Category: 2022 Program

https://www.flickr.com/photos/155629884@N04/52191370692/in/dateposted-public/

I chose to participate in the Ancient and Colonial Heritage Maymester in order to conduct field research to supplement my thesis on the Maya system of mathematics. I spent countless hours last semester with my neck bent ninety degrees to the side as I looked at every book in the Mesocenter library. Once I had exhausted myself, I’d take a quick power nap on the couch, tucking myself under a blanket of online academic journals. In the weeks leading up to the trip, I was reading up a storm, soaking up information on anything from ancient hunting almanacs to post-civil war reforms to Guatemala’s public school system.

From my research, I gained essential information about the algebraic structure of Maya date-keeping and began to appreciate the intersection between religion and mathematics. I thought the beauty of the Maya number system could be experienced by finding calendrical patterns, writing a mixed-base series, and linking Maya numerology with astronomical calculations. There is indeed beauty in all that math, but what I thought was experience was mere observation. It was Kawoq who taught me how to engage with Maya math in a meaningful way.

During the day-keeping ceremony, Kawoq stepped us through the orientation and numerological significance of every material he placed in the fire. But the beauty wasn’t in his explanation of how the colored candles were aligned on the cardinal axes, it was the wind blowing fire so close to my face that my bangs sizzled. Zero as a unit of completion is a very interesting idea to ponder, but I only experienced completion when I stood under the sun and looked to find the perfectly circular rainbow enclosing it.

My experience with Kawoq came as a surprise because I never thought I would be able to go beyond research and actually experience Maya math. Despite all my reading, I couldn’t conceptualize math as a sensation. It was like I went to Kawoq and asked for his thoughts on the weather forecast, but instead of talking about the climate, he just opened a door and told me to go outside. Kawoq helped me understand that predicting the weather is cool, but it never beats the feeling of a beautiful day.

Group photo of our Antigua, Guatemala homestay family

Photo: https://flic.kr/p/2nvVryF, Picture Courtesy of Milady Casco and Courtney Clark

On our final afternoon in Antigua, Guatemala, my homestay mates Courtney (pictured far left), Ashlee (second from left), and I (far right) ate some delicious cake from a local bakery with our homestay hosts, Don Carlos and Doña Ana (center). It was undoubtedly a bitter-sweet moment because regardless of my desire to hopefully visit Guatemala in the near future, there is no guarantee that I will see my homestay family again. Fortunately, I now have Don Carlos’ number saved to my list of contacts on WhatsApp, so I can keep in touch!  During our conversation, we discussed our plans for the rest of the summer. Don Carlos and Doña Ana plan on taking an extensive coast-to-coast road trip around the U.S.  As Don Carlos put it, ¡Viajar es Vida! (Travel is Life!)

It is impossible to comprehensively sum up all that is a Maymester in Guatemala and Belize. With less than a month to experience all that we did, it was truly an intense, emotional, and memorable experience. Part of that experience is navigating the cobblestone streets of Antigua and marveling at the colonial barroco antigueño architecture in decay, like ruins of the Church of Candelaria that now stand on the perimeter of a basketball court, or the repurposed buildings that are now home to fast food franchises like McDonald’s or one of the most upscale Starbucks you could visit. Another part is visiting amazing co-ops that benefit Maya women and boating across the marvelous, glistening Lake Atitlán. Furthermore, the Maymester journey involves visiting more museums than you typically experience in a year, both typical and living. By living museums, I mean the great pyramids of Tikal in the southern Maya lowlands and of Iximche’ in Guatemala’s western highlands, the latter of which is home to seemingly countless pieces of Pre-columbian pottery and obsidian that visitors can pick up and observe up-close. 

 

A piece of black obsidian unearthed in Iximcheʼ 

Photo: https://flic.kr/p/2nw7p84

In Belize, the ethnocultural mosaic that comprises the country allows visitors to experience both Maya and Kriol history and cuisine, among others. With a population of just around 1,400 people the Kriol community of Crooked Tree Village was once a settlement for workers in the logwood industry from Britain.

Entrance to the Crooked Tree Museum and Cultural Heritage Center

Photo: https://flic.kr/p/2nw7sJY

Both the horrors and cultural influence of colonialism are present in the stories and lifestyles of the people of Guatemala and Belize. The Maya people are some of the most resilient and generous people that I have met, and the Kriol people are equally strong and welcoming. It is important as tourists to get to know the locals and not fall into the trap of mindless consumerism. I was glad to have the opportunity to support numerous local businesses and organizations and I look forward to visiting Central America in the coming years, hopefully with the means to be of greater service to the disadvantaged. 

I would like to sincerely thank Dr. Astrid Runggaldier, Milady Casco, and the numerous UT faculty and staff that made this Maymester trip possible. I am also very grateful to Ruta Maya Coffee Company for helping to sponsor my study abroad experience. Finally, I want to thank Don Carlos and Doña Ana for opening up their lovely home to students, and the many other residents of Guatemala and Belize whose generosity and enthusiasm for sharing their knowledge and wisdom with our group made the trip an experience to cherish. 

Standing at the top of El Mundo Perdido at Tikal, I was astounded by the magnificence of the forest ecosystem. From that perspective, it is endless green broken only by the few largest Maya temples. The resilience of Maya architecture through time combined with the curiosity and technology of today are the only reasons the site was not lost to the forest. At the peak of Classic Maya kingdoms, the Maya people completely altered the landscape to provide for themselves. They were not nearly as extractive or destructive as our society today, nevertheless, they pushed the limits of what resources their environment was able to provide. After sites like Tikal were abandoned, the forest reclaimed its space. Without the disturbance of humans, highly productive ecosystems like this are able to bounce back with ease. All ecosystems thrive with some degree of disturbance, whether that be wildfires, hurricanes, dry seasons, or even plagues. With our advanced technology though, our society is currently creating a dire situation for many ecosystems across the world because of our literally destructive methods and long term effects of climate change. Maya sites like Tikal show that even after hundreds of years of human civilization clear cutting and plastering over the land, biodiversity will bounce back and resist the emptiness left by people. Some day our society will push the limits of even what the most advanced technology will be able to provide for, and we will leave a space that nature will fill again with rich ecosystems that can sustain themselves.

Studying abroad, in my mind, is the pinnacle of the college experience. For years I was promised that embarking on a study abroad program would be a life-changing experience, so this trip was a dream come true. I expected to spend one month traveling across two countries to study the Maya and their surrounding environment. This trip was so much more than that.

I found my time abroad framed by comparisons and balances. My research project studied the ancient Maya and Western civilizations’ environmental ideologies to compare their urban planning styles. This project prompted constant acknowledgment and analysis of the balance between human and natural spaces, and any possible shifts in this relationship over time. Due to the temporal range of my project, I needed to make observations in every archaeological site and town we visited. However, I often found myself struggling to balance academic requirements with tourist desires. Some days the academic was victorious, and I focused on the connections between our daily excursions and my research project. On other days, like the day in Tikal National Park, the desire to be a tourist won out. I allowed myself to experience the jungle and Maya temples without the pressure of notes and detailed observations. The comparative nature of my project and my inner balance between fun and academics often left me feeling like I existed at an intersection between worlds, similar to the interworld connections represented by the ceiba tree.

Traveling and studying in Guatemala and Belize lived up to the life-changing promise of study abroad. There was a lot of new on this program: cultures, friends, countries, sights, and experiences. Every night I went to bed exhausted, and every morning I woke up ready for more.

At Lake Atitlan, I spent a lot of time thinking about my project. We went to the textile cooperative in San Juan La Laguna, and there were many women wearing traje that were very different from what I had seen in Antigua. Even the difference in traje from San Juan La Laguna to Santiago Atitlan was drastic. During the semester in Austin, I felt like I struggled to conceptualize how traje varied. There was not a lot I could find on the associations between the styles and their specific locations. I also could not, for the life of me, understand how weavers assembled the sticks into a functioning loom, but after speaking to Delfina at the coop and seeing how they were put together in person, I could. She showed us the entire process from start to finish, from a ball of cotton to a woven table runner. Being able to see firsthand the different styles of traje and the weaving process made what I had gathered from my read research so much clearer.

Lake Atitlan was crucial for my project, but it was also the place where I learned the most about my classmates. After dinner, most of us went and got ice cream. We had a gathering in our rooms to play cards and talk. It was the last place we were before a lot of us started getting sick, so in retrospect, it feels like the lake was a haven.
It felt surreal to return to the US after spending a month with some of the coolest people I have ever met. Without our group, I don’t think the experience would have been anywhere near the same. This experience was completely different from traveling with my family or friends for leisure. I was always actively interacting with my environment and reflecting on the information I was learning. I always had something I wanted to write down. Balancing my time between my new friends, a new explorable environment, class, and my research in another country also, ultimately, turned out to be just as difficult as I imagined it, maybe more, but after a while, I got the hang of it.

I value everything that I learned or gained from this experience from my research to the friends I made on the way.

-Michelle Brun

As I was reflecting on our month abroad with Mizuki, we were discussing our favorite parts of the program and the experiences we found most meaningful.  We agreed that visiting Antigua was very special because it was not a replicable experience.  We can visit Antigua again as tourists, but spending time with our host families, building those relationships, and being immersed in the language and culture was a unique opportunity.  I love the photo because it shows where we were living every day, rather than a single excursion.  To me, it is representative of the time we spent resting and learning in Antigua.  Kimi (our host family’s cat) is pictured and she reminds me of the family that was so hospitable to us, and Doña Dilia, whose empathy is unmatched.  She supported us through parasites and covid, found help for me when I damaged my computer and put us first despite facing a familial tragedy of her own.  It was a privilege to study in such a historical city, and I think being supported by a local family requires reflection on what it means to be a responsible and aware visitor.  This program has reinforced to me that I must be conscious of my own privilege during my travels and make efforts to understand the history of the places that I visit, as well as the implications it has for modern life.  Although my specific research was about water accessibility in ancient and contemporary Maya communities, I hope that, going forward, I can use what I have learned to take more of an active approach in advocating for water safety/conservation as well as equitable access in Austin.

-Joelle Kenty

This is my final blog post, and my final assignment as a student at UT. I chose this photo because I loved the environment that we are in and the knowledge we learned from it. Tikal was an amazing site, the one we spent the most time at, and is due its own praise. From examining the glyphs and imagery on the various stelae to standing on the platforms and climbing the pyramids to walking through the jungle to reach different parts of the site, the entire experience was both educational and phenomenological. As you walked through, you heard the wind through the trees and the wildlife, you felt the smoothness of the plaster road, you smelled the vegetation, and you saw the buildings rising from nature. Without this program, I never would have had the opportunity to experience these things, nor learn about how the ancient Maya went about creating it as a whole. I learned so much about how it was all constructed and why they made things the way they did.

However, that was not the only reason I chose this photo. I also chose it because it highlights all of my classmates and friends that were in the program. I only knew one person going into this class, but we all spent so much time together and had such an unforgettable time together that I’m glad that this was my last class as an undergrad: this is a group of friends that I can imagine myself continuing to talk to and spend time with for years to come, and I will be so grateful to this program for fostering that kind of connection between us all.

-Thomas Porter

My overall experience on the study abroad trip was eye-opening. I enjoyed learning about all the symbolism of nature and colors in the structures around Guatemala. The one that stood out to me was the cathedral at Santiago Atitlan. The red, yellow, and white banners hanging on the top of the cathedral’s roof were one of the most stunning things I saw. The colors represented the four corners of the world coming altogether. The whole structure was so massive, yet an inviting feeling encouraged me to observe.
I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to study abroad and see these beautiful sacred places. These structures are something that one always sees and hears about; however, to stand in front of them and walk inside the cathedral is otherworldly. I feel a new appreciation for traveling, something I have never had the opportunity to do before this. I have a new understanding of how big the world is and how each region of the world views everything so differently, which I was not conscious of in the past. The excursion to Lake Atitlan was my favorite because of how the population practiced their religion. Moreover, I loved learning about how the people of Santiago Atitlan expressed their connection to the Earth through architecture and murals. I hope one day to go back to Guatemala and revisit these sites.

Img: https://www.flickr.com/photos/155629884@N04/52191594205/in/dateposted-public/

-Lizet Morales

Maize was all around us during our time in Guatemala; it was sustenance, art, and life itself. While there is plenty to discuss regarding the variety of corn eaten, the meanings of the different colors of corn in a Maya religious context, and the economics throughout time related to growing corn crops, I would like to reflect on the community aspect of corn.

Taken by Caitlin Jones at Casa K’ojom. Image depicts a mannequin made of maize holding a pre-colonial Maya instrument. The mannequin is meant to be a Maya person. May 2022. 

Corn as a crop is not grown alone historically; it is grown with squash and beans. In my mind, corn acts as a supporter of life in this way. With its growth, it also brings more growth. From a Maya spiritual standpoint, corn is birth, death, and the continuous cycling of regeneration. The name Maya means ‘people of the corn’ and comes from the creation story that Maya people were molded into humans through the use of maize.

Reliable, constant, and versatile, corn is still the perfect staple food. Tortillas are served with every meal, bringing families together to share a home-cooked meal. Mothers teach daughters how to grind corn on a metate. Walking down the street, the central church of most towns will have a vendor selling tamales. Corn is unifying to Maya people because it is who they are, but it is also a part of the day-to-day routine and relationship building.

During this program, we learned a lot about the changes that occurred amongst the Maya people through centuries of being in Guatemala, but one continuity that remains is corn. To all the people who made us tortillas, tamales, and a variety of other corn-based products. I thank you for giving me a moment of life.