Day 4: Climb at your Own Risk (Kryslynne)

This afternoon we got the opportunity to explore some mayan ruins. The site we went to was Xuantunich where Giselle our driver also became our tour guide. She took up on a quick hike through the woods where we came across some howler monkeys. As we went along, I couldn't help but wonder if the path we were using was once used by the ancient mayans themselves. When we arrived at the plaza the site before my eyes was breathtaking.

As you may know as sometimes I nerd out over mesoamerican ruins/information/artwork/artifacts/etc.  So needless to say, I was completely in my element today. The first ruin we got to climb was huge! And I've seen it in many pictures, but being able to see it in person was awe-inspiring. Just getting the chance to actually be there and touch the limestone made me feel more connected to the Belizean culture. Giselle also told us many fun stories about the structure. For example on the sides of the structure there were fiberglass replicas of the original carvings. The reason it is a replica is because the original stonework was uncovered around the 1950s and the elements quickly began to erode it. So as a way to preserve the structure and the artwork, the archaeologists filled it back in with rocks and put the fiberglass in its place.

In the replicas, you can see some of the Mayan gods. One of the gods she pointed out was the sun god. The mayans had a high appreciation for jaguars. Some believe man came from a jaguar mating with a human. So as as way of linking the sun god back to jaguars, he can be seen with a feline nose. Also the yellow and black spots represent day and night for the sun god rising and setting. Another feature the sun god has was crosses inside of his eyes. For the maya to have crossed eyes it was seen to be a sign of one of the elite. So when the children were young, a bead was placed between their eyes so they would constantly look at it. This caused their eyes to turn inward and give the crossed eye effect.  At the age of one or two the bead would be removed but the child's eyes would remain crossed. This practice became so common that everyone in the community started doing it to get the desired feature, which then in turn caused the elite to stop doing it because they didn't want to look like everybody else.
Just hearing these intricate stories of only one god made me realize how invested the ancient Maya were in their religion and communities. Additionally, learning how they modified their bodies in such a way to seem more powerful made me realize it's something we still do today.

For the people of Belize, this is just their history. I find it interesting how sometimes I take my own history and culture for granted and find it boring, but find theirs so fascinating. This makes me wonder if they find their own history as boring as I find mine. To say the least, today was by far my favorite day of the trip. I got the chance to hear stories of the Mayan people while actually being in the areas we were talking about.

Kryslynne Vroman is a sophomore studying Agriculture and Extension Education at Penn State.