Palenque

So Friday July 11th Eduardo, Melissa, myself, Dad, and Olga drove to Palenque, a town about two hours from Villahermosa that has Mayan Ruins.

Here is some information that I got from this website:

http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/archaeology/sites/meso_america/palenque.html

*Palenque is a ruin city dating back to 100 BC to its fall around 800 BC.

*Located on the western edge of the Maya empire near the present-day city of Chiapas, Mexico.

*Palenque is located at slightly less than 3000 meters above sea level overlooking the lower coastal plain stretching to the Gulf of Mexico about 80 miles to the north. ¨

*The ruins can be found throughout a thick forest of mahogany, cedar and sapodilla trees, which in turn has kept the ruins hidden for many years until it was discovered by the Spaniards in the mid to late eighteenth century.

*In early morning hours the ruins are often covered in a blanket of fog. The fog, combined with the sun and trees produces one of the most aesthetically grand ruins ever visited. The site of Palenque stays at an average temperature of 79 degrees Fahrenheit and remains humid with an average precipitation per year of 85 inches of rain.


*The Ancient Maya people that lived in Palenque had a refined system of writing. They had an extensive written language which was both phonetic and ideographic. Maya words were written in hieroglyphs with each picture having its own meaning. Unlike other ancient central American civilizations, the Maya could write in words, sentences, and even stories. Arranging several pictures together in a logical form would create a story. The Maya covered their cities and buildings with hieroglyphs carved into stone. Most of the Maya could read some hieroglyphs, but the priests and nobles were the only people who actually had knowledge of the entire language. They would use quills made of turkey feathers to write in books made of soft bark taken from a type of fig tree.


*Religion was the center of the Maya life. The Maya believed that there were two levels of the world,
1: The physical world
2: The spiritual world consisting of dead ancestors, gods, and other supernatural creatures. The Maya kings and spiritual leaders would tell the lower levels of the society what would please the Gods. The Gods were modeled after animals for sacrificial purposes and religious ceremonies. They had an understanding of astronomy, engineering, and mathematics.

*The Maya priests studied their measurement of time that consisted of a calendar with 18 months, each containing 20 days, plus 5 unlucky days that made up the Maya year. They also had a religious calendar that had 260 days to which they gave a name and a number.

*They believed that each day was a God that carried the weight of the day on its back.


*The Maya civilization in all stages has been based on agriculture.
Indian corn, maize, chocolate, cornmeal, black beans, roasted meat, rabbit stew, turkey and other meats. Many people also chewed the leaves of the sapodilla tree as a gum-like substance.

**Maya enjoyed chocolate and they consumed it in many forms from a frothy drink to a pulpy mush. The Maya referred to chocolate as "The Drink of the Gods".


**They had more than 5,000 dances, loved music, and had brightly colored clothing.

**Dancing was a huge part of religious ceremonies where musicians played wooden flutes and trumpets made of wood, seashells, or clay, and drums made from turtle shells. For clothing, the men would have worn a loincloth and the women would wear loose sack-like dresses. The cloths of the nobles and priests were made of finer materials and had many shells and beads on them. For ceremonies they would wear beautiful headdresses. They practiced body deformation such as tying boards to the forehead of newborn children. Also, some had filed their teeth down to a point and then placed jade into the holes.


**Although the sight of Palenque originated at about 100 BC, it did not become a major population with importance in the Maya culture until 600 AD. At this time their greatest ruler, Pacal, assumed power. Pacal took power in 603 AD and ruled for 68 years. During his rule, he emphasized the construction grand buildings to reflect his power. One of his great structures was the Palace. The Palace was made with mansard-type roofs and the walls were covered with priceless stucco carvings of rulers, gods, and ceremonies that have taken place. On the inside of the palace were a plethora of rooms with interior courts that overlooked a four-story square tower that may have served as both lookout and observatory for the people of that time. Underneath the palace and through a long, corbel-vaulted tunnel, a stream ran through carrying a constant supply of running water. Flowing water through a monumental structure like that was a feat of engineering genius. Some say the Palace may not have been lived in because of the cold dampness of the rooms and no sign of people living there.


**Another structure Pacal had built would end up being his eternal resting place, the Pyramid of Inscriptions. In this Pyramid he was buried at the age of 80 year old upon the end of his 68-year reign. The importance of this burial site is that it is the most extraordinary feature of Palenque with a tomb that held the sarcophagus of Pacal, an unusually tall ruler. Within this sarcophagus was the richest offering of jade ever seen in a Maya tomb. Placed over his face, a mask fitted with jade mosaic and a suit of priceless jade adorned his body. Each piece of hand- carved jade was threaded together with gold wire.


**The Maya were an incredible civilization and nobody knows exactly why the empire fell. Some people believe it was from disease, famine, or civil war. Someday we may know more of the secrets of Palenque because archeological excavations are ongoing at the site.

Happy 23 to MeEeE

Thank you everyone who called me, e-mailed me, or facebooked me on my birthday. I missed you guys so much!!!! On Wed, I went to work like I normally do (9-2) and before I left my office had a little thing for me. Enrique had made 2 Strawberry Cheesecakes (1 for me to take home and 1 for the office) and the office bought a vanilla cake with fresh strawberries on top on in the middle. Emmm.... so yummy. And they sang, but their happy birthday is different from the feliz cumpleaño song that I learned with Mrs. Black in middle school. If I can, I´m going to put the video online we took @ the house with the family.

After work, I went home with all my desserts to eat lunch with the family. Yadria made this combination of meat and vegi´s that I liked, but noone knows the name of it. It´s steak, chicken, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, and shrimp and cheese fried together. You take some of the meat and put it in a tortilla with guacamole or salsa verde or ranch or mayo or whatever combination you decide. It´s like a Mexican steak n cheese, but not quite as good. :) Then, we waited for all the food to digest before we ate the cake Yadria got. It was like a vanilla cake made with three types of milk and cream or something. It was really good (but I liked the strawberry one from work the best). But the tradition is, after you sing and blow out candles, to cut a piece of cake and kiss it. BUT, while u kiss the cake they typically will push your face into it. So, I of course had cake all over my face. I knew what to expect because my office warned me (they didn´t push my face in the cake though), so it was just funny.

Then, Dad, Olga, Eva, Eduardo, Melissa, and I went downtown around 8ish to ride around the city on the Cochobus (I can´t spell, but it sounds kind of like that). It´s a double decker tour bus that drives around the city of Villahermosa with lights and reggeaton music. Since it was a nice night, it was pretty fun. Afterwards, Dad, Eduardo, & Melly went to eat tacos and I went with Angél (a family cousin I met) and his friends to Bfore.

Bfore was awesome because it´s normally not open on Wedensday, but the beer Sol was having an invitation only party in honor of it´s new beer Sal y Limon (Lime & Salt). So it was super VIP and of course Angél (like Juan Carlos, who didn´t come because he went to Merida) knows everyone. So, we didn´t have to wait very long to get in, and we got a table upstairs. The beer was free from 10 to about 12:30, there was a live band for about an hour or so called JUMBO that I really liked (had a Maroon 5 feel to them), and afterwards the bar was basically just a giant party. The friend´s of Angél are pretty cool, and the two girls I really like to hang out with came out to celebrate my birthday. Fernanda told me the only reason she came out was for my birthday because I guess she had a really bad cold and didn´t feel good. So, even if I didn´t have my normal crew of craXi´s to go out with I did have a good time with the people here.

XV Año de Marelli

Ok... for anyone who has spent time in Morgantown, we all think we know how to party. Let me tell you, we don´t know anything. Haha

So, last Saturday (the 5th) one of Olga´s cousin´s Maye had her 15 year old birthday party. Normally, I would say ehhh a birthday party for a 15 year old whatever. No no no.... 15 is a big deal. It´s like Sweet 16, but expensive. This girl could have, and should have, been on MTV 3´s Quiero Mis Quinces.

First of all, there were round tables set up in the huge banquet hall for about 400 adults to enjoy a first class meal and free booze (whatever drink combination you can make out of whiskey, Rum, & Tequilla). Above each table was a huge display of fresh roses (pink, white, and purple), the tables had beautiful table cloths, and hanging from the wreaths of roses were big crystal pendants of tear drops and rings. There was a big stage with a live band and of course the dance floor.

Then, there was a second area for the younger people who were not going to have a meal. They called it a lounge with couches and chairs and ¨finger foods¨and of course free booze. All in all, there was probably 800 or so people there. Also, there was a separate room entirely for the kids with their own live DJ, dance floor, and couches and tables. It was a club that the adults couldn´t enter, so the kids could have their separate space to behave as if they were in a night club not under the thumb of their parents. It was pretty cool. The DJ was awesome, the Acapulco devil came out and did a performance, there were flashing lights, guys on stilts, the dance floor was clear glass..... I felt like I was in a club, but then I would walk out to where the adults were to dance salsa or to just take a break.

Around 3 a.m. the party started to wind down, but it didn´t stop. We just kept hanging out, drinking, socializing, eating, dancing. You name it. When you get to a party around 8:30 and don´t leave to go home until 7 a.m. that´s when you know it was a good time. Watching the sun come out after a good party is such a cool experience.

XV Años

The History of the XV Años, courtesy of Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quincea%C3%B1era

The Quinceañera or Quince año is, in some Spanish-speaking regions of the Americas, a young woman's celebration of her 15th birthday, which is commemorated in a unique and different way from her other birthdays. It is sometimes represented XV Años, meaning "15 years." Only a few countries call the actual party "quinceañera."
Besides referring to the actual festivities, the word is also used to refer to the young woman whose 15th birthday is being celebrated (analogous to the word cumpleañera for "birthday girl"). The closest equivalents to the quinceañera in the English-speaking world are the sweet sixteen, Bar or Bat Mitzvah for Jewish children turning 13, cotillion, or, in more affluent communities, the debutante ball for those who turn 18.

There are several different theories as to the origin of this celebration; the most common is that the quinceañera was the result of a blending of mostly religious traditions from both Spanish conquerors and the native people of Mexico. Specifically, this celebration contains elements of the coming of age traditions and Mexican ceremonies along with elements from Spanish culture.

The quinceañera resembles and probably gets its name from a 16th-century Spanish tradition of presenting one's 15-year-old daughter to society. Over time, as the natives were converted to Catholicism by Spanish missionaries, they also began to emulate some of the practices of the Spanish. In Mexican tradition, the celebration is festive gathering relatives and friends. This "Quinceanera" to the Spanish means a young girl is becoming a woman. The girl's court is often made up of all girls or all boys. It's also simaliar to the traditions of honduran quinces.

Phone Numbers

Okay, I keep telling everyone that I will give them the numbers of mine here so here they are:

My cell:

9932615058

The house:

933530150

9933530230

I have no idea what the country code is or how exactly you can go about calling me, all I know is that is what I dial from my cell phone. Haha

(And tomorrow, I will have my USA cell phone on all day should you want to just call that number. It´s expensive so I won´t be able to talk for longer than a minute or two)

4th of July

So, my dad arrived Thursday the 3rd, just in time to celebrate the 4th of July.

Eh, so what we´re in Mexico!

We bought ribs, corn, potatos, watermelon, and cantalope. Also, we made sugar cookies with decorations of the American flag. Blueberries were the blue corner, strawberries were the strips, and the white was a mix that we made with cream cheese and sugar (which is very sweet and yummy). Of course, we bought Bud light and Budweiser for everyone to drink ,I played country music, and we hung a flag outside of Olga´s house. We didn´t have any fireworks or a pool to go swimming in, but we had a big group of friends to eat and drink with. Not quite the same, but it was a really nice afternoon. Everyone, obviously, loved dad´s ribs and Juan wants him to teach him how to cook them.

The rest of the night wasn´t too exciting. Dad, Juan, and Yadria went to a formal Rotary party. Juan Carlos and I bought a 24 pack of the mini Coronas (which was only $10, cheap!). Later in the evening we watched a movie with other friends, ate some pizza, and just relaxed. It was a chill night since the next day was the VX Año party.

A Gym & a Job

So, I now have a gym and a job. I already told you about the job, researching & developing a webpage for Tabasco business, but now I can tell you all about my little gym. It´s only a few blocks from the house, half mile max, which means that I can walk to it when I please. I do not have to beg someone to go with me or wait around until Juan Carlos is going to play basketball. I can go when I want :) Also, it was $25 for a one month unlimited membership and the guy who runs the gym (well, he and his wife) started me off with a program and worked with me both days that I have gone. For this gym, having someone tell you what machines to use and how long and in what order is helpful. The gym is small and the equipment is well... not 2008 edition. The treadmill isn´t even electric people, so I still can´t really run anywhere, but at least there is a bike and an older version of the cross-trainer. Oh, and did I mention that there is no AC? Yeah.... so within like 5 minutes I am drenched in sweat, but who cares it makes me feel as if I am acomplishing something. Haha

So, my little program (which I like so far) is:

15 minutes on the bike (moving my hands every 5 minutes to three spots on the handle bars)
10 minutes walking on the treadmill (which is really difficult since it´s at an incline and not electric)
10 minutes of this thing where you twist your body to work your obliques and quads
10 minutes of the cross-trainer
Then, pilates/abs but Felipe puts you through the routine.

Well, that´s what I did on Monday. Yesterday I focused mostly on some cardio since it was my day of ¨rest¨.

At least, I have a gym and a job to keep my sanity.