Mission San Juan Capistrano

Today I took the train to San Juan Capistrano to visit the old mission.  I even took a guided tour, in which I learned many interesting things, like how to pronounce the name of the native American tribe that lived in the mission, the Acagchemem (pronounced a-WAH-shay-mem).  Having studied the conditions of the California missions, and the overall bad deal the native Americans got, I have mixed feelings about these places.  The impression the tour guide gave, and the impression I got in fourth grade when I learned about the California missions, was that they were rather idyllic places of cultural exchange.  What I later learned from academic research was that they were places of forced labor and cultural oppression.  Regardless, the missions are a part of our history, and some of the oldest buildings in California (some over 200 years old).  I took some pictures: