Lessons from Antigua, Guatemala
What I saw in Antigua, Guaremala, changed my perception of Spanish colonization in America. In 1979, UNESCO named it World Heritage Site because it “retained the integrity of its 16th-century layout and the physical integrity of most of its built heritage.” In 1527, Spaniards founded Antigua—the ancient capital of Guatemala. Sprinkled through the town were numerous outstanding churches, convents, monasteries, and even a university whose advanced teachings were ranked equal to that of Salamanca, one of Europe’s most excellent centers of studies. Unfortunately, two earthquakes in the 1700s destroyed quite a few buildings. Antigua was abandoned as it was. Mother Nature has kept Antigua as an irrevocable proof of the truth about the Spanish colonization in America.
The hurricane blew with a spooky sound
Experiencing a hurricane in Florida was something new for me. Its eye had supposed to hit us, but when it was a few miles from our coast, it unexpectedly changed its trajectory, turning upward and touching land about 60 miles north. But I felt some distant bands around its center: the wind was warm and dry as if coming from a furnace and smelled of algae, which had gathered from ocean water. It also blew with a spooky sound different from all the strong sea winds I had ever heard when I grew up on a building next to a beach in Cadiz, Spain. That area is well known for the intense eastern winds that originate in the Sahara Desert.
