Today I planned on going to see Tikal, a protected site in Guatemala of Mayan ruins, but first I ate breakfast. We had eggs, fried plantains, and lots of different types of fruit. We also had rich, fresh coffee, that was grown from their backyard. After Felipe and Tania had gone to school, Carlos left for work and dropped me off at the ancient Mayan ruins. I took a tour of the ruins and learned a lot about them. Tikal was a very important and influential city of the Mayan Empire and controlled vast stretches of territory, dominating smaller city-states. Like the rest of the great Maya cities, Tikal fell around 900 A.D. and was eventually abandoned. When Carlos finished his work, he picked me up and took me home. That night was an important night because today was All Saints Day. During the whole day people celebrated and remembered their dead loved ones. The most unique part of the celebration is the kite festival. The entire family gave me my own kite to fly while almost the entire town flew their own kites. That night we had a traditional meal to commemorate the dead called El Fiambre. It is an authentic cold dish made with more than 50 ingredients including vegetables, sausages, meats, fish, egg and cheeses. We all ate it together around one of the family’s loved one’s tomb. After that, we had a dessert that was a sweet squash, sweetened with brown sugar and cinnamon, or sweet plums or chickpeas drenched in honey.
 |
| Giant group of people celebrating All Saints Day with kites |
 |
The ruins of Tikal |
No comments:
Post a Comment