MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY MAYAN NEW YEAR!

It has been almost a month since I got back from Guatemala and Belize.  Being that I lived many years in South America, I had wondered if Central America had progressed as much as my home country of Peru.

The answer to that is a resounding "NO".  That can be both bad and good.  The good is that we still can see living histsory.

It is bad for the people in Guatemala because they live pretty much the way they did when the Mayan rulers were in power.  Women still can be seen washing their clothes by beating them on stones in a lake or river.

The Mayan families of today still cook their tortillas on a stove made of stone and which they stoke with wood from the forest.







We had the awesome treat of camping in modern tents at the base of the Mayan ruins of Uaxactun at the edge of the village with the same name in the Peten jungle.  We had a full blown bath house with flush toilets and a shower room.  These were deluxe accommodations compared with how the villagers live.  The public bus comes only twice per week to the village and if no transportation is available, the locals have to walk 10 miles to get help if they
need it.

Today, Uaxactun is probably  swarming with hundreds of tourists and fatalists waiting for the end of the world at one of the most sacred  of Mayan  sites.  This place is also one of the most historic and predates Tikal.  Look at the picture above and imagine the special dinner we were treated to by the villagers who lit the entire temple with small tea lights...up and down all sides and steps. 
Who needs the end of the Mayan Calendar to celebrate!

So in preparing for the holidays back here in the US and elsewhere in the civilized world, thank God for your blessings....your education...your job....your health....your style of life.  Thank God that you can change into clean clothes every day.  Thank God that you have doctors and hospitals around every corner and that a pharmacy is close by when you need it.

Especially thank God for your good fortune to be born in a modern world with all it's amenities and luxuries and that you have the ability to get in your car, a plane or whatever mode of transportation you like to visit loved ones at this season of the year.

                       MAY YOU HAVE A BLESSED CHRISTMAS
                                            AND
                 THE HAPPIEST OF NEW YEAR'S
                               2013 AND BAKTUN 14