Guanajuato....

We just got home from our weekend trip to Guanajuato. It was incredible, and so beautiful! It looked very European to me. I wish I could have captured what we saw on camera…but the pictures do not do any justice. The streets were made of stone, and were so narrow and the landscape full of color. It was really beautiful! The food was great, definitely ate too much! And we did some site seeing and shopping, of course.

I can’t even begin to explain what the overall feel of Guanajuato was. We were able to take a tour of the city and stop at different places, and just look out the windows! We went to the city’s candy shop and afterwards to a mine. It was really cool, and I could kind of follow the history. (I’m torn…I’m glad they talk to us in Spanish when we do things like this, but I really love to know the history of things, and sometimes when they speak in Spanish, they use totally unfamiliar vocab and talk a lot more slurred together and quickly, a lot of the time, we just all listen with blank stares in our faces….a little frustrating actually at times. This time, however, I think I was on the same page most of the time. ) It was way cool and at the end we went and saw some of the different stones and crystals that they used to mine. I actually bought one of the crystals for myself, it’s a memory crystal. I thought it was kind of cool and something that could help remind me of the this incredible trip and experience…kind of cool huh!? Memory stone to help remind me.

Oh my gosh, after the mine we went and saw a torture museum they have there, from the Spanish Inquisition, during the reign of the Catholic church. It was horrible! I felt so sick. I am in a way so glad that we went though. It is part of history, and really got me thinking. It is so horrible to me, that other human beings could do such horrid things to other human beings, and over the idea of Christianity...rather ironic actually. I can not fathom the idea of someone willing and able to hurt another, and especially in that horrific and gruesome kind of manner. As our tour guide explained what each of the different torture machines were used for, he would occasionally ask for volunteers to help him out. I tried as hard as I could to avoid eye contact…however, he got me. He asked me to come to the front where I stood in front of a closed box. (As I walked to the front, Hermana Stallings called… “not my Ashley”…that was pretty endearing….) He then opened the box as everyone squealed…well, that was no help to calm my nerves. He had me step back into the box and said to be very careful that I did not move. As he began to shut the doors to the box, I got a glimpse of the spikes plastered along the surface of the box. I squirmed a bit and felt the spikes along the back of the box that I was now standing in pinch my skin. What an experience! (Obviously he did not shut the doors all the way, or the ending of this little experience would be a bit different...) Really though, it got me thinking, about the restoration, about the lives that were sacrificed, much earlier than just those of the latter day saints and the early American colonists, for the sake of freedom of religion and for the preparation of the Lord’s gospel. It also made me realize how grateful I am for the time and place in which I live in. Wow! What a museum….

It was so funny, last night, after the day was over, most of us girls met up in one of the rooms, for a girls night sort of thing…stories and laughing our heads off…in our pajamas, like you would at a sleepover. However, towards the middle of the festivities, there was a knock at the door, the boys wanted to join. It was so funny; we definitely had to take pictures of the boys….at girls night! They joined in on the stories and laughing. Both shared stories of their first date/first kiss or whatev…it really was so much fun! And it has been so much fun getting to know each other better! Especially this weekend…we were able to spend so much time together (especially on the four hour bus ride), just laughing and taking. I feel like I've known these people forever!