Mexico Travel: Spanish Studies
and a Tour of El Centro Cultural El Refugio in Tlaquepaque
After an interesting excursion to downtown Guadalajara
yesterday, I had needed a good night’s sleep
to rest up for another busy day. This Tuesday morning
I got up early and walked the few steps to my language
school, the Guadalajara Language Center, where I
would be taking Spanish language classes all this
week from 9 to 11 am. Once there, I started using
one of the free computers and checked my emails
and chatted with some of the other students.
Punctually at 9 am my language class started and
our teacher Miguel began to take us through some
translation exercises – a really useful endeavour
that made me realize how far I am still away from
speaking proper Spanish. In addition to my other
two colleagues whom I had already met yesterday,
today we were joined by an additional student, Craig
– who also called himself “Gregorio”
– a young former financial analyst from the
U.S. who had become frustrated with his career and
made a drastic change to his life.
The gorgeous main square of Tlaquepaque, two minutes
from my language school
Craig was now a Christian missionary, and when
we asked him how that works, he explained that he
lives with friends, makes no money and focuses on
communicating the message of Christ. Somehow he
manages to survive in today’s world without
the constraints of a job or even the use of money.
I would have liked to ask him many more questions
about his new lifestyle but we had to get back to
the business of studying Spanish. But this is just
one example of the interesting people that you meet
when you travel and expose yourself to new environments.
El Parián - one of Tlaquepaque's most famous
sights
At 11 am my classes were finished and I started
chatting with some other language students. I ended
up meeting four women in their late 50s or early
60s, all from different parts of Canada. They had
somehow come together here at the Guadalajara Language
Center to study Spanish and to explore Mexican culture.
We had a really lovely chat, and the stories of
these women were quite interesting.
Sculpture in Tlaquepaque
One of these ladies was recently divorced and had
set off on a several months long stay in Mexico
by herself. Learning Spanish at the Guadalajara
Language Center was her first step in acclimatizing
herself to this new country. Another lady had just
retired and decided to study Spanish for a couple
of months while her husband, a university professor
who did not like travel much, was staying home in
Ottawa.
One of the other women had travelled here from
Calgary and had left her husband on the Pacific
Coast in Mexico while her friend had joined her
from a town outside of Toronto. This woman’s
husband had stayed in Texas because he is unable
to handle Mexican food, but she came here to study
Spanish and enjoy a bit of a Spanish-learning adventure
together with her friend. One thing is for sure:
these ladies had a real sense of adventure! They
invited me to dinner this evening, but since I had
a long excursion planned for this afternoon I was
not going to be able to make it. We decided that
tomorrow would be a better day to get together and
enjoy a nice dinner together.
The Cathedral of Tlaquepaque
Wouter Stut, the owner of the Guadalajara Language
Center, had arranged for a professional tour guide
by the name of José Orozco to come by at
3:30 in the afternoon to take me on a tour of Lake
Chapala. Until then I decided to embark on some
local discoveries in Tlaquepaque. I strolled into
the centre of this Guadalajara neighbourhood, which
took just a few minutes from the language school.
One of the most important historical buildings of
this area is “El Centro Cultural El Refugio”,
a former hospital that was conceptualized by local
monk Fray Luis Argüello Bernal in 1859.
The expansive historic complex measures more than
10,000 square meters or 107,000 square feet and
has been converted into a cultural centre that includes
a school of art and dance as well as a variety of
exhibition spaces. The hospital was closed in 1979
after a period of abandonment and the Municipality
of Tlaquepaque purchased and restored it. Today
El Refugio is one of the most important cultural
attractions in Tlaquepaque.
One of the towers viewed from a courtyard inside
El Centro Cultural El Refugio
I walked into the office of the centre, introduced
myself as a travel writer and the manager kindly
agreed to send me a guide, a young man named Joel,
to explore this fascinating building. The first
place Joel was going to take me was the roof of
this unusual structure. A local policeman had to
unlock a gate so we could access the roof. Once
on top of the building I was awed by the size and
the beauty of the building: the white structure
was crowned by a multitude of red dome-shaped roof
sections with small red-roofed square towers that
let daylight into the vaulted spaces below. El Refugio
features four courtyards, all surrounded by arcaded
walkways. The chapel of the complex is capped by
a golden dome that forms the focal point of this
interesting roof structure.
The fascinating roof structure of El Refugio
The south side of the roof holds a terrace that
provides a phenomenal view over the rooftops of
Tlaquepaque. The church spires of the Parroquia
de San Pedro and the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora
de la Soledad can be perfectly viewed from this
spot. Joel told me that during the coming weekend,
El Refugio was hosting the ExpoEnArt, a major decorative
arts trade show with more than 200 exhibitors from
most of Mexico’s 31 states. Unfortunately
I was going to miss this interesting exhibition
because for this coming weekend I had already planned
an out-of-town excursion to the historic city of
Morelia. But it sounded like a fabulous event to
go to.
On the roof of El Refugio
As we were walking on the roof, Joel pointed out
several artists’ workshops in the neighbourhood,
from pottery to painting, glass-blowing and jewellery-making,
by all different artisans who live and work in this
neighbourhood. Tlaquepaque is well known for being
an artists’ village and the main street is
full of galleries and art shops.
Archway inside El Refugio
From the rooftop we peered down into the patio
that is surrounded by the Art School where painting
and dance are taught. In the Patio del Aguacate
(the Avocado Patio) there was a life-size nativity
scene that had been located here since Christmas.
Joel also explained that a tunnel used to connect
this building with a chapel and cemetery some distance
away which provided refuge to Christians during
the Cristero War that was waged against Christians
between 1926 and 1929. Catholics were persecuted
at that time and many of them died.
Interesting roof structure at El Refugio
We came down from the roof and went inside the
building. From ground level I could now see the
inside of the small square towers on the roof that
let in daylight. Next to the School of Arts is an
entranceway that features two brilliant murals by
local artist Pilar Coffeen that illustrate the different
activities in the school. A few steps away in the
pottery museum, called the Museo Premio Nacional
de la Céramica Panteleón Panduro,
we also admired the collection of prize-winning
pottery that is exhibited on the north side of the
building. Amazing pieces of clay art, all created
by national pottery prize winners, depict scenes
from Mexican history, trees of life and mystical
figures.
Prize-winning ceramic art inside El Refugio
My tour with Joel had come to an end but before
he left he connected me with Mr. Bernardo, the official
historian of El Refugio. He took me to the chapel
of the complex and showed me an artistic masterpiece:
a huge mural by Camilo Rodriguez in dark brown and
grey tones with surrealist features that was completed
in 1985. Two brightly coloured murals at the entrance
of the chapel were created much more recently and
represent images from Spanish colonial and Mexican
times. El Centro Cultural is definitely a place
for art lovers!
Monumental mural at El Centro Cultural El Refugio
With my personal tour now completed, I walked into
the centre of Tlaquepaque which is anchored by a
picturesque public square. Just a few steps away
is “El Parián”, a square building
with a large interior courtyard that is home to
18 restaurants. This was the perfect place for me
to relax a bit and have a drink in the shade. The
courtyard was relatively quiet around 3 pm, but
definitely becomes a hotbed of activity in the evening
when all the restaurants are full. A mariachi band
was serenading a small group of tourists who were
enjoying the Mexican folk songs.
Mariachis are playing for the patrons at El Parián
I did not have much time to rest though since I
had to rush back to the Guadalajara Language Center
for my next adventure: a guided tour to Lake Chapala!