Xcaret

This is the highlight of the trip so far!  My camera died and the waterproof cameras haven't been developed yet.  But let me put it this way, between three cameras we took at least 60 pictures.  That's how beautiful and how unique this place was.  Here is just a sampling of Xcaret.

Tortugas!

Yeah, that's a panther.

Look!  He's smiling.

Pam and I touched a sting ray!

This is a type of nursery shark that some people actually pet and swam with.

Chitcen Itza

The king of the city would sit here during the ball games.  The sound in the ball game complex was designed so that the king could literally hear everything that people were saying.

Here is some shots of the ball court.  The images of players were placed on the walls including all of the equipment they would use for the sport.  There is also a picture of the hoop that they had to put the ball through.  The common Mayan was a tad taller than five feet the hoop is over 20 feet off the ground.  The ball players could not use their hands or feet, all the other body parts were legal.

At the end of the game a single player would be sacrificed.  The game shows a popular story in Mayan mythology.  There was a game between the gods of light and the gods of darkness.  One of the gods of light was decapitated during the game.  His team went on to win the game and he was resurrected.  Therefore one member of the winning team would have his head chopped off at the end to remember this great moment in the lives of the gods.

This building is a representation of the Mayan calendar with 365 steps, one for each day.  Every year in March the shadows of the great snake god will go down the pyramid showing that it is time to start planting.  In September the shadow disappears starting at the bottom and going back to the top, showing that it is the end of the planting season.

The Mayan calendar had 18 months of 20 days and one month of five days, the last five days were days of extreme bad luck and no one was supposed to do any work on those days since the work would be cursed.  Egypt had an extremely similar tradition.

Just a note on 2012 now that I've actually spoken to Mayans.  Anyone who says the Mayans predicted the end of the world has watched too many movies.  The calendar ends at 2012 because that was the end of a Mayan era, not the end of the world.  Following the Mayan traditions, something wonderful happens at the beginning of each era, not the end of the world.  The people here have said time and time again that all 2012 means is that it is a great time to celebrate the gift of life.

Here is a comparison shot.  Some of the building is in better shape than other parts.  At one point the whole pyramid was covered in jungle.  The Mexican government has worked hard to restore this wonder of the world to its former glory.

Human sacrifices took place at the top of this building.  The bottom was a market in ancient times.  The pillars which supported the market each represent a warrior, so there are those in the church who believe that the pillars are the 2000 stripling warriors.

Senote

The word Senote came from the Spaniards being unable to pronounce the Mayan word for breast.  The only fresh water source in the Yucatan peninsula were these caves that Pam and I were able to visit.  This is one of the few caves that people can actually go to since the Mayan people still consider them sacred.  The place we went to was commercial since it is not owned by a Mayan.
The Mayans believed that Mother Earth fed them and sustained their lives through the Senotes and therefore performed many of their rituals in them especially human sacrifice since the balance of life had to be maintained.  Life had to be given for life sort of thing.

The next couple of shots are of a typical Mayan house where they fed us corn tortillas.

Cocodrilos y Dragon

It was a fun day, we decided to look around the hotel at the crocodiles and we ended up seeing a dragon and some other things too.

Beach at the Mayan Palace

I'm Married!

People kept asking me if I was really ready for this; I'd been ready for months to marry my Pamela.  This day was a dream come true.  Aunt Linda said she'd never seen me happier.

Time with my Family

Carthage Courthouse and Jail

It was a great day when I was able to go with Pam, her Mom, and Emma the maid of honor to get the marriage license and get to see the jail on the same day!  The Courthouse was beautiful and we really felt the Spirit in the jail.