Copan: The Final Days

Hello friends and family! After four wonderful weeks, I have made it home safely. It was hard to leave such a magical place, but I think at the end we were all ready to return to the States and see our loved ones.

I apologize for not posting in the past couple of days. Friday night was spent preparing for our final on Saturday morning, and Don Udo's unfortunately did not have an internet connection on Saturday night so I was unable to post. Last night was dedicated to reuniting with my family and, more importantly, sleeping. But I am now well rested and will give you a final update.

Friday night was the Fash Bash, where Bill and Barb invited us all to their house to celebrate our time in Copan. Their house is in an inconspicuous location in town and is absolutely beautiful. Here is a shot of the back patio. Behind it, an amazing view of the valley.


A good portion of their house, like most spaces in town, is outside, which provides for a very nice, tropical atmosphere. Adding to the atmosphere was the live music of a marimba band, led by the one and only Don Felipe. As I mentioned before, I helped interview Don Felipe as part of my community project. He built the first marimba in town with his own hands in 1936, when he was only 20 years old.


You can see Don Felipe here in the far right. Aren't those instruments beautiful? It was such a nice surprise seeing Don Felipe play since he retired from playing a few years ago.

But it was Bill and Barb who were the recipients of the real surprise. Their birthdays are both in late July, during the run of the field school, and each let both occasions slip by without letting the students know. Well, we eventually found out about it and were not too pleased. Laura managed to get Udo's daughter to bake a cake secretly, and then sneaked the cake into the party unbeknownst to the hosts. When she brought it out, candles lit, the marimba band began to play "Happy Birthday."

Bill and Barb were completely surprised! They blew out the candles together--very cute.

The Fash Bash was a blast, but as it came to a close we headed back to the hotel for some last-minute studying for the final the next morning. Although I was stressing a little bit (especially over the Mayan glyph identification section on the exam!), everything turned out just fine. The rest of Saturday was spent shopping in the town and spending time with the other field school students, now my close friends.

Before I knew it, it was time to leave. When I arrived at the San Pedro Sula airport, a three hour drive from Copan, I felt like it had been ages since I was last there, but at the same time it felt like my time in Honduras had just flown by.

This summer was easily one of the most enriching experiences I have ever had in my life, and I am so lucky that I had the opportunity. I would do it again in a heartbeat, and maybe next summer I will get that chance.

Thanks for keeping up with me while I've been here! I can't wait to see all of you and catch up. But for now, I need to go find out what's been happening in the world for the last few weeks.

Adios!

Copan: Days 25 & 26

Hi guys! Sorry for not posting yesterday. I uploaded photos and everything, but then got distracted by lively conversations going on around me. Justifiable, yes?

It's hard to believe I only have a few days left in this magical place... The time has flown by! Even so, I am excited to see my family and friends when I return on Sunday.

Yesterday was the last day of our community projects. I had the last interview with Don Felipe, after which I spent some time transcribing it. On Saturday we will interview his wife. Now that community projects are essentially over for most people, we have all started working on our final site reports, community project reports, and have begun cramming for our final on Saturday morning. A few of us (myself included) are also feeling the crunch of what little time we have left, trying to get to all the sites we missed and doing some last-minute shopping.

Tonight we all went to Don Udo's house for a special dinner. It was absolutely beautiful there, and I am kicking myself since I didn't bring my camera. Fortunately, the photos from those that did bring their camera will be floating around Facebook soon enough. I'll try to post some of those when I can. The rest of the evening was pretty relaxing, especially knowing we would be able to sleep in tomorrow!

Oh, and before I forget, the temple in my post a few days ago that I kept referring to as Temple 16 is actually Temple 11. My bad!

For now, I thought I'd post some pictures of awesome people.

Moncho: the head honcho!

Lucy, in the tunnel right outside of Ruler 12's tomb.

Marc next to his second favorite thing: hieroglyphic benches! His first? Coffee. Have I posted this picture already?

I love and miss you all! Send me some love!

Copan: Day 24

Hey guys! Short and sweet post today. 1) I am absolutely exhausted and 2) I am running out of pictures (at least ones with interesting stories) to post.

Today I continued with the interviews, this time with a man named Don Facundo. He is at the tender age of 81, and is one of the most adorable people I have met yet. He did not work for Gustav Stromsvik (the archaeologist who worked here in the 30s and the focus of this project) but he has many good stories of how Copan was transformed over the years. I also began transcribing the interviews I have digitally recorded so far. The process is a little overwhelming and stressful: the words and phrases I recognize seem to be small in number compared to the majority of what is said that I can't understand. Trying to sort it all out takes a lot of time, and when you are working with interviews that are 2 hours long, it is hard to see yourself making any progress. But I am plowing forward, and my ear seems to get ever so slightly better with each listen.

So, I was looking through the photos I have yet to post, and I realized that I haven't yet talked about the awesome taxis around here (and even if I have, I definitely have not devoted the time to discussing them as I should). Here's a picture I took of the town square, and inadvertently captured two of these vehicles.

I've heard them referred to as both Tuk Tuks and Moto Taxis, but either way they are fun to ride in, small and agile on the crowded streets of the pueblo, and I can only assume economically efficient. I believe they also use these things a lot in Southeast Asia (my first clue was the maintenance instructions in the taxis are only in English and Thai). They are essentially motorized tricycles with a wind shield and a canvas cover. Wouldn't this be an excellent way to zoom around on campus? Or for short trips at home? I think so!

Let's band together and buy ourselves a Tuk Tuk!

Copan: Days 22 &23

Hello! Sorry I didn't get a chance to post yesterday. The internet in the hotel wasn't working, unfortunately, but I am back now! I also fixed the problem with the last post. For some reason the pictures didn't show up as they were supposed to. They should be visible now, so take a look if you didn't get a chance when I first posted.

Yesterday was an excellent shopping day. I was pretty frantic knowing this was my last good weekend to buy things for people, and I am indecisive as it is. I always want to find the perfect gift! But I think I found some pretty cool things. If you want something, though, there is still time... so please tell me!

We also went as a group to a showing of the Dark Knight at Via Via, a local bar. Ticket price: one dollar. I love Honduras! And the movie quality was pretty decent. Excellent movie by the way. I can easily envision a posthumous Oscar win for Heath Ledger.

Today was our real last day of digging. Most of us start on community projects this week, while others are working in the lab identifying ceramics and lithics, or even excavating further. As I explained earlier, I am interviewing people from around town (with a lot of help from Bill) who worked with some early Copan archaeologists (we're talking 1930s). I talked with Don Felipe for the second time today, and I will be talking with him again on Wednesday. He is really a wealth of information! The interview today lasted a good 2 hours! Tomorrow I will start work on transcribing the interview, which will help my listening comprehension immensely. Can't wait to start on that!

At dinner, two field-schoolers (Alasdair, a writer; and Kenny, an artist) unveiled a project they had been working on for about two-and-half weeks. The title: Archaeology's Finest. It's a comic book starring our professors Bill, Barb, and Marc. Today they released the first installment of three. One of the funniest things I've ever read! I may scan in the pages once I get home to share with you all, but be warned: the references are pretty esoteric.

Speaking of hilarity, here's something I learned today: my name (or, the sounds that comprise my name), when said in Classic Mayan, mean "testicles." Wrap your heads around that!

The pictures today are a little random but have interesting stories attached.

First, check out this hole:

This is an ancient drainage way that takes water out of the plaza. For some context on where it is:

You can see one ballcourt structure on the left, a tree to the right of it, and behind them Temple 16 (it may be Temple 11, but I think it's 16). The drainage way can be found at the bottom of Temple 16, probably somewhere on the right of this picture (I actually think it's behind the tree in the foreground). I know it's far in the background, but use your imagination!

A few years ago, this drainage way got clogged and as a result the plaza flooded. From what I hear, the water was a few feet high. Well, one man decided to take action. I don't remember what his name was or how he was connected to Copan: he may have been a local, or perhaps an archaeologist. Either way, he took initiative. He dove into the water and swam into the drainage way--yes, that tiny little hole--unclogging it and saving the Principal Group. The big mystery is how the heck he got out of that drain once the water started rushing in. We may never know!

Next, I thought I'd talk a little bit about the local currency, the Lempira. Lempira was a Lenca (the indigenous Honduran people) chieftain and hero. When the Spanish Conquistadors invaded, Lempira managed to unite Lenca tribes that had long been enemies to resist the conquest. The story goes that Spanish leaders invited Lempira to a meeting under the pretense of peace negotiations, and there Lempira was shot in the forehead by a hidden marksman, thereby ending his movement.

The one Lempira bill (seen above, front and back) is my favorite note here in Honduras. A portrait of Lempira graces the front, and the back is a view of the ballcourt (left) and Hieroglyphic Stairway (right). One of my favorite moments here in Copan was climbing to the top of Temple 16 (again, it could be 11), and seeing the very view depicted on the Lempira:

Awesome, hmm?

Well, I'm off! Have a great night, and let me know how you all are doing! I love you, and miss you.

Copan: Day 21

Hello again! Pretty relaxing day today. Some kids went out to the bird park today, but I elected to stay in town and do more shopping. I'm so indecisive... but I think I came away with some good finds. The tickets for the bird park are reusable, apparently, so a group of us may go tomorrow. If I do, there will be pictures to share.

This afternoon a bunch of us went to the ruins to play sardines. For those of you who don't know the game, it is essentially like hide-and-seek, except only one person hides and everyone else seeks. When you find the person who is hiding, you hide with them. It goes on like this until everyone has found the hiding spot (in round two is was Ruler 16's tomb). AWESOME. This is really an amazing place, and I'm honored to say that I know where are all the good hiding places in the Principal Group.

I also managed to find my camera cord this afternoon, so I thought I'd post some of the pictures from our "last day" of digging yesterday. Here is our digging group (dubbed Black Force Jaguar by the boys). From left to right, Sarah, me, Alana, and Don Fidensio! I apologize for the blurriness, there was a smudge on my lens at the time, unfortunately. But Sarah and Alana have copies of it (including one where we are all posing like explorers), and I'll be glad to share them with you when I get them.

A look at the entirety of the site. You can see Don Fidensio working in our unit on the right in the black shirt. Don Chepe is standing to the right of him in a dashing cowboy hat.

A few of us decided to grab a picture with the beloved Moncho, head honcho. When we asked to take a picture of him, he eagerly ushered us to the top of a mound nearby the site. Turned out to be a great spot for a photo, don't you agree? (From left to right, me, Emily, Moncho, and Lorena.)

Right before that picture was taken, Moncho took off his iconic hat and put it on Emily's head. Right after the picture, Emily proclaimed, "I win." She totally did.

While Don Daniel (aka Don Kick-Ass) was finishing leveling out his unit, the boys were left with some free time on their hands. With that time, Kenny built this exquisite pyramid out of sifted dirt and rocks.

Truly, a work of art.

For now, I'm off to bed, but you will hear more from me tomorrow. Don't forget to e-mail me to let me know how you are doing. I love and miss you all!

Copan: Day 20

Hey guys! Sorry for the lack of a post last night: there was an epic outing that could not be missed! I hope you'll understand.

Yesterday was our last official day of digging (although we may go back on Monday morning, since we've been rained out the past two days). We've had a lot of fun at the site in our two weeks there. The boys in the unit next to ours (Will, Kenny, and Alasdair) gave themselves the name "Wolf Force Delta" or "Fuerza de los Lobos Delta," and approached the dig as if it were a mission, even naming their gear bag the "Ops Bag." Each group also bonded quite a bit with their respective workers. Our worker, Don Fidensio helped me practice my Spanish, and taught us all a lot about the local insects and plants in the area. He knows everything! He'd also laugh at our Spanish when we made egregious errors (along with the other workers), but all in good fun. Don Fidensio is an expert at what he does--I am so glad to have met him.

We all got to know each other's workers as well. Will Force Delta worked with a man named Don Daniel who is an incredible person. He is 82 years old and still working in the field. I hope I have some of those longevity genes! He is also a machine when it comes to moving dirt. So much so, that the boys have dubbed him "Don Kick-Ass."

The site was full of amazing people that I hope to remember for the rest of my life: Don Marcos and Don Chepe, the other two expert workers with a good sense of humor and unparalleled expertise; Moncho, the head honcho who is always smiling and warns us when the rain is coming; Jorge Ramos, the co-director of the excavations who is not only brilliant but extremely kind.

Anyway, digging has been such a blast, and I did take a bunch of pictures to immortalize our last day of digging. However, I can't find the cord that connects my camera to my laptop, so you will have to wait for those (there are also some epic photos of me doing cartwheels during lunch floating around, I'll see if I can get some for you to see).

On Thursday, though, I took some pictures of this beautiful tree just to the west of where we are working. It has these lovely purple flowers that attract throngs of yellow butterflies. I've posted a few of those photos for you to see (look carefully, the butterflies are hard to see). While enjoying them, keep in mind that the Maya used butterflies as a symbol of war (so ferocious, no?).