mayan calendar

Mayan Calendar Quest : Lanquin, Guatemala

Having survived the remnants of a hurricane (we were about an hour from the Pacific coast) that camps out on us for over a week with almost constant rain, followed immediately by a small earthquake strong enough to bounce a book off a shelf, I make the decision to leave the western highlands and move towards the northern jungles of Guatemala where I hope to visit the ruin sites of El Mirador and San Bartolo.

Along the way I stop in a small village and end up renting a small house for $60 for a month. I can work massage with the tourist and refuel the money supply. Besides, I am only 10 kilometers from a nature-made water wonderland called Semuc Champay.

Four days later a huge tree crashes down on my new house.

Here is how the last four days havef gone down. I start setting up the house. I have to bring or buy a refrigerator, stove, gas,… you get the picture. I create a massage table , clean the house and am getting set to open.

I get the impression from multiple sources there is no doctor in town. Locals start asking me serious medical questions. It kinda freaks me because while I am a massage therapist I have little medical training and I don’t even have a emergency kit (silly of me and I’ll get one as soon as I can find basic medical supplies to purchase).

I live on the side of a small mountain and it rains 2-3 times a day for a couple of hours. This is a good thing because the heat, when the sun is shining in all its glory, is close to being oppressive. I am losing a pound a day and the veins in my hands and arms are becoming prominent again.

Part of the problem is my body obviously needs to acclimatize. But it is not just me, even the locals talk about how hot it is here.

The strange thing about the rain here is there has been no thunder or lightening.

The rain also washes away parts of the small mountain.

I want to open the store but the entrance path to my house is incredibly dangerous. I have been removing washed down rocks for 4 days and the path keeps collapsing further. The road in front of my house is a good 25 feet beneath me and you have to walk uphill to get to me.

Yesterday a small 15 foot tall sapling of a tree falls over in front of the path. I transplant it but it keeps falling down because the dirt keeps getting washed away.

I straighten the tree once again, in the rain, and pack down the dirt with my hands.

I go inside my little house and almost immediately hear what has to be a strike of lightening right outside my back door. Then a small explosion type noise that just keeps getting louder and louder and closer and closer like a freight train. The roof starts shaking and all I can do is stand there wondering what the hell is going on. The noise subsides and the roof quits shaking.

In a very confused state I walk outside and the lady I rent from (who lives above me some 40 feet) starts shouting something to me in Spanish. At the same time I look up and realize what has happened.

A huge tree has fallen directly on top of my house. This tree is gigantic compared to my casita (little house). I immediately burst into laughter and have been laughing since.

Thank goodness for laughter. And I am still hanging with my life here. The tree has been removed and everything fixed. Gettting used to the tarantula coming inside my house everytime it rains still kinda freaks me but hey, he has lived in the house longer than I have for sure. Again, thank goodness for laughter.

If you would like to read more, I can explain “How Knowledge Is Lost”.

Alternatively you can get a free Maya Calendar.

Much laughter to all of you.

Learn Spanish, Make a Friend

I met Hannah and Cristopher last night at Restuarante Paco Real.

A man from Argentina was playing guitar for the guests. He had recently come from singing with an orchestra in Mexico City. This guy reminded me of Placido Domingo on tango steroids. Beautiful, passionate make you want to get out of your chair and groove kinda music.

The hotel has become home to some really great people, fun to be around people. After dinner we talk and laugh. A couple from England join the conversation.

Hannah and Christopher have spent the last seven months in Costa Rica. Along the way Hannah came up with a neat idea. Lots of travelers want to learn Spanish. Lots of Spanish speakers want to learn English. Let’s put them together. The result?

IntercambioAmericas

I spent a little time with Hannah and Christopher and here’s the lowdown.

“Hannah, what is IntercambioCentralAmerica.com?”

“It is a platform where speakers of different languages can come together and practice speaking each others language.”

“Christopher, I saw reference to an intercambio on the website. What is an intercambio?”

“An intercambio is a language exchange,” he replied.

“It is when two people meet up in person and learn from each other.”

“Our website brings together people of different languages and allows them to practice their foriegn language skills,” Hannah added. “I believe the fastest way to achieve fluency is through direct interaction.”

“Who are your customers?” I questioned.

Hannah replied “Travelers, expats, and others who want to learn Spanish in order to assimilate into a Central American culture. Also those just wanting a more rewarding travel experience.”

“It’s also a fun, free way for Spanish speakers to improve their English speaking skills,” Christopher added. “This is important to Central Americans who want to improve their own career prospects.”

At this point in the conversation a cat walked through the door. I know this cat. He visits me daily for food and a place to crash.

A tidbit: animals in Central America understand Spanish, animals in Germany, German. Simple I know, but it is really funny when you speak to an animal in a foriegn language and they understand you.

Best wishes and good travels to Hannah, Christopher and IntercambioAmericas.

Mayan DayKeeper

I went to Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala, yesterday to find a Mayan Daykeeper. A daykeeper keeps track of days according to the Mayan Calendar. A daykeeper is also probably a shaman or a priest. Their task is extremely important in Maya life. You see, there doesn’t appear to be a Mayan calendar in the sense that we are used to having a Gregorian calendar hanging on the wall. Prior to the printing press, most of our ancestors did not have such a reference either.

For hundreds of years the adopted calendar of the Western World has been the one ordained by the Catholic Church. Priests have maintained and the Catholic Church has defined our sense of time. This seems to be common within other cultures as well, for example, the Egyptians.

The trip to Santiago Atitlan is a complete journey in itself even though it lies just across the lake from the village where I stay.

Around 10:00 a.m. I catch a launcha (a small boat usally carrying 10-20 people but at times holds a scary overload of 30 or more) for the village of San Pedro. A short trek to the other side of San Pedro leads to a second launcha trip for Santiago Atitlan.

The boat schedules at this eary time of the day can already be thrown off but the boats usually run every half-hour to every hour.

Each trip cost about $2.00 US and is a 20-30 minute boat ride.

I arrive in Santiago Atitlan and go for breakfast. Scrambled eggs, beans and plantinos (resembles a fried banana). I asked for bread with the meal as it doesn’t necessarily come with the plate. I remembered it probably would not be toasted so I also asked to have it toasted. Based on the look the lady gave me I didn’t even ask for butter. Nevermind, I’ll eat it dry. Breakfast costs around $3.00 US plus I tip.

The ladies at the comedor (restaurant) are actually very nice, you just can’t throw too much their way at once.  So after breakfast I ask them if they know any of the three men I seek. Two were unknown but the third was a hit. The ladies know his family and his house is a short 15 minute ride by tuk-tuk (a small open-door taxi).

I flagged down a tuk-tuk and the ladies quickly explain to the driver who I am looking for, all in their native Tzutuhil language.  The driver also knows of the man so off we go.

We drive out to a Panabaj, a smaller village, and the tuk-tuk stops in the middle of an empty field.

“This is the land he owns; the people who live around here are his family.”

“Ok,” I said slowly, “so where is the man?”

I’ll have to ask,” he replies and drives back towards some houses.

He stops the taxi, gets out, and I see him going among multiple houses. Ten minutes later he comes back. Apparently the man has moved to the village we just came from, Santiago Atitlan.

The taxi cost $0.50 so far but now the man wants $5.00 to continue driving me around. Everything considered it is high but reasonable considering he could have run 3 passengers in the time we have already spent. I agree and off we go again.

We drive back to the middle of Santiago Atitlan, he parks the taxi, and we go directly into the market, looking for a tienda (small store). He finds the store he is looking for and explains to the shop attendant, a man about 25 years of age, who we are looking for.

“He’s dead,” the attendant replies.

It turns out this man is a nephew of the man we seek. I offer my condolences, we all chat a little, and then the taxi driver and I leave. We spend a couple of hours looking for the other men, one of which we did manage to get a lead on. I make my way back to San Marcos and my hotel.

This is what traveling is like for me. I have a destination in mind but it is the journey that makes it worthwhile.

Maya Park

I am running around Guatemala trying to learn about the Maya Calendar and I’ve hit my first obstacle, two really. First I’m getting such wild talk I can barely make sense what it being said and nothing is verifiable. Second is I can’t seem to find a Maya Calendar, not in front of my eyes anyway. I am talking about an authentic Maya Calendar. The Aztec and the Maya are in the same Mesoamerican family.

I may have to go to Mexico to see the Aztec Calendar.

Along the way I have run across Maya Park and 2012. Maya Park is a treetop cafe that lets you enjoy a fantastic liquado (a really good fruit drink) among the tropical canopy of the Guatemalan Highlands. Located near the beautiful La Paz Hotel in San Marcos La Laguna, Lago Atitlan, the cafe serves creative pastries and handmade delights with local chocolates and other natural ingredients.

Beneath the cafe is a boutique - 2012. 2012 sells specialty Guatemalan products and select imports from Asia. The store stocks handpicked goods, specializing in exotic jewelry and semi-precious stones, lobe expanders, piercing jewelry, pipes and cloth goods with an esoterical slant.

It can be a daunting task to find a good cup of coffee on the road. If you are in the area you can get a good cup at Maya Park.

The Curse of Tak’alik Ab’aj

I swear I did not “kick” the ruin at Tak’alik Ab’aj. I was looking the other direction when I ran into it with my foot. I didn’t think anything about it at the time. I was wearing tennis shoes.

It all started with a noticeable increase in anger on the last day of my trip. Everything and everybody was annoying me. When I finally made it back to my room I was overcome with fatigue.

“I just need to lie down and sleep.”

That’s understandable though, I had just spent 4 days riding chicken-buses, sleeping with one eye open in strange hotels, and running around the Guatemalan countryside looking at Maya ruins.

Next thing I know I am passing in and out of consciousness and everything is happening in slow-motion. This continues for something like 2 days during which I remember little and ate nothing.

On the third day I wearily make it outside to a hammock and some guy staying at the hotel starts telling me “the short version” of his story because it relates to my illness. Apparently this guy has “over a thousand pieces” of evidence 911 was an inside job. I ask to see one but naturally he doesn’t have anything with him.

This conversation actually took place.

So anyway I am lying in this wonderful, supportive, caring hammock about to die and this guy won’t shut up. I mean sweat is dripping down me because of the intense fever I am running and I’m shaking like a leaf because I am freezing.

This guy has to be convinced I will get better just by listening to his story. I roll my head away from him and look the other way but he continues.

“I had something like the flu awhile back. At first I thought it was nothing. “

I continued looking away from him, panting, my nose completely blocked. I am wiped out from getting out of bed, walking downstairs, and getting into the hammock.

“Rough couple of days, but then it cleared up,” he says.

I think to myself, “Oh good, the story is over.”

“Then it came back, 3 days later,” he quickly adds.

Pain and funny are a strange combination.

“No,” I moan to myself, confused, unable to understand why his illness would make both our lives miserable not once, but twice.

“About a year after 911 I came across proof it was an inside job. If you saw this stuff you would be convinced too,” he assures me. “I had a lot of trouble dealing with it for years; it still bothers me.”

I break into an uncontrollable cough and just manage to control a wave of nausea. He is unfazed and just waits for me to finish. Realizing he is not going to go away unless 1) I tell him to or 2) he finishes his story, I start giggling uncontrollably, wondering what I had done to deserve this.

“I got sick again and that’s when I put two and two together,” he continues. “They were warning me to keep quiet. The United States has the largest biochemical stockpile in the world. Who do you think has the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction?” he asked me sincerely.

Kerplakistan?

“Nope, the U.S.” he said confidently, not even hearing me.

A wave of chills went through me and I suddenly remembered “not kicking” the ruin. I thought it odd such a though would come to me at what felt like a strange time. I fought back another wave of nausea, he mumbled some things and I eventually passed out in the hammock.

That was about 3 days ago and I am much better today. My throat is coarse and I still tire quickly but I can eat and walk about. I have been taught two hard lessons by equally harsh teachers:

1) Do not eat street food when you are riding the chicken-buses.
2) Watch out for the Curse of Tak’alik Ab’aj.

Falling Avocados

I am working on a followup to the Maya/Olmec Ruins post but wanted to complete this one first. On your left is the hotel where I stay in Guatemala. It is actually one building of about 8. They are spread out so if one catches fire the owner does not lose the whole hotel. There is no fire department in the village and I am betting no insurance on the hotel.

Have you ever been bit by a dog and then you see the same dog again days later? Showers in Guatemala evoke the feeling of “I’ve been bit by this dog before”. This is a typical showerhead in much of Central America. Notice the electrical wiring in black electrical tape. Outside the big cities there are practically no hot-water heaters so water is heated at the showerhead. Hmmm…water, electricity, and mostly poor electrical work. The wind blowing in the wrong direction can turn this stream of water into a stream of electrical current. Yikes! Want to see someone make a decision and act fast on it? I get bit by this dog about once a week.

This picture contains 1) an avocado 2) a key 3) an American quarter 4) a Guatemalan quetzal. The avocado weighed in at 500 grams, which is a little over a pound. A regulation baseball weighs 142 grams for comparison. There is an avocado tree above my room that extends over the walkway. Three of us agreed the tree is 60 feet all. I put the top of my roof at 25 feet. This tree is dropping about 10 avacados a day. Two of the ten avacados wack my roof in the middle of the night with a noise that would send you running into the street to find out who is throwing 1 pound rocks at your house. You cannot appreciate how much all of us at the hotel hope we don’t get smacked on the head by one of these puppies. Yada yada yada…this was supposed to go into the terminal velocity of avocados but I’m not gonna make there.

Maya and Olmec Ruins at Tak’alik Ab’aj

On my recent trip around southwest Guatemala (April, 2008) I took a day and went to the Maya ruins at Tak’alik Ab’aj, near the Guatemalan city of Retalhulue. I speak Spanish fairly well but still can’t pronounce Retalhulue, even after going to the city. The locals abbreviate it to Rea but even that, with only three tiny letters, is not pronounced like it is spelled and you have to do something funny with your throat that made me hoarse for the rest of the day.

What a beautiful site! It is an active archeological dig and the staff were in the process of extracting and cleaning a 4 foot stone with hieroglyphs all over it. The archeologists were not allowing any photos of the stone until it is fully extracted, cleaned, and interpreted.
Tak’alik Ab’aj, I was told, means “Standing Stones” and there are plenty to be found. Numbers and heiroglyphs abound on the stones as you can see from this photo. Numbers are the straight lines and dots in the middle. I didn’t ask but would bet it is a date.

The site is considered Pre-Classic. One of the interesting points is the site is considered to be the only place, on a large scale, where The Maya and The Olmec lived together. The Olmec were an ancient civilization living in Mexico and were in decline during the Pre-Classic Maya Period. Economic reasons, resulting from the city’s proximity to Mexico, were most likely behind the cultural integration. This is an Olmec influenced carving from the site.

On a scale of 1-10 I give Tak’alik Ab’aj a 7.5 - the wonderful temples at Tikal being a 10. National Geographic did an article on Tak’alik Ab’aj so you can find more info here.

Falling Avocados and Other Adventures…

Very soon I’ll be telling you about…

• dangerous falling avocados
• the most dangerous intersection in Guatemala
• what it means to go to the ATM in Guatemala

See you soon!