Our time here has been "ruined"

Yes, today we did indeed get the privilege of playing on the Mayans' playgrounds - the pyramid ruins! Our first stop was Acanceh (A-cahn-kay). We soaked up so much history that it's hard to even formulate what to share! Essentially the Mayans believed that the world ended and began again every 52 years - or that the sun would burn out and life would begin again after. So every 52 years the pyramids were reconstructed, or redone to fall into place with this belief. We were able to witness a number of the different levels or layers of the pyramids, and archaeologists often use this 52 year thing to measure how old a pyramid is. What's cool about the two different sites we visited today, was that we were able to climb on them and explore! It's almost crazy that they allow you to go wherever you want on them. Unlike my past experience  with Teotihuacan near Mexico City where we had to climb up one set of stairs and then tour marked areas. However, the pyramids today weren't nearly as large! We'll be visiting other ruins while here in the Yucatan, but won't get the opportunity to climb as much, so we got out all of our need for adventure today!  It was sad to see that some locals have removed parts of the pyramids, to sell the stone on the black market. Our tour guides were saying that people here fail to realize the beauty and wealth of such ancient ruins. Additionally, many houses around the pyramids are made of stone... Our tour guide said the perfectly chiseled bricks that the Mayans used for the pyramids were convenient, so generations ago people would just take stone off of the pyramid to make their homes. Now the "historical/archaeological police" (essentially) have made stricter regulations, and have fenced or gated the ruins in to keep these things from happening.

Our next stop was to Mayapan. What was fascinating about Mayapan is that it's almost completely untouched or altered from it's original state. Our tour guide pointed out that Mayapan has been preserved as the entire town, so we were able to notice how the Mayan village was set up and what the different pyramids were used for. Luckily again, we were able to climb and check things out, but they are in really good condition. You can see where people have removed bricks in the past, but it's insane how great of condition they're still in. It started to rain a bit so that was a little scary when climbing up the steep steps, but it cleared up and we really enjoyed our time there! We got some great group pictures (most were on other peoples' cameras) today but here are some of my own shots!

One of the pyramids at Acanceh

The ruins at Mayapan

Friends at the top of a pyramid in Mayapan

Today after our excursion, since it was "cooler" I blow dried and straightened my hair for the first time - It's life's small victories that keep things exciting! :) I then walked the 15 minutes to the Central House and thanks to humidity you could barely call it straight anymore! Can't say I didn't try!

Tonight after being out with some friends I returned home to meet my brother, Diego! Diego is 25 and works for a pharmaceutical company in Memphis, Tennessee. He is home for a time of "rest" as he called it - but will be visiting one of their companies here in Mexico as well. HE IS SO NICE. Wow, he was so friendly in greeting me and made sure to mention multiples times that he can help me with whatever I need, ask him any questions, and come to him in Spanish (or English if needed) for anything! He asked if everything has been okay and comfortable since I've been here, and I assured him it's all been great! It was cute/funny, when I walked in the door tonight (my mom was already sleeping) he got from the office and greeted me by saying "HI!!! How are you? I'm Diego! Nice to meet you!!" He then caught himself in the act of speaking English, stopped quickly and repeated it all in Spanish! I like him - and I'm looking forward to spending the afternoon with family as we have a dinner together around 2!