As you wander the city of Antigua, through it’s cobblestone streets you see remnants of a time before. A time before the earth has tried and tried to take back what was first hers. I loved finding these little tastes and then ponder “where did that go”, “who had once lived there”, I love to imagine the building whole again. Candles at the alters and nuns praying in the gardens. These remains almost make me feel closer to God than in a new church. Something about the way the building is trying so hard to remain a temple for Him. And then the determination of the people to build and rebuild, without today’s technology, to work so hard and be so committed to building something they believe in. Makes me feel humbled and ashamed in my own commitment to my church and faith. To walk these grounds is not only beautiful and an architectual history, book but a peak into the hearts of man.
So we had read in the guidebook and been told by several people to say within block of the main square. It was safe for tourists and had many police officers patrolling the area… but under no circumstances to go beyond that. Well, mom and I got to wandering and next thing we knew we were in front of some great ruins. I looked on the map and realized it was Inglesia de La Recolecion. A monastery built in 1717 but destroyed the same year by an earthquake, rebuilt and then destroyed again in 1773. BUT I remember the name because two guides had told us not to go there it was not safe. But we were already there so of course it looked ok and was so pretty we had to go in. And like mom said there was NO ONE around. Hee hee hee we soon were wishing there was.
So we go in and out of literally nowhere a man appears and says he will guide us through the ruins. I notice something behind his back immediately but think it is a spade (It looked as if they were working on the ruins at one point, so it made sense). But he keeps it behind his back, which starts to make me uncomfortable…. But you know mom and I we are just talking and taking pictures. I ask him to take our picture together and that is when I see what is behind his back, a VERY large machete. So I ask him what it is for and he says to protect us. So off mom and I go through this very deserted ruin, that by the way, backed up to the jungle.
We obviously survived… but I can tell you, I did feel uncomfortable several times and did not like to have my back to him. Mom and I just kept saying this was not smart but you know…. The ruins were beautiful and he was an excellent tour guide. Through his very broken English we were able to figure out what everything had been. Although, mom says the height of her nervousness was when we were in the far back of the ruins and he was showing us the entrance to the catacombs, but like mom says we had an umbrella to take him with.
The front of the monastery, see no one around, safe RIGHT?
