The Best of Both Worlds

Wasted another long weekend– I cant kick my procrastination habit.  I have been getting excited, however, reading about the newest info to come out regarding the Maya in Yucatan.  I had been taught that there was no conclusive evidence of a direct Teotihuacan control of the region, but having read in my new book, “1491,” that Tikal was defeated and run by a click from Teotihuacan, I did some research and found that this is the newly accepted view of events. But although Tikal fell, its rival Calakmul (Kaan), which is located in present day Campeche state, resisted and kept its status as one of the big two Mayan states.  The exciting thing about all this is that Calakmul, one of the most important sites in Mayan history, was only discovered earlier this century and has not been nearly as excavated or developed as some of the other more commonly known sites such as Palenque or Chichen Itza.  This means of course less tourists, more of an authentic feel to the site, and the freedom to explore at will.  In the world today, with the ability to fly anywhere around the world cheap, mass tourism will soon leave very few parts of the ancient world un-discovered.  As it is, in the Americas there are only a  few pre-Inca sites in Peru and some of the Mayan sites in Mexico and Guatemala which you can see in peace.  I would like to get to them before that all changes.

Studying Mesoamerican archaeology is so exciting because of all the holes that still exist in our knowledge, and the high rate of new discoveries that are turning up.  You can follow the process of decoding an ancient civilization, and be a part of it.  For someone interested in the history of the world, there are few opportunities more exciting.  I feel so jealous of all the old explorers, who only 100 years ago had a whole world out there to discover.  I don’t know if there is even one civilization in the history of mankind that hasn’t been already discovered and picked over.  That is why I want to stay on top of this Maya story as much as I can, and to see these sites while they are still pristine. 

That’s what has been keeping me interested lately.  Unfortunately my everyday life hasn’t been nearly as exciting.  The new French guy in my house, Guillermo, brought a friend over to the house this afternoon, and while he stepped out I chatted with her for a few minutes.  I figured they were friends from school the way they were carrying on with each other.  Imagine the surprise I felt to hear that they only met on the subway yesterday!  How the hell does he meet some stranger on the train, and get to know them well enough that they will come back home with him, after only a week in the country?!  I have been here all year and nothing even remotely similar has ever happened to me!  That leaves me as the nice guy American, plodding along clumsily in his search for a social life in Mexico.  Man, I am just dying right now!