July 21st, 2003

Alba and Marlen

With Joel Papa’s extra quarters to pump into the State Capitol parking meters in St. Paul and the deft driving of Jim Daly and Mark Quinn  and private chauffeuring of Dorothy Irvin, the delegation successfully completed a nine hour Capitol, Cathedral, Cossetta's and Omnitheater tour on Monday, July 21st. Afterwards the group seemed to express its satisfaction with adroit Spanish explanations that this writer failed to understand in their entirety.

Thankfully, Guatemalan  youth member, Marlen Felipe, sat right behind me on our way to the Capitol and helped tutor this untrained digital camera operator in the fine art of operating. Some of those pictures from Nancy Lynch's borrowed camera that accompany are attributable to Marlen's patient tutorial.

State Representative Mindy Greiling District 54A led them on a lengthy tour at 9:30 a.m. from the State Office building though the bowels of the Capitol in its dingy tunnel and up to the dome's golden horses that included fifty-five additional steps on a spiraling staircase. The Roseville, Falcon Heights and St. Anthony Representative took extra steps and time to cover the inner workings of the building by showing the Supreme Court, Senate and Representative chambers that included a behind-the-scenes look at the Representatives resting area tucked behind the assembly room.

Representative Greiling's comments were frank and positive as she explained the political realities of working as a member of the minority party to the interested guests. Her explanation included the fact that much of the Democratic agenda failed to succeed and the Republican majority managed to enact some of its major issues such the concealed weapons law.

Attorney General Mike Hatch was especially welcoming in spending an extended period to explain the many indigenous paintings and concluded with gifting the group with individual bottles of Minnesota syrup and honey. The governor's office was too busy to accommodate the delegation but the group got a look at the governor's reception desk and secretary.

With precision timing, Celeste Raspanti, a volunteer and retired St. Thomas University professor met us at the Cathedral's door promptly at 11:30. For an hour the Italian descendent, Professor Raspanti, eloquently and interestingly educated the visitors about the history and furnishings of the elegant Cathedral. Her one lament was the lack of representation of Latin symbols and icons, which she attributed to the fact that Latin American culture really did not play a significant role when the Cathedral was in design and construction.

With her only request that the tourists spread the importance of the Cathedral and its role, Celeste bid farewell as the delegates boarded the vans and car and headed to the Cossetta Restaurant in the newly trendy West Seventh Street and Seven Corners area of St. Paul.

After enjoying the zesty Italian cuisine, the Guatemalans got into the spirit of the surroundings upon arrival at the St. Paul Museum of Science where the Omnitheater is located. The high wire rope and myriad of hands-on exhibits enthralled the guests as they bided their time until the feature started at 3 p.m., "Coral Reef"

The opening vastness of the scenes and sound stunned them and they sunk into the hour-long panoply of exquisite but educational scenes of the South Pacific undersea world. Included were explanations and samplers of human kind's pollution  that is killing the world's coral reefs. The English narration of the film was translated quietly into our guest’s ears.

Some of the group was spotted snoozing in spite of the sound. Sometimes the English dialogue went untranslated and even some English speakers were noted with eyes closed taking in the incredible sounds, I assume.

Before leaving the comfortable surroundings of the Science Museum, the Tierra Nueva II group faced the tough task of preparing and assigning a title to their homily and naming those responsible for giving it on Sunday, July 27.  They chose "La paz es fruta de la humilidad" (Peace is the fruit of humility") to be their topic. What an insightful thought!

Final score upon arrival: all accounted for back safely with their host families.  Bob Heberle's day finished without incident, gracias a dios.

Bob Heberle is not Representative Sviggum as the nameplate suggests but a retired teacher. Bob is a longtime SJA'er with a passion for peace and justice issues. Bob is an original member of the Sister Parish Committee and has visited TNII several times. Bob can be reached at heber014@umn.edu.