed the church. In 1872, its dome fell in, and in 1921, flood water got as high as the Stations of the Cross. Despite all of these setbacks, the cathedral, which is newly renovated, remained strong. As you enter, your eyes are drawn to the 15,000 24K gold leaf sheets that adorn a multi-tiered retablo that features Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Christ on the cross dominates the center. A baptismal font, that dates back to the 1760s, is in the back of the church. Gail, one of the students, said that her husband was baptised in the font.
One of my favorite experiences was getting close to the Pieta, a statue of Mary holding her dead son after he'd been taken down from the cross. Darlene Regalbuto, our wonderful tour guide, had us walk by slowly, keeping our eyes on Mary's eyes. Besides the pain and anguish you see on Mary's face, I swear you see tears in her eyes. It was a powerful experience, and I encourage you to visit the Cathedral.
From there, we walked down to the Spanish Governor's Palace, which was the home of the Spanish authorities. (And later, it was Santa Anna's headquarters!) Our guide said that the Spaniards negotiated with the native Americans in the Governor's Palace, and the name of our state, Texas, came from those meetings. The garden was my favorite place, except for the hanging trees, which put a damper on a lovely, peaceful setting. (Criminals were hung from huge oak trees in the back.) For a country that's so new (1776) in the grand scheme of things, it's nice to have pieces of history that pre-date the U.S. Constitution right here in our hometown.
Tomorrow, we meet back at the white van at 8:40 a.m. We'll head to Lanier High School and then to the American Indians in Texas-Spanish Colonial Missions headquarters. Students are to catch up on their blogging, complete Karen's prompt for the day, and narrow down their final project topic. Friday will be an on-site reporting day, where students will go back to the places that have interested them the most to do more first-person reporting for their final projects. A draft of their final project is due Monday, June 26.
Karen and I met with Mark Hagen of the District's International Studies Office yesterday to bring him up to speed on our Oaxacan adventure. We brought the newspaper of June 15 for him to see, as well as our personal stories. We told him that we'd like to return to Oaxaca in August after the presidential election when things should have settled down. He understands our disappointment in having to leave early, and he is going to see what he can do. Please keep your fingers crossed!
The families, approximately 55 people total, set sail and got as far as Havana, Cuba, and then Veracruz, Mexico. (Veracruz is the state directly on top of the state of Oaxaca. It's a long way from San Antonio!) From there, they began the trek to San Antonio, fighting tropical fevers, cactus-covered land, and hostile Indians along the way. They made it, and established San Fernando, the oldest cathedral sanctuary in the nation.
A 1828 fire destroyed the church. In 1872, its dome fell in, and in 1921, flood water got as high as the Stations of the Cross. Despite all of these setbacks, the cathedral, which is newly renovated, remained strong. As you enter, your eyes are drawn to the 15,000 24K gold leaf sheets that adorn a multi-tiered retablo that features Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Christ on the cross dominates the center. A baptismal font, that dates back to the 1760s, is in the back of the church. Gail, one of the students, said that her husband was baptised in the font.
One of my favorite experiences was getting close to the Pieta, a statue of Mary holding her dead son after he'd been taken down from the cross. Darlene Regalbuto, our wonderful tour guide, had us walk by slowly, keeping our eyes on Mary's eyes. Besides the pain and anguish you see on Mary's face, I swear you see tears in her eyes. It was a powerful experience, and I encourage you to visit the Cathedral.
From there, we walked down to the Spanish Governor's Palace, which was the home of the Spanish authorities. (And later, it was Santa Anna's headquarters!) Our guide said that the Spaniards negotiated with the native Americans in the Governor's Palace, and the name of our state, Texas, came from those meetings. The garden was my favorite place, except for the hanging trees, which put a damper on a lovely, peaceful setting. (Criminals were hung from huge oak trees in the back.) For a country that's so new (1776) in the grand scheme of things, it's nice to have pieces of history that pre-date the U.S. Constitution right here in our hometown.
Tomorrow, we meet back at the white van at 8:40 a.m. We'll head to Lanier High School and then to the American Indians in Texas-Spanish Colonial Missions headquarters. Students are to catch up on their blogging, complete Karen's prompt for the day, and narrow down their final project topic. Friday will be an on-site reporting day, where students will go back to the places that have interested them the most to do more first-person reporting for their final projects. A draft of their final project is due Monday, June 26.
Karen and I met with Mark Hagen of the District's International Studies Office yesterday to bring him up to speed on our Oaxacan adventure. We brought the newspaper of June 15 for him to see, as well as our personal stories. We told him that we'd like to return to Oaxaca in August after the presidential election when things should have settled down. He understands our disappointment in having to leave early, and he is going to see what he can do. Please keep your fingers crossed!
