“And a Man sat alone, drenched deep in sadness. And all the animals drew near to him and said, ‘We do not like to see you so sad.’ Ask us for whatever you wish and you shall have it.’ The Man said, ‘I want to have good sight.’ The vulture replied, ‘You shall have mine.’ The Man said, ‘I want to be strong.’ The jaguar said, ‘You shall be strong like me.’ Then the Man said, ‘I long to know the secrets of the earth.’ The serpent replied, ‘I will show them to you.’ And so it went with all the animals. And when the Man had all the gifts that they could give, he left. Then the owl said to the other animals, ‘Now the Man knows much, he’ll be able to do many things. Suddenly I am afraid.’ The deer said, ‘The Man has all that he needs. Now his sadness will stop.’ But the owl replied, ‘No. I saw a hole in the Man, deep like a hunger he will never fill. It is what makes him sad and what makes him want. He will go on taking and taking, until one day the World will say, ‘I am no more and I have nothing left to give.’”" ~ Old Story Teller, Apocalypto (2006)
A couple of summers ago, I went to the Yucatan Peninsula. Rather then spend my time on the beach in Cancun boozing and cavorting, we decided to partake in a proper cultural experience by exploring the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza and Uxmal.
Here my brother and are marveling at a particular Mayan pyramid at Uxmal.
I actually found Uxmal to be the far more interesting site even though Chichen Itza is more well known. Uxmal was quieter with fewer tourist and we were permitted to explore more at Uxmal. We even were allowed to ascend to the Mayan ruler’s throne. Just remember to climb the stairs of the Mayan pyramids sideways as, “not to offend the god’s” or more likely to prevent the unfortunate occurrence of falling and tumbling like an idiot to your death.
This ancient ruins of the Mayan civilization were something to behold and obviously they inspired the self portrait above. I am just glad that I got to go before the Mayan calendar comes to end in 2012 and the world comes to a cataclysmic end by shifting poles, an asteroid, sun spots, or some other misfortune.