Maya – Fake Flamenco

archeology, Architecture, Indigenous Peoples, The Americas

2000 Year Old Water Purification System

Perhaps no one noticed before, because Western technology had to catch up for the rest of us to comprehend what we were seeing. A study made last year by researchers from the University of Cincinnati demonstrated the science behind one Native technology. In present day Guatemala, at the city of Tikal over 2000 years ago […]

archeology, Architecture, Indigenous Peoples, The Americas

528 Years of Indigenous Resistance

Some call it Día de la Raza, some Columbus Day, some Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Today marks the date the European Invasion of the Americas began. That October of 1492 until 2020, battles of people, ideas, religions and germs changed life for the tribal peoples and people from Europe forever. Those of us who live in […]

Architecture, history, Indigenous Peoples

Throwback Thursday: 5 Key Sights at Chichen Itza

Throwback Thursday takes us to the magnificent Chichén Itzá, our destination in 2005 days after our Ruta Puuc tour. (Click name to see the earlier August post.) The site is four square miles, so give yourself a full day to look around. El Castillo – Temple of Kukulkan (Quetzalcoatl) This tremendous monument was built in […]

archeology, Architecture, history, Spanish Culture and Language, travel

Throwback Thursday: Ruta Puuc in Mexico

Do you miss the surprises of traveling, matching wits against a novel situation? I do. In 2005, we learned a lot on our trip to the Yucatan Peninsula. In Mérida, I was researching articles for a translation. I’ll save that story for another Thursday. When my work was complete, we bought bus tickets for the […]

Mexico, Spanish Culture and Language, The Americas

Maya Ceremony in Cozumel

Our last night in Cozumel a group of Maya celebrated and blessed the four cardinal directions with fire, dancing and drumming. In a modern touch, the backdrop was a projection of an image of flames. We sat in total darkness, except for the light of the media screen flames. Then the dancers lit a flame […]

Architecture, history, Mexico, Spanish Culture and Language, travel

The Fertility Goddess and Cozumel

The Maya lived on the island they called Tantun Cuzamil (Flat Rock Place of the Swallows) for one thousand years before the Spanish arrived in 1518. The island was a center of trade for salt, honey and fish with the mainland tribes. Trade routes were established all the way to present day Honduras. Bells made […]