We got up at 4:20 a.m. to beat the crowds to Chichen Itza. With only a handful of us at this ancient Mayan site we were awed as the sun rose behind the pyramid.
Chichen Itza is famous for having the largest ancient ball court. Teams played with an eleven pound rubber ball. It was considered an honour to be a ball player. They hit it off of their legs and hips—they weren’t allowed to use their hands. The game ended when a team was able to get the ball through a hoop high up on the wall. If you look carefully you can still see the hoop. Does this sound anything like games we play today? The day started early so I think we will sleep well tonight. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom.
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At twelve years of age Jacobo Angeles was a wood carver and Marie Angeles was a painter. They now run a workshop that creates Alebrijes, which are fantasy creatures carved out of wood and painted.
We were fortunate to be able to see examples of this fabulous Mayan Folk Art at Casa Montejo in Mérida. This one was Ray’s favourite. I think I see three different animals wrapped together. How many do you see? You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. It was a hot day to climb around the ruins of Uxmal, but so worth it to see this magnificent Mayan Site. Our guide was Mayan so this made his descriptions of the site special. He even taught Ray a few Mayan words—check out the video. The Pyramid of the Magician is the tallest building at Uxmal with a height of about 35 metres. They call it the Magician Pyramid because legend has it that a magician built it in ONE night—what do you think? You can still see a lot of decorations on all of the buildings—designs, snakes, parrots and faces of their rain god Chaac. It was very interesting to find the figures on the walls and imagine what they would have been like when they were painted. We are still loving Mexico and the warm weather. Tonight I had corn flavoured ice cream You are always in my prayers. Love Mom. On our way to Puebla on Monday morning we passed the active volcano Popocatépetl or El Popo as the Mexicans call it. It was hard to get a picture of it in the mist but we could see the steam coming out. Very cool!
Just three days later El Popo erupted. Apparently it oozed ashes and chunks of lava. It would have been great to see that, but I’m glad we were a safe distance away. No one was hurt. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. Note: the explosion video is off of YouTube Yesterday we visited the Aluxes animal conservation park in Palenque. It feels a bit like a zoo with very nice habitats, but each animal there has a story. They are either rescued from an unhappy environment or were injured in the wild.
Unfortunately once some animals are domesticated it is impossible for them to survive on their own. These animals need to stay in the park, but for some birds (Macaws) they are successfully reintroducing the next generation they are breeding. Always think twice before getting a pet. Remember that cute puppy or baby ocelot are going to grow a whole lot bigger. And a Parrot?—-well they live a long, long time and can be a lengthy commitment. Oh, a question for today—what do you think the spider monkey is eating? Have a nice weekend. You are Always in my prayers. Love Mom. There was a lot of walking today as we went up and down all the steep steps at the ancient ruins of Palenque.
The site is made up of tombs, temples and a palace. We were able to go into the tomb of the red queen. The sarcophagus is still there and is actually red inside. Some of my favourites were the three temples in the cross complex. They still have reliefs inside that you can see, although originally they would have been brightly painted. See if you can pick out the details in the Foliated Cross relief from the drawing. It’s a little hard but I think you will be able to match them up pretty well. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. Note: The temple in the picture has 74 steps that are 46 cm High! Older than the Aztec...Older than the Mayan...the Olmec. This colossal Olmec head weighs over eight tons and is at least 3000 years old.
Do you like mysteries? Well, no one is quite sure why they were sculpted. Some experts say these stone heads honoured rulers or ancient ball players. Who do you think they look like? It was a long bus ride to see them but I’m glad we did. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. P.S. I thought you would like to see the banana spider I found yesterday. They look a bit evil but apparently actually help the banana crop. They catch and eat insects that might harm the bananas. A tamale is corn dough steamed in a banana leaf or corn husk. They can be sweet and eaten for desert or include cheese, meat, or vegetables.
Our tamales were wrapped in a corn husk and were sweet—but not too sweet. We gobbled them up sitting in a courtyard at a coffee plantation just outside of Veracruz. Just one really fills you up! Very Yummy! You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. On January 6th the people of Mexico celebrate the Dia de Reyes or King’s Day. Part of their tradition is to enjoy Rosca de Reyes, which is a traditional bread with a baby Jesus baked inside. Whoever finds the baby Jesus must provide tamales for their guests on February 2nd.
We bought a small loaf on the side of the road and shared it with our friends. Our new friend Liz got the baby Jesus so she will have to be in charge of tamales wherever she is on February 2nd. In Puebla they share a giant Rosca de Reyes in the Zócalo (the public square). It was a lot of big loaves edged together on many, many tables and it went on forever. The local people lined up for blocks to get a piece, a drink, and to look for baby Jesus. Three men dressed up as the Magi and everyone wanted their picture with them. Do you think you would want to find the baby Jesus in your piece?—You would have to buy all your friends tamales! You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. I understand why the Aztecs were impressed when they discovered the abandoned site of Teotihuacan. The site is massive!
Facing the pyramid of the Moon I decided to accept the challenge and climb up the very steep steps to the middle platform. I used my hands and my feet to kind of crawl up. When I turned around I could look all the way down the avenue to the pyramid of the Sun which was even bigger. Getting down was even harder than getting up, but luckily for me they had a rope you could hold on to so you didn’t slip. We don’t know too much about the Teotihuacan people. They had no written language so everything that has been learned is the “best guess” of archeologists. It is interesting to imagine how they lived two thousand years ago. They had no domestic animals like pigs, cows, or sheep. What do you think they ate? You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. |
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Ray & Diane HomewoodSharing the Blessing of Travel Archives
April 2020
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