jlsumich_mexico: Más Sobre Mi Excursión a Chichen Itza (Otra Vez), Eugenia, y Yhajaira

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March 04, 2007

Más Sobre Mi Excursión a Chichen Itza (Otra Vez), Eugenia, y Yhajaira

Si no leíste la última “update” que yo puse en mi página de la red el sábado, léela. Entonces, para continuar donde le dejé, yo fui otra vez el sábado durante todo el día a Chichen Itza. Pasé el día con me clase de antropología mexicana, mi maestra Eugenia, y arqueólogo muy conocido en todos lados de México. Me levanté a las cinco y media de la mañana para ser listo y nosotros nos reunimos a la facultad de antropología a las siete y media a punto. Tomé el paseo con dos otros extranjeros, Daniel y Melissa y dos mexicanos de la clase en el coche de la maestra y debo decir que me cae muy bien con ella. Ella es una de las maestras más amables que he conocido de este punto en mis estudios en la escuela, y es decir que ella es la maestra que me enseña mejor en la facultad. Y en la clase de ella, nosotros cubrimos más información que las otras clases juntas.

Aunque fue me tercera vez a Chichen, cada vez, me aparece que yo aprendo más sobre el sitio. Como ya expliqué, en Chichen Itza, se concentro el poderío itza, razón por lo que este centro militar, político, comercial, y religioso experimento una transformación grandioso que lo llevo a su florecimiento. Las ideas que introdujeron los grupos toltecas se reflejaron en el arte y en la arquitectura. Como ejemplo se pueden señalar la construcción del imponente edificio de El Castillo (que todavía no pude subir), el grupo de las Mil Columnas y el Gran Juego de Pelota, las representaciones del tigre caminando y almenas en forma de caracol como en otros sitios, columnas con serpientes erguidas, bajorrelieves que representan guerreros toltecas, murales con escenas de guerreros navegando frente a poblados costeros, tableros con figuras humanas enmascaradas y animales en actitud de comer corazones humanos.

It was so great to walk around with my fellow classmates and my teacher, who was so happy to take pictures with us and introduce Chichen to all of the extranjeros. And although it was brutally hot out and I was getting burned over my already sunburned skin (from going to the Hyatt), I was excited to continue walking around and listening to what she and the archaeologist had to say.

While I was there, I also started talking to Yahaijara a little bit about some of the other sites in Yucatan. When we first arrived, she was SO upset because she ended up arriving late in Marianna’s 40 year-old boyfriend’s car. (Yes, that’s right, Marianna a girl in my class is dating a 40 year old man). Anyway, his car broke down and she had to go with them because there wasn’t enough room in the bus when we originally left the facultad. She ended up sitting at a gas station with them, waiting for a mechanic to fix the car, and by the time she came to Chichen Itza, she was in a terrible mood. And rightly so.

But enough about getting to Chichen. While we were there, we talked a bit and she told me about some other great places to see… Hopefully I can take at least another weekend trip or two before I leave…

Speaking of which, I’m really excited about my trip during Semana Santa that I will be taking with Erich. We’re going to Chiapas for a week—half the time to Palenque, the other half the time to San Cristobal de las Casas. And to make things even more cool, there will be a National Soccer Game in Chiapas while we’re there and we’re going to try to get tickets to see it. Soccer is a huge part of the Mexican culture and I think it’s going to be a really great experience. We’re only a month away…

After Chichen Itza, we all went to a little restaurant for some Poc-chuuc and cocas. Eugenia was asking all of the extranjeros about our experiences thus far, where we come from in the United States, etc. And then, we got to learn a little bit about our maestra.

She told us how she is able to relate to our experience very well; she lived in Chicago for a year when she was a little girl, because her parent’s company sent them there for business. She explained to us how much she can identify with culture shock and learning a new language, learning to make new friends and trying new foods, and most of all traveling to see different sites. It’s funny that she told us about her own adventures—to be quite honest, I had a small inkling when I sat in on the first class that she spoke English very well and that she somehow knew a lot about the United States. Finally, after two months we found out why.

And then we asked her how she likes Yucatan and why she moved here from her original home, the DF. Interestingly enough, when her son was about three years old, he suffered from a chronic breathing problem. Apparently, she took him to many, many specialists in the DF and they all suggested that she move away to another location to avoid the heavy pollution. Taking the advice of the physicians, she and her family moved to Yucatan 9 years ago and have been here ever since. And to this day, her son hasn’t had breathing problems—though he still suffers chronic bronchitis and other ailments when he goes back to the DF to visit family.

She told us that the move was hard because people from the DF (and people from other states in general) are not well received by Yucatecans. And I whole-heartedly believe her. Yucatecans have a strong sense of state pride; they refer to themselves as Yucatecans before anything else and they have a strong connection to their propia cultura. She told us how she’s been chastised many times for forgetting to use colloquial words or for not remembering directions to certain spots around Merida. I was really interested to hear a Mexicana’s take on what it’s like to first arrive in Merida and live here. Because some of the struggles she described having upon her first arrival I too can identify with.

We all had such a good time that we’ve planned another trip to Ek Balam for April 28th, after Semana Santa.

And lastly, in other news, my roommate let me know that’s become preoccupied (worried, that is) about his eyeballs and his gums. While certainly his complaints were some of the strangest things that I’ve ever heard, I must admit that at least he spoke to me with some inflection in his voice. And, he kept talking for more than he’s ever have about these “treacherous ailments” that he claims to suffer from. And oh, did I forget to mention the other news? He’s gone back to being a full-time meat eater for the 9282728289272th time.

Let’s see what tomorrow brings….