The conch sounds three more times as Atzín, our other guide, prays,
facing each of the cardinal directions. The compass points were
sacred to the Maya, as evidenced by the architecture of their
cities, which often placed important buildings facing true north
and south. "Sometimes the ancestors grant visitors a glimpse of the
past," Malina adds.
"We have had people see some strange things here."
I tell her the illusion of water, and she says that canals once
connected Dzibanché with the
Caribbean. The waterways allowed the
inland Maya to trade with their coastal counterparts. Perhaps this
is what I saw.
Or maybe it was a trick of the mind. A mirage. Here among the
ruins, it is tempting to imagine what we would see if we could
travel back in time, but even those who study Mayan culture have a
limited understanding of how the Maya lived. The Museo de la
Cultura Maya in Chetumal may be a wonderful collection of Mayan
artifacts, but beyond their calendar and mathematics and astronomy,
and a little of their history, what more can it tell of the
people?
It is possible, however, to visit a modern-day Maya family and see
something of their life. Up and down the highways of this
peninsula, one can see clusters of stucco-and-stick huts. On our
way back to Rancho Encantado from Dzibanché, we stop at Doña
Juanita's farm, a collection of a half-dozen traditional Mayan
buildings where she lives with her children and grandchildren.
We gather around a dining table under a palapa roof. From the
nearby kitchen comes the smell of baking tortillas and beans. I
peek in, and Doña Juanita's gesture takes in the wood-burning
stove, called a candela, and the few pots and pans. "My humble
kitchen," she says.