We woke up bright and early, but were met by rain. Apparently the first time since this program started 14 years ago and for the first time in the area in the past eight months. On the agenda today, we had a visit to Chichen Itza and then a drive to Mérida. Everyone was worried that it would be too rainy and wet to go to the pyramids but we were fortunate enough to arrive at the pyramids right when it stopped raining. Perfect timing!
Chichen Itza means “Inside the well of the magical water” or something very close to that, but our tour guide spoke at a speed that which was hard to keep up with. At Chichen Itza, we learned about the Mayans. They were phenomenal astronomers and learned how to make acoustics. According to our tour guide, the Mayans designed the calendar based completely on the alignment of the stars. They pyramids were based on how the calendar operates. The numbers 52, 20, 13, 91 were mentioned a lot. I cannot exactly remember what all of them mean. They ended up mixing up in my head after the tour guide finished explaining. I do know that 52 represents the weeks of the year and the 91 steps on each four sides of the pyramid equals 364, the amount of days in the year minus one.
To the Mayans, serpents were very important and they considered them a God. Through the serpents, Mayans learned a lot about the world and how it worked. Kakuc is the word for the Mayans the represented the Serpent God. The area of Chichen Itza was also abandoned three times before it was completely a ghost town for years until someone discovered it in 1841. The Mayans constantly built up their structures to reach further into the sky so they could be closer to the gods.
Unlike all the myths which infer that the Mayans sacrificed humans to the Gods, they were in reality most likely untrue. At Chichen Itza, there is a sink hole where it was thought that Mayans sacrificed humans, but archeologist found only 43 bodies. It is said that these are the bodies of the rich who were cremated when professed dead. It was a privilege to be thrown into the sink hole. In the sink hole, they also found lots of jade jewelry which was thought to be the true gift to the Gods. Also, the Mayans built wall sculptures of skulls to scare off the Aztec.
One bit of information I found the most interesting was the theory of how numbers came into existence. It was all based on the angles in each number. One = 1, two = 2.etc The tour ended after the observatory and we all slowly walked back to the bus to head towards lunch.
After lunch, at a great local Mexican buffet, we took a three hour drive to Mérida. I was asleep the whole ride, as were most of the other student delegates. Once we arrived we were greeted with the celebrations of CARNAVAL! Carnaval is a time to celebrate the commencement of Lent in the Catholic Church. Lent starts Ash Wednesday (March 9, 2011) and goes until Easter Sunday. It’s a period of time during the years to remember what Jesus, according to the New Testament, has done for Catholics. This would be his sacrifice to the people on the cross and the forty days and nights he survived in the desert without food and water. The Celebration reminded me of the fair at home. Lots of energy, music, and fatty fried food (just Mexican).
~Kasia
No comments:
Post a Comment