Two seminarians study Spanish, culture in Mexico

By JULIE KEANE, Globe staff reporter
January 6, 2004

Brent Lingle and Jeremy Wind, two seminarians of the diocese, spent part of their summer break in Mexico City studying the Hispanic culture and language to help them prepare for a life of ministering to both Spanish and English speaking parishioners.

"I minored in Spanish when I was in the college seminary," Lingle said. "I needed the extra help to be able speak conversely rather than know everything academically. That was my major reason for going."

Wind also went to Mexico with some knowledge of the language with the hopes of improving his skills.

"I was already speaking some Spanish but I knew I was missing a lot of vocabulary and grammar," Wind said. "I really wanted to improve on that part."

Lingle and Wind, along with four other seminarians, two priests and a bishop stayed in Tlalpan, a suburb of Mexico City, at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary. The group was gone from June 6 to July 30.

During their stay, the seminarians spent their mornings in class at the Unverisdad Panamerican (University of Pan-America), a Catholic University in Mexico City, learning the Hispanic culture and language.

"We were in class all morning long," Lingle said. "We had a class in culture, which gave me a more in-depth background on the Hispanic culture."

During the afternoon the group visited different parishes in Mexico to help understand how Hispanics celebrate different feast days and the way parishes are run in Mexico.

Wind said the group talked to a lot of people on their stay to help them learn the culture. The group also visited the pyramids and the Capitol to help build their knowledge of Hispanic history.

"We immersed ourselves in the culture," Wind said. "We spoke Spanish the whole time. We went to see a lot of museums and historical sites. Mexico is really rich with culture and we experienced a lot of that culture."

Along with learning in and out of the classroom, Wind said he was taught some lessons that he didn't expect to learn.

"I learned a lot of expressions that had double meanings," Wind said. "I would say something that I thought was innocent and people would start laughing. Then one of my Mexican friends would tell me what it really means."

Wind and Lingle said the experience taught them a lot and will help them in the future as they minister to Hispanic parishioners.

"I enjoyed just talking with people," Wind said. "I would get on the subway and just strike up a conversation with someone. It was fun to go. It was valuable, but very exciting. I can speak Spanish very well right now and I can understand the culture much better now."