Week Two - Visit to Iximche

On Friday the Norman's took us shopping in the morning before our Temple shift and we got a few more things on our list.  It seems that as soon as we get home and put things away we think of things to add to a new list.  Thankfully the list is getting smaller each time.  We won't be eating much beef other than hamburger but that is okay.  It will make us appreciate the half-beef we will be getting soon after we get home.  We have lots of chicken, hamburger and cheese and we got some fish.

On Saturday before our shift we decided to walk over to the MTC (CCM in Guatemala) where there is an ATM to get some cash. On our walk over I saw a beauty supply and wanted a hair pick so went in.  Once I showed the one in my purse to the girl she took me right to it and it cost about $1.10.  When I noticed the sack when we got home I saw that the name of the place was Sally not Sally's but seemed to carry the same products or similar.  It is about 1 block from our apartment. The CCM was just around the corner from the little strip mall. The landscaping at all of the church sites is simply beautiful.

 Sacrament meeting on Sunday was a bit frustrating because I had on a headset but could hear nothing.  Apparently the brother that was doing the translation forgot to plug the mic back in after the prayer but there was an English Sunday School class and a great translator for Relief Society.  She just moved here from the states about a month ago but was born in Mexico and is so naturally fluent in both languages.

On Monday John had rented a bus for 22 of us that cost us each around $15 for the day and we went out to visit a Anthropological Mayan Ruins about two hours west of the city.  We left at 7 AM and it took us about 1 1/2 hours driving time to get out of the city.  It is truly an amazing big city.  Some of the places that we saw along the way were Dunkin Donut, Sears, Burger King, Wendy's, McDonalds, Walmart, Pizza Hut, Papa John's, Appleby's just for a few.  It is wall-to-wall buildings and heavy, heavy traffic.

It was a totally different feeling once we got out of the city and into the countryside.  It reminded me some of the towns in China with businesses attached to each other and with garage doors that were pulled up to display their wares.  There were an amazing number of car parts, car repairs and cars for sale along the road that we took.  I couldn't get good pictures from the bus window but wanted to save a memory of the farms and the use of space.  We saw miles of corn and cabbage.

We did see one of the 34 Guatemalan volcanos in the distance but I couldn't get a good picture from the moving bus.  I did get a picture of a terraced roadside.  It appears that they cement surfaces, too.

Here is a lousy shot of us with the Norman's just after we got off the bus.

One of the couples had hired an English speaking tour guide and invited us to join their group.  We were so glad that we did because it taught us so much about what we were seeing.  I will print up an article that is on the internet about the place and add some of the notes that I took from him with a few pictures here and there.

We did see one of the 34 Guatemalan volcanos in the distance but I couldn't get a good picture from the moving bus.  I did get a picture of a terraced roadside.  It appears that they cement surfaces, too.

 Iximch (means corn)

Iximche, is a pre-Columbian Mayan site in the Western Highlands of Guatemala, is not as well-known as the major archaeological sites of the Classic Period (250 to 900 AD), but remains a popular site to visit because of its easy accessibility and pleasant setting.  It is 7,000 feet above sea level. 

It was the capital of the Kaqchikel Maya from only 1470 to 1524.

The buildings were build with adobe walls covered with cement and the roofs were made of palm leaves.  Only four families lived in the five plazas and there were about 40,000 commoners on the outside.  

 Iximche was founded by the Kaqchikel Maya in 1470 after a prolonged conflict with the Kiche Maya forced them to abandon their previous capital Chaviar (present-day Chichicastenango). The new capital did well in its first decades, but was severely damaged by a fire in 1514. In 1519-20 a major epidemic struck Iximche, killing many inhabitants and prompting many others to flee to the countryside.

Thus weakened, the Kaqchikel welcomed the Spanish conquers under Pedro de Alvarado with open arms when they arrived in April of 1524 and allowed them to found their own capital nearby. However, the relationship with the Spanish, who at first promised to be a valuable ally against their long-time enemies, the Kiche, soon deteriorated.

The conquers' incessant demands for gold and the inability of the Kaqchikel to provide it in sufficient quantity quickly led to hostilities that culminated in several Spanish attacks on Iximche.

In September of the same year the Kaqchikel abandoned their capital and took to the surrounding mountains, from where they waged a guerrilla war against the Spanish. The conquers burned Iximche to the ground in 1526 and were able to defend their own capital for a while, but the raids took their toll. In 1527 the Spanish abandoned their first capital and founded a new one in the Almolonga valley (present-day Ciudad Vieja near Antigua Guatemala).

Our guide told us that this was one of the last cities to be populated by the Mayans.  The resources became exhausted, temperatures changed and the people abandoned the area.  

Undisturbed for several centuries and largely buried under lush vegetation, the ruins of Iximche were finally explored and partially excavated by Guatemalan archaeologist Jorge Guillemin from 1960 to 1972.  Part of the ruins are still buried under lush vegetation.

You will see from the pictures that only the first two were totally excavated.  When they found it it looked just like the rest of the area with heavy landscape. 

Iximche's core is bounded on three sides by ravine walls and separated from the main residential area by an artificial creek. The center consists of four large and two small plazas surrounded by temples, palaces and ceremonial platforms. There were only 4 families that lived in these 5 plazas.  

                        This is an excavated ball court for the Mayan game Chaaj.

After the last plaza there were a group of Mayans holding a ceremony.  The leader blessed an infant in some way and they were smoking tobacco, burning incense as well as had the fire going.  There were buzzards flying above which made us wonder if there was also some kind of animal sacrifice that they were interested in. The Mayans believe that God lives in the wind and smoke. Each group has their own spiritual guide.

Our guide walked us around the side of the ceremony to a 300 foot drop-off .  He said that the area was like a peninsula which kept the enemy out.

The very favorite part of my journey here is meeting and seeing the people.  Mike and I each took a shot of this family enjoying a visit to Iximche.