I hope this post finds you all in good health and spirits. The main purpose of this post is to share a bunch of pictures that I took in Tikal! Because there is not much I can say to convey how awesome the views were (and I won't have much space after posting all the pictures), I won't be writing too much. First, there was a very cool holiday recently that I will tell you guys a bit about!
On Tuesday, November 1, we had Día de los Muertos. This is a holiday that celebrates the lives of loved ones that have passed away. Many special traditions are practiced on this day. The first is that families will bring special gifts to the graves of loved ones. Gifts may include flowers, favorite foods or drinks, or a number of gifts. Another tradition is to make kites. Children will make kites out of paper and fly them throughout the day. Teams will make huge kites out of bamboo and paper, as well. Some of the larger kites take around a month to make! Some foods can only be found this time of year. The favorite food of this festival is "fiambre." This is a salad of many types of sausage, cheese, cabbage, lettuce, and more. We visited the festival in a nearby town with the school. It was a lot of fun and the kites were a sight!
An example of a jumbo kite!
Decoration and care of graves.
This Sunday, our group took a trip to Tikal, one of the most amazing places I have ever been! We woke up around 3:45am and met the group to catch the bus to the airport around four. The flight was about forty-five minutes, and quite enjoyable. After we landed, we met up with our bus driver and tour guide, who took us to Tikal. This is one of the areas that archeologists are studying and discovering bit by bit. There are many layers of civilizations under the ground in this region, and there are still more being discovered. Click to enlarge photos.
This is part of the town square area.
These were areas where the Mayas would keep food and
water.
Relief map of what the area would have looked like.
We weren't able to climb all the ruins. :-(
We saw many awesome plants and animals.
Our guide.
These are some of the clearer carvings that still exist and are above ground.
This scene was in Star Wars!
Obviously quite large buildings!
A preserved mask that was discovered years ago.
Everything is going well here in Antigua, Guatemala. All cylinders are firing and I am busy as ever. My daily schedule has not changed at all, with classes all morning and work all afternoon. A report of my work is coming real soon! As the semester goes on, more talk of home is surfacing. As I listen I am becoming a little uneasy, as the thought of this semester being over is not a good one! We have a lot of time left, but I can't help but feeling a little anxious thinking about how fast everything is going. I am very excited to see my family, friends, and Stephanie (;-D), but when I think about the semester being over, I am a hit with a little sadness. But that is neither here nor there. I will be posting anew next week. Thanks, once again, for tuning in to read about little 'ole me!
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