Tikal – Adventure With Brendan

What To Do On The Last Day Of The World

December 21, 2012December 21, 2012Brendan Scott

If you haven’t heard, then let me tell you, December 21, 2012, was prophesied to be the day the world ends. Of course if you haven’t heard about the end of the world, and you’re sitting around reading blogs, then well, you are the perfect audience for this message!

The people who have stockpiled their attics or basements with food, bought five generators, filled their bathtubs with water, sharpened their Katanas, and have been watching reruns of Doomsday Preppers on the National Geographic Chanel already know they have plenty to do today (whatever day this happens to be as the end of the world always seems to be coming).

The Mayan calendar ends on the 21 of 2012, which is today, or if by chance the world doesn’t end, yesterday, or depending on when you get around to reading this, last year.

Two years ago on the winter’s solstice I was hiking around the ruins of Tikal, which was once one of the wealthiest Mayan kingdoms. Sadly, their violent culture ended centuries ago.

We’re all going to end up like the Mayans! If not today, or tomorrow, it will happen someday. So, what do we do about this horrible news?

Good news! I’ve got a few ideas. However, this blog might not be the best for the people who have already hunkered down in their Zombie proof shelters.

First: Show your Neighbor some Love! It’s the end of the world and I think now might be the time to knock on their door and invite them over for dinner. This could be a great time to start a new friendship, everyone needs a friend at the end of the world. But heck, if the night’s real bad just remember you wont have to see them tomorrow!

Second: Go play in the snow with some little kids, or puppies, or anything that brings you Joy. Kids seem to be able to find an enormous amount of joy in the smallest things. I can’t think of a better way to spend the last day of the world than hearing the laughter of a little kid.

Third: Find a time during the day to relax. I’ll go on a hike up through the mountains. I know I can’t bring about world peace, but if I find a little peace for myself, maybe I’ll be able to find love and joy a little easier. Besides nothing says Peace to me like the aspens that grow in the Colorado Rockies.

Fourth: When the Zombies are pounding down your door and you’re at your whits end, be Patient. You’ll be fine, their lack of fine motor skills will protect you, but you might need to wait a little for them to stumble out of your house. You really will need patience when hanging out with the little kids (they ask millions of questions and wont hesitate to point out any of your flaws, like the gap you have in your teeth).

Fifth: Go to Walmart and look for the person with the shopping cart that screams “It’s the end of the world and I’m hoarding all of the supplies“, and and surprise them by paying for their stuff. Don’t smirk or laugh at them either. Be Kind, who knows they could share some of their Twinkies with you, oh wait . . . I guess the world is ending.

Sixth: When your neighbors come over for dinner and insist on showing you all of their Amway stuff, find real interest. Show interest in them because that’s what Good people do. Even take the next step and buy a little bit of what they are selling. What could it hurt, the world is ending anyway.

Seventh: You know that friend who you think about every day, don’t give up on them, give them a call. Yes, it’s the end of the world, but that’s the best time to tell someone you still love them. Plus, you might be able to invite them in on some great Amway products. In all honesty, be Faithful to your friends. Tell them you’re thankful for them, even if they haven’t called in ages and sometimes you wish the Zombies would get them first.

Eighth: When you’re scared out of your mind because the Zombies have now broken down your front door and you’re wishing you’d watched Doomsday Preppers, remember that those Zombies have already lost their minds, so be Gentle with them. In their thirst for brains, their wanton hunger has driven out their ability to love. Yes, they want to eat your brain, but just maybe they really need is someone to gently hold their hand and show them compassion.

Ninth and Last: When all of the world has thrown itself into chaos, with looting and killing, drunkenness, partying with no sense of real joy, but of lust and carnal desire, and jealous hatred drives all their actions, show some Self-control. As the world goes to hell, hold back and don’t go with them. Continue to live life differently. It will be worth it in the end.

Because when our world ends or just seems to be falling apart, into evilness, with senseless shootings, there can never be enough people who practice love and joyfulness, find peace, act patiently, show kindness, goodness and gentleness to others, and lastly act with self-control.

A Day in Guatemala

April 23, 2011April 25, 2011Brendan Scott

Guatemala, my second home, is a beautiful and diverse country. It has everything from the beautiful Lago Atitlan, the ancient pyramids of Tikal, the magnificent cascading waterfalls of Semuc Champey, the colonial cobbled streets of Antigua shaded by active Pacaya, and a proud and busy second city in Xela crowned by Volcan Santa Maria in the distance.

When I first came to Guatemala, I expected it’s natural beauty, but I’ve been continually surprised by Guatemala’s economic and educational gaps. About 69% of Guatemalans older than 15 are literate and according to the CIA world factbook 56% of Guatemalans live in poverty. In Guatemala the wealthy and educated are very wealthy and, as a teacher I may say this, fairly well educated, but they are in stark contrast to the poor that make up the rest of the country.

On any day in Xela I walk by members of the lower class. Typically dressed in tipicos (their traditional dress) chewing gum and smiling or laughing with a baby on her back and a basket of corn tortillas balanced perfectly on her head. She works hard, but is economically just above the handicapped beggars. Many beggars are missing legs, teeth, arms, or other essential body parts, and are forced to sit on street corners waiting for any change to fall toward them. Both the girl and the beggar have been forced to scrape the dust of the wealthy for a living, which has not given them the time to be educated. And without education a person can’t grow. They are forced to do menial jobs. One such job might be charging one quetzal (Guatemala’s currency 8 quetzals to 1 dollar) to use their bathroom on the side of the road.

Having lived in Guatemala for three years, I feel like I’ve seem most of her extremes; her natural beauty, her wealth, and her poverty, but often I don’t encounter them in one day. But that is just what happened during the first weekend of Holy Week. While on the bus to Guatemala City I saw poverty. Well, I wasn’t on the bus. I’d jumped off between Solola and the next town. My bladder was screaming, so I was thankful when the bus stopped so the driver could grab a snack. It was 8:30 am and the roadside was teaming with food vendors. I could tell I had time to empty my body of the Dr. Pepper I’d drunk. As I stepped off the bus, I saw a little boy in a plain t-shirt, no older than second grade, manning a table in front of what seemed to be a room for bathrooms. Growing up in the states I still dislike paying for restrooms, but I am sure this kid and his family are doing all that they can for a living, so I payed him the Q and walked past the table. What I found was not a bathroom, the floor was dirt and it didn’t have a complete roof (tin topped the stalls so at least if it was raining I could relieve myself and not get wet), but an unfinished section of the building with three old blue wooden doors with three 10 gallon barrels filled with water in front. Two of the doors were locked from the outside, I’m assuming the toilets behind those doors were broke beyond repair because a dirty toilet hasn’t stopped many Guatemalans from using them, and the third was occupied.

I glanced over my shoulder to see if the bus was still there. I could see the top of the bus from the natural skylight the boy’s family had designed into their building (it’s fun to look for the positives in these situations). As I waited in line I realized that the water in the barrels was for flushing (not all of Guatemala has running water). Each barrel contained a small bucket so the user could tote the water into the toilet and flush down their deposit. The first stall opened up and I wanted to bolt inside, but the man had to fill the toilet so he could flush. Ages passed and the line wasn’t getting shorter so I decided to pick a spot in the corner and moistened the dirt bellow my feet. After making water I turned to see the bus rolling away. Thank goodness for that skylight. I zipped up and ran. I was not the only one running, a few of the other patrons were dashing toward the bus as well. Fortunately the bus stopped and I climbed aboard and made it to Guatemala City. In the city I saw extravagance.

After an American breakfast at IHOP, the pancakes tasted refreshingly good, I made it to Oakland Mall. If my description of the roadside rest stop matched most of your pre-conceived notions of Guatemala, even my little sister asked me when I first moved down here if I was living in a hut, then let Oakland Mall completely destroy those notions. It is grand; home to an aquarium, a large food court and a beautiful movie theater. Seeing a movie was the whole reason why I went to Guatemala City. The VIP movie theater is outfitted with fully reclining leather seats and waiters ready to take your order from a complete menu all for only 68 Q (under 10 dollars), making it the fanciest movie theater I’ve ever watched a movie in. It felt like luxury meant for kings.

It’s funny how after three years in Guatemala a day like this has come to feel normal. Most people would experience culture shock. Maybe I can chalk it up to the dismissive phrase, “Only in Guatemala.” Yes Guatemala is beautifully diverse, and yes some if it’s extremes need to change, but for now I’m going to enjoy where I live.

Tarantula Poop in Tikal

January 30, 2011August 10, 2014Brendan Scott

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Twas a month or so past I treked up to Tikal. There I took hold a terrible tarantula, whom mistook my arm for a toilet. Probably trying to be polite but it was perturbing. Perhaps my skin was appealing and so pooping on my arm was pleasing. I ponder not.

Maybe the Mayan monthly calendar was marked for a might of exscramient on my clean arm. Maybe December 20th 2010 marked the mutual end of my relationship with spiders. Possibly pesky spiders pretend to be pets, patiently pining their time to poop on the unsuspecting passer by.

Terrible tarantula try not to use the arm of another poor person. Maybe make a mess on the grass. Perhaps you probably thought you were only going to pass gas. To trust a toot is a thing I hope you try not again. Promptly I plopped the primevil eight legged plodder on the ground close to the pyramid before the tarantula tried ploting to poop again.

A Tikal Thanksgiving

December 1, 2009February 15, 2013Brendan Scott

Bruce Cockburn, one of my favorite musicians, wrote a song about Night Trains, which was probably inspired by a trip he took. I wanted to quote the song, but it has nothing to do with Mayans or Thanksgiving, but I digress.

Anyway, I took trip on a Night Bus to Tikal, a Mayan ruin, for Thanksgiving. I have no plans of writing a song about it, but I do have to say one thing, one of the passengers sitting in front of me had an old boom-box cd player and was blasting, if blasting is the correct word, old 80’s soft rock. After that I had the song ” Eclipse of the Heart” stuck in my head for most of the day.

Strangely the horrible Bonnie Tyler song and not Bruce Cockburn’s song fit my trip, because the Mayan’s were known to follow the lunar calendar. Whenever there was an eclipse, they ripped the hearts out of their enemies in sacrifice to their gods. In fact, most of the gigantic temples in Tikal were built in correlation with the sun or moon.

As I walked around the ancient buildings, I kept wondering what it would be like to walk around New York a thousand years after it had been deserted. I saw in the 2009 September issue of National Geographic what New York looked like when Henry Hudson discovered it 4oo years ago. Check this issue out, because the urban takeover on the island of Manhattan is very similar to the jungle takeover in Tikal, except in the opposite direction.

Manhattan, once a forest, now is a gigantic city and Tikal, once a sprawling Mayan metropolis, now is a gigantic jungle. During Tikal’s peak, it was the epicenter for much of the Mayan world. Now it’s a national park in the middle of the jungle. So, as you look at the pictures below try to envision Tikal as it once was, a thriving city. The temples were dyed red to symbolize life. The grounds were stone. It was immaculate. It was alive.

Yet, for the city to continue to live the Mayan’s believed that someone had to die. It was their circle of life. Blood was sacred, life giving, and so at one time blood spilled down the temples, as the priests ripped out the hearts of their unfortunate human sacrifices. Mayans believed that when blood was spilled in sacrifice to the gods life was renewed. Mysteriously something, maybe famine, war, or overpopulation, ripped the heart out of the Mayan culture leaving it dead. But because of the death of the Mayan culture, many Guatemalan’s make a living off of the national park. The Mayans understood the connection between life and death. Unfortunately they didn’t know about Christ, the man who broke the cycle and quenched the need for sacrifices. Yet, for me, walking around their sacrificial monuments pointed me to Christ, because they reminded me of the world’s need for a savior.