Rachel Keeling
West Virginia University College of Law, Rising 3L
20 Mayo 2008
Embracing the Opportunity

Guanajuato, Mexico—perfect. This experience is exactly what I need after an intense second year of law school. As I am meeting the students and professors on the trip, I realize this is a wonderful group. It is nice to have this opportunity: the opportunity to bond, the opportunity to embrace a new world, and the opportunity to grow.

Day two of our time in Guanajuato began with a walking tour led by Carmen Perez Diaz (a local architect). First, she showed us a hospital/church built in 1560; perhaps the oldest structure in the city. Next stop, the Franciscan monastery. Interestingly, the monastery was recently uncovered when the museum above was in the early stages of construction. The question became: what should the city do with the ruins—the city decided to preserve the monastery, and it is now open for people to enter and view. Currently, there is a display of historic musical instruments inside the monastery.

Carmen then took us through the tunnels below the city; the river used to flow through the dim and damp tunnels, but they are now used as a major transportation route and the river is about ten feet below the tunnels. We also had the opportunity to walk through the city and try out the donkey trail ? how wonderful to imagine a donkey delivering my milk in the morning.

Because Carmen is an architect and is currently renovating a home, she was able to take us through a typical home in Guanajuato. The tile, the mini inner doors, and the open garden in the center of the home were fascinating. The Cathedral we entered was beautiful, and it had an open-air feeling that I found appealing and comforting.

Carmen was an informative tour guide and left us with desire for another tour next week. Hopefully, she will be able to show us more of this colorful city.

After the tour, the group broke into groups for lunch followed by a lecture at the law school led by Dean Jean Rene Segura. Around 4:00 pm, we had our seminar groups. My seminar, led by Professor Scully, centered on our recent journal entries. It is interesting to realize how we pick up on different things and view them in light relative to our own experiences.

We talked about the way we are perceived in Guanajuato. We all brought something to the table on this topic. The way we are perceived is directly related to the idea of tourism, and perhaps capitalism. In my mind, I compared my first few days here with my study abroad trips to France and Brazil. In France, I had the ability to be a wallflower and gaze into the life around me. With the exception of the occasional beggar, people in France were not interested in approaching me or enticing me to purchase wares. On the other hand, in Brazil several locals would approach me and entice me to purchase things—the ability to sink into the surroundings and be a “fixture” did not seem possible. Guanajuato feels like a mixture of both—there is an opportunity to take in the local life, but the mariachi bands and the man selling ponchos are usually not too far away.

My seminar group also discussed areas that cater to tourism, and therefore lose cultural identity and become a sub-culture of capitalism. It is nice to be in a place that is culturally rich, and yet while interested in the exchange of capital, has not lost its cultural identity, therefore keeping the city unique and real. As capitalism enables businesses and people to thrive, and tourism funnels money into areas that perhaps were once or are economically depressed, Guanajuato has beautifully preserved the cultural heritage of its people.