Mayans are small people with big culture

Mayans are little people; hardy, friendly, patient and enduring. Their last names are not Hernandez or Rodregiez but Puc, Xiu and Cob. Yes, they are still with us. I was surprised as somewhere in my mind I've gathered some misinformation about them being long gone. What is gone is their vast body of knowledge, 99% destroyed by the Spanish and, of course, their religious practices, which in their later periods involved blood sacrifice of mindbogglingly proportions.
Today's Mayans are still minute, especially when compared northern European stock. Interestingly, they have no body hair, mustaches or beards but have exceptional shocks of hair on their heads. This hair never goes gray or white and never thins. They have perfect teeth and eye-sight throughout their lives. I wish I had a some of that.

Sometimes you're just lucky-Chichen Itza.

March 22nd- Puerto Morelos

I spied a sign in town advertising Chichen Itza and decided to look into taking a tour of the famous Mayan ruins. I don't take many tours when I travel unless I can pay locals to take me to their special places. One principle of eco-travel is to spend your dollars in the local community, so I avoid the large hotel chains and the grand tours. I'm also allergic to large crowds and like to find ways around that hassle whenever possible.
But, I was amazed to discover that a trip the next day to Chichen Itza would coincide with the Vernal Equinox and a demonstration of an ancient Mayan show of astronomical and architectural mystery and acumen.
A year ago, purely by chance, I was thrilled to find myself in the Galapagos on Porto Aurora on Darwin's 200 birthday, attending one important and Very funky celebration . So I couldn't help but feel that the universe was nudging me here.

At Chichen Itza on the spring and autumnal equinoxes , the steps of the main temple,which forms a perfect 365 day calendar, are transformed in the fading light into their totem, the serpent, which runs from 'heaven' at the top of the pyramid, down the side of the steps to the base, where it joins the stone head of the snake with fangs barred.
I suppose that it was meant as a message to all the populace to 'get busy', with either spring planting or fall harvesting. How they accomplished this though is still bit of a mind boggle and the phenomenon went unnoticed by archeologists until fewer than thirty years ago.
It is quite impressive, as are the grounds themselves which are vast and imposing, surrounded by multipurpose pyramids that contain a few "how'd they do that?" technical tricks. The serpent somehow hisses and if you stand in the center of the large plaza and clap your hands, the noise reverberates and raises in pitch until it sounds like eagles screaming. Eagles are another totem, they don't exist in this area but their symbol was introduced when the Mayans were conquered by the Toltecs.
Although the serpent runs the steps for three days, most people travel from around the globe to catch that special Mayan energy on the twenty-first of March, the vernal equinox. Approximately 55,000 people share the rapture on that day. I was happy experiencing my Mayan energy one day before, with a reasonable crowd of only 6,000.
The Mayans had extensive libraries written in their Hieroglyphic language which was only cracked by incredible chance just, after WWII.
Thanks to the Spanish priests, who were appalled by the blood sacrifice of Mayan religious practices, and to the Mayans, who could comfortably integrate Catholic expressions of suffering, pain and blood sport into their own cosmology, the religion was doomed. When they melded the two into a really bloody religious expression, the Spanish panicked and destroyed all but four books of their ancient and complex culture. Not defending blood sacrifice here, but we lost the knowledge of a culture that had a calendar that more accurate than our own and that could predict astronomical events 26,000 years in the future. That's a big loss. A lot of over-kill.

Like I said, I don't like crowds ,so I went on the day before and I think that I still felt plenty of that special energy. In fact Spring has always made me feel pretty frisky, serpent or no serpent.

Back in travel mode..sort of.

When you've taken off your shoes, and you are in a bathing suit most of the day, and you've figured out the peso and you've made some friends, your home.

Slowly I'm unwinding here in Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo and the stress and business of L.A. is falling away. This once sleepy fishing village on the Mayan Riviera is still relatively quiet by Mayan Riviera standards and once here, many people with big travel plans, find themselves reluctant to leave.
Practicing flexibility is one of the joys and also the necessities of happy travel. As Alan Watts used to say (?) " The map is not the territory", and once you see the territory, it can be a whole other enchilada. This is true anyway for those who have the luxury of adjusting game plans, which I'm thankful to say that I do. I've just realized that for the past year when folks have asked me how long I'd be staying, the answer has always been, "I don't know, I'll see". this is usually followed by high-fives all around.
I landed in Cancun one week ago intending to stay only a few days before some serious traveling through the Yucatan and into Belize. But uh-oh, Spring Break was in full swing and my first thought was, "how do I get out of here"? Remembering a tip from a friend about Puerto Morelos, I headed south on the coast about thirty miles.
I arrived intending to stay only a day or two but have already been here one week. Now I have just negotiated a lower rent for the coming week in exchange for teaching English to the staff at this hotel. Within a loosely structured life I have a need to create my own structure and being useful in some way is always part of that. Living simply and spending little is also part of the plan. Hopefully everyone benefits this way.
In Puerto Morelos people still make their living fishing off the reef. Just off the coast is the world's second largest barrier reef. On shore, the colors of blue and jade green water are reflected in the small fishing boats and the details of buildings, which are otherwise painted white. Umbrella trim and gulls wings flutter above me as I lay on powdery, white gold sand. It is good to let go of everything but the moment. Life is grand!
I work on projects in the morning and swim through the mid-day hours. In a few weeks I'll be back in New Orleans and life gets busy again, so I'll take my down-time now.