Sunday, June 29, 2008

EkBalam again


Back to my favorite ruin...Ek Balam...favorite because it is only 2 hours away, not many tourist go there, excavations have just started so there are many hidden places and really its magical! We went on a Sunday when all cultural heritage sites in Mexico are free entry for everyone..its also a day off for the guides but there was some local Mayans hanging around as watchmen. So we asked a Mayan elder to show us around this place that was home to his ancestors. He showed us some chultunes, the clay lined underground storage tanks that could have been used for water or corn.He also showed us a medicinal plant that was good for digestion. Just a little tiny bite of the root numbed our mouth and he warned to only take a small amount. We listened! We asked him to speak in Spanish and Mayan so we could here the differences...the Mayan language sounds a lot like Chinese,in fact he says that he can understand a little of Chinese tourists....We all had a nice cultural exchange as I was with Flor de Maria, her niece Ana from Mexico City and Suzi, daughter of the German geologist we were filming in Northern Mexico a couple months ago.

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