Cartago

Today we went on our first training excursion to the town of Cartago, we were given 3,000 Colones and four tasks, but my group lucked out. We bought phone cards and made calls, then learned about the ruins of a church that dominated the central plaza. The next place we had to discover was the 'Capitanía General' which had recently been turned into a museum of culture for the region. As we progressed through the museum, we found a large wall and a scaffolding where three woman were painting a mural. We were looking at the mural (scenes of natives, emphasizing women and animals) when one of the women offered to give us a tour. It turned out that she was the muralist, and that this painting was to debut on the International Day of Women as the largest mural created by women in Central America. She walked us through the images, pointing out the gods and the characters, and explaining what would fill in the blank spaces (about 3 fifths of the wall). She told us a lot of history, and it proved a very enlightening experience.

-Barton