Adventures in Yucatan, Mexico

In the mid-1500's Yucatan saw the beginning of some dramatic changes. Conquistadors came to knock down and re-build their own mansions and churches from the rubble of Mayan stones. Fusion of cultures and genetics began to take place at a rapid rate and the predominant form of agriculture changed from homesteading to plantations. Fiber production put Yucatan on the world map and saw ports like Sisal explode with the growth of the export market. So what is this plant known as "green gold" that helped the rich get richer and the poor get poorer? What is it about this spiky cousin to agave that spurred the rise of the mestizo and a caste war? How can the simple production of rope and twine cause such large social and cultural changes? Before we can start to answer these kinds of questions, we took a hands-on look back in time to see what the plantations and factories looked like. taking a look at the machines that crush the spiky leaves to extract the strong fiber

We recently had a fantastic epigraphy workshop where we learned to decipher the hieroglyphic writing style of the Mayans. We learned that each part of a glyph can represent a word, idea, or simply a syllable. First we looked at where the glyphs can be found (in books, incorporated into murals or on large pieces of stone that served as announcement boards of wars and new rulers). Then we learned a little bit about the process of deciphering these glyphs that were found hundreds of years after the Mayans stopped writing them.  And finally it was our turn to create our own! We used what we had learned about the phonetic properties of each component and tried out writing our own names, some of which had to be modified because certain sounds or combinations of letters don't exist in the Mayan language, like the "r," so Karla becomes Kala, etc. 

Prehispanic instruments and sounds were the focus of our workshop yesterday. Our instructors showed us the archaeological evidence of the kinds of instruments and when/how they were used in the ancient Mayan civilizations. Then we got to try it out for ourselves! Take a look...

Today's outing had us journeying north of the city and along the coastline. We learned about the importance of mangroves, the Mayans that controlled coastal trading and the astounding community effort in one pueblo that is proving to be socially, economically and environmentally sustainable.  Our first stop was to spend a quiet minute observing our new environment And then we headed to the Mayan ruins of Xcambo On this site the Virgen May appeared and a chapel was built in her honor.  Maria tells us about the ancient techniques of separating salt from ocean water and storing it in large quantities to trade Observing the details View from the top View from the top View from the top Our next stop was in the coastal town of San Crisanto, renowned for their coconut products and their commitment to sustainability. We headed out with trash bags to clean up litter among the mangroves while our guide told us a little bit about the communit