The University of Guanajuato

The main campus of the Universidad de Guanajuato dominates the center of town when viewed from the hills above: It's a tall, bright, white, heavy building amidst the jumble of colorful smaller buildings and the orange, yellow, and gold domes of several churches and theaters. A long, steep staircase climbs one side of the building; climbing it seems to emphasize the work of acquiring higher knowledge! The building itself is relatively new - just about 50 years old - but it is attached to a Jesuit seminary and church that dates back to 1732. (The top photo here shows the main edifice of the building; the second photo shows Mark looking out on the town and the Pipila monument from the steps of the university.)

The Departamento de Letras Hispanicas is located at the Valenciana campus, just 5 km up the hill and outside of the city of Guanajuato. Valenciana is another old silver mining town, and the campus is located in a former convent. Like the main campus, it is attached to a church built in the 18th century. This Valenciana campus, the ex-convent, is a wonderful pink and beige and gray building of bricks and plaster with a stone patio open to the sky at its center. It is a bit crumbling and very romantic; it feels like it has a past, which I love. The classrooms are narrow but with high, domed, brick ceilings. The atmosphere makes me want to sit with great tomes of books and write notes by longhand in leather-bound journals. (The third photo shows me in front of the church end of the Valenciana campus. I was desperate to take lots of photos, but as this was my first day meeting with members of the literature department, I was trying to appear less like a gawking tourist!)