July 27, 2008 - Copan, Honduras
"All this has a long history. It´s just like the life of Christ. Just like there were people who refused to believe in Christ, so there are campesinos who don´t have faith. Just like they captured Christ and tortured him, so the soldiers caputre and torture us. And just like Christ died for the poor, so we die for the poor. The day they kill me, I´ll know that I died for a just struggle; I´ll know I died like Christ did, fighting for the poor."
- Elvia Alvarado
The Sabbath is not a day of rest in Honduras, at least not in Copan. The Parque Central (town square) was a´buzz all day with villagers who came to town for shopping, church, and socializing.
In addition, the tourists, mostly Central Americans, came in droves to visit the ruins. Myself, a tourist, decided to follow the masses and return to Copan Ruins for a second exploration.
Although the Great Structures of the Copan Ruins are the big draw, there are 16 additional "natural" archaeology sites around Copan, under excavation by locals and funded by the government. According to our guide, there are also an estimated 1,600 other unexplored sites within the region.
Although my favorite attraction of the day was multiple visits by a large 20+ pound rat with fangs, (only member of the rat family that can´t climb) called the cotusa (guatusa).
Ancient Maya belived in multiple gods including Sun, Moon, Fire, Wind, Tree, Jaguar, Earth, Birds, Water, Dreams, Love, and my personal favorite, Lawyer of the Animals. Each God held a specific role in keeping order over the people.
Although the ruins are massive, the tallest building in the town center is, of course, the Catholic Church. While in Central America, where nearly 100% of the population is or once was Catholic, I desired to attend a traditional Mass. Sunday evening ended in an exercise of kneeling, standing, sitting, kneeling, standing, sitting.... through a service spoken in a foreign language, surrounded by over one-hundred natives. The tall gringos stood out, literally, like sore thumbs.
