Mayan Ruins at Ixim'che

The name for Tecpan (the town I've been living in) in Kaqchikel is Ixim'che. This is because Tecpan was once under the rule of the Kaqchikel Mayans. They established their capital right outside of modern day Tecpan, and this is the site that is now commonly referred to as Ixim'che.

Ixim'che was the capital of the Kaqchikel Mayas from 1470-1524 CE. It is now an open air museum, which we visited today.

Ixim'che was founded after the Kaqchikel broke with their former allies, the K'ichee, and fled their kingdom. The land they built Ixim'che on was easy to defend as it was surrounded by deep gorges. This was useful as infighting and wars against the K'ichee continued. However, the new city was not destined to last long. When the first Spanish conquistadors arrived in 1524, the Kaqchikel allied with them initially, providing them with aid in their conquests of other Mayan kingdoms. However, a combination of smallpox and the increased demands for tributes by the Spanish led to a break in this alliance. The Kaqchikel abandoned Ixim'che, which was pillaged and burned by Spanish troops.

This is the ballcourt - where criminals, enemies, and other unpopular folks played for their lives. Two teams competed to get a heavy, hard rubber ball into a small hoop using only their elbows and hips. The losers were sacrificed.

Ana & Pedro

Yours truly!

The ruins are in a beautiful location, surrounded by the mountains, quiet and peaceful

 One of the altars for Mayan rituals. We came to it just as the ceremony had been finished. We met the 'counter of the days' who had done the ceremony - he actually turned out to be one of Ana's cousins (this was not so surprising - Ana's cousins are everywhere) Some of the offerings included bananas, Coke, and an (initially) live bird

The other side of the main alter. It was covered with yellow flowers - an unusual site according to Pedro and Ana

This butterfly was resting in the ashes of one of the altars. Apparently, they use a lot of sugar in the ritual (?) That's alse why you can see bees - which were swarming around. Don't miss the feathers from the former chicken! 

Kaqchikel word of the day: xex (SHESH) - the smell of raw egg. This was a very controversial vocabulary addition - Grace insisted that fresh, raw eggs did not have a smell. I think they do have a smell, but had never stopped to think about it. Nevertheless, this is an everyday word/smell in Kaqchikel. Do you think that raw eggs smell?