In front of the museum of Anthropology. We discovered just after this that we had left two students down at the cathedral. Fortunately they were soon found.Sunday, January 20, 2008
The day we lost two students
In front of the museum of Anthropology. We discovered just after this that we had left two students down at the cathedral. Fortunately they were soon found.
The jarana or La Vaqueria
This year there were groups of folkloric dancers from many different towns dancing the jarana in the plaza on Monday night.
Usually just one group performs, but this was how it used to be: everyone in their finery coming into town to dance.
This was the Friday before; a different band played on each corner of the plaza and the people danced. It was mostly Tejano music.
The cathedral at nightthe cenote Ik'kil
It looks scary but there is a very wide staircase carved into the earth beside of the cenote
Once down at the bottom there is a stairs from which the daredevils jump (or dive)
Getting to jump as a group
It was great to cool off after a hot day at the Chichen Itza ruins.
Our service project
The pictures are not in order but you can see we worked hard and they fed us well. 
Tyler LOVED these tamales!!
The ladies who brought the food.
It was a very hot day!
working hard with pick-axes digging the trench for the wall
eating tamales for lunch
moving rubble
Sunday, January 20
Well, we have come to our last day in Merida. On Friday and Saturday we had student presentations on various cultural topics such as dating, weddings, the church, typical observance of the Day of the Dead, Mexican popular music, traditional herbal medicine, tropical fruits eaten in the Yucatan Peninsula, and many more, 34 to be precise! In addition we heard our two final lectures, on the Mexican economy and on suicide among Mexican young people. After one final lunch provided by a local pastor´s wife, we reflected a bit on all the things we have learned in the past two and a half weeks. We agreed that although we can´t really say what Mexico is like we do have a much better idea of what Merida and the Yucatan Peninsula are like. We have visited several historical and archeological sites, seen some natural wonders, read about history, the church, and society, spent a weekend in a village, visited a Christian clinic and the Museum of Anthropology, but, more important, we have broken bread, prayed, and shared everyday life with our Yucatecan brothers and sisters in Christ.
Today we spend a quiet day with our host families and pack our bags, and first thing tomorrow morning we head out by bus for the ruins at Tulum and then the beach at Playa del Carmen. We hope to spend Tuesday at a park called Xcaret (I imagine you could look it up on line). They have various water attractions including snorkeling, as well as a butterfly garden, a zoo, an evening sight-sound show, and much more. We will be just tourists for the day. Then we will have Wednesday to relax, go to the beach or do anything else we like, and on Thursday morning we will board our bus one more time to go the airport in Cancun and head back to the ice and snow.
Today we spend a quiet day with our host families and pack our bags, and first thing tomorrow morning we head out by bus for the ruins at Tulum and then the beach at Playa del Carmen. We hope to spend Tuesday at a park called Xcaret (I imagine you could look it up on line). They have various water attractions including snorkeling, as well as a butterfly garden, a zoo, an evening sight-sound show, and much more. We will be just tourists for the day. Then we will have Wednesday to relax, go to the beach or do anything else we like, and on Thursday morning we will board our bus one more time to go the airport in Cancun and head back to the ice and snow.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
some more news
January 14 and 15
The students came back from the pueblos with many stories to share about their adventures, from farming to teaching Sunday School, from soccer games to boat trips. All in all they agreed it was an important and mostly very enjoyable experience. After talking over these experiences we had a lecture Monday and another one Tuesday morning. We also discussed readings and our developing cultural perspectives. We enjoyed an afternoon off Tuesday to explore the city, shop, or relax.
Wednesday, January 16
This has been a wonderful day. We left shortly after 7:30 a.m. for the archeological site of Chichen Itza. This is one of the very biggest sites, occupying 12 square miles, with numerous buildings carefully restored showing an abundance of carvings of both original Mayan and later Mayan-Toltec motifs. Over 300 buildings remain to be restored. We also saw the ball court with the stone rings through which the captain of each team tried to bump a solid rubber ball with shoulders or hips. There is a very large pyramid built on top of another pyramid, along the 90 stairs of which you can see a serpent outlined in light and shadows during both spring and fall equinoxes. We climbed the steps leading to the circular observatory and walked over to the ceremonial well in a sinkhole in the limestone (cenote). It was very hot in the bright midday sun.
We cooled off in an air-conditioned restaurant with a buffet, where we were entertained by folk dancers, and we changed into bathing suits in preparation for our next adventure. On the grounds of a nearby hotel, there is a deep cenote partially covered with rock, out of which falls a cascade of water into the pool below. You can take a set of stairs down to jump into the refreshingly cool water. The hotel has also built some steps up along one side of the cenote’s wall so you can jump off a high platform down into the water. This was great fun and the favorite experience thus far for some of us. We returned to Merida in time for supper, sunburned and worn out.
The students came back from the pueblos with many stories to share about their adventures, from farming to teaching Sunday School, from soccer games to boat trips. All in all they agreed it was an important and mostly very enjoyable experience. After talking over these experiences we had a lecture Monday and another one Tuesday morning. We also discussed readings and our developing cultural perspectives. We enjoyed an afternoon off Tuesday to explore the city, shop, or relax.
Wednesday, January 16
This has been a wonderful day. We left shortly after 7:30 a.m. for the archeological site of Chichen Itza. This is one of the very biggest sites, occupying 12 square miles, with numerous buildings carefully restored showing an abundance of carvings of both original Mayan and later Mayan-Toltec motifs. Over 300 buildings remain to be restored. We also saw the ball court with the stone rings through which the captain of each team tried to bump a solid rubber ball with shoulders or hips. There is a very large pyramid built on top of another pyramid, along the 90 stairs of which you can see a serpent outlined in light and shadows during both spring and fall equinoxes. We climbed the steps leading to the circular observatory and walked over to the ceremonial well in a sinkhole in the limestone (cenote). It was very hot in the bright midday sun.
We cooled off in an air-conditioned restaurant with a buffet, where we were entertained by folk dancers, and we changed into bathing suits in preparation for our next adventure. On the grounds of a nearby hotel, there is a deep cenote partially covered with rock, out of which falls a cascade of water into the pool below. You can take a set of stairs down to jump into the refreshingly cool water. The hotel has also built some steps up along one side of the cenote’s wall so you can jump off a high platform down into the water. This was great fun and the favorite experience thus far for some of us. We returned to Merida in time for supper, sunburned and worn out.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
some pictures
the Magicians temple...it really is as large as it seems in comparison to the people in the picture
having some fun
Uxmal is located in a very arid part of the Yucatan.We are standing by one of the hundreds of cisterns have been found at Uxmal.
at Uxmal
the structure called the House of Doves
from the top of the pyramid
help!!
sound and light showThe pictures are a bit out order but they show us at Uxmal where we had a very enthusiastic guide and learned many fascinating things about this site. Then we climbed some of the structures. After dinner we went back for a sound and light show.
Two days later we went to Loltun caves and the ruins at Mayapan. We spent relatively little time at Mayapan but it was really fun to have the entire place to ourselves. I´ll get those pictures up soon.
Yesterday after a lecture on the educational system in Mexico, the students left for their weekend in the 'pueblos'. Some are very small towns , even villages , but others are fairly large towns. We have an arrangement with the local Presbiterian Seminary. The seminarians all have a church at which they work on the weekends as part of their training to be pastors. These seminarians agree to watch over the Calvin students for a weekend in their pueblo. This is something we have done since the beginning of this Interim 18 years ago and it is always a wonderful experience. It is still a bit of a scary thing to head off, two by two, into the unknown. Pray that they all have a blessed time. I´m sure they will all have great stories to tell.
Sound and light show at Uxmal
Uxmal
sound and light show
Uxmal: climbing the pyramids
Professor Zandstra at Uxmal
Uxmal
A good example of the false arch in maya architecture
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