Did you know over one million people speak mayan in mexico?

languages in mexico with more than 100,000 speakers

Wikipedia has a lot about Mayan people and mayan language.  About six million people speak mayan in guatemala, belize, honduras and mexico. I had no idea!

And there are different dialects -- there are 8 different types of mayan dialects in mexico. (What I didn't know either is there are 68 indigenous languages -- indian-- in mexico. 6% of the population speak one).

There are two different branches of Mayan in the Yucatan. One is called Yucatec maya (but researchers call it that, not the people themselves) and the other is Lancandón (from the Lancandón jungle in the Chiapas.

Jorge one of my friends is from the Chiapas. We'll have to ask him about that. We aren't going to the Chiapas...we'll have to do it on another trip.

The people in guatamala speak another kind of mayan. I wonder how different they are from each other.

This man does a pretty good job at making it simple to learn mayan. i think it is cool how he puts the words up. Below is another video where he is talking with some mayans.

Exploring Mayan Cities

I love visiting ancient cities and temples (i try to avoid saying ruins -- as it suggests something old and not meaningful).  I've visited Chi'chen Itza twice, Uxmal (three times- my favorite, Coba (twice), Tulum and some smaller sites. We'll make a quick stop at Tulum.

This will be my first time to Calakmul. 

Here is an interesting video -- listen to that howler monkey. Can you all make that sound?

I've been reading a lot to understand how the Mayan  in these times made sense of sacrifice and death. It is a stretch for us foreigners...but i have glimmers of starting to understand the world view beneath it. 

Mayan Cooking

Should we learn how to do a bit of mayan cooking (traditional and modern)?

I love chaya -- it's a tropical spinach. Nummy.

Here are some more

Turkey lime soup--- mmmm

Some shrimp for Joe

Ooooh and here are more!

This one is with lima beans -- i think i'm going to try it.

This is the traditional poc-chuc

Learning a Bit About Mayan Culture

Here is a guide at Coba talking about the ball game they played. This site has a lot of information about the game as well.

And here a bunch of games you can play to learn about mayan culture.  And here is another fun site.

This site has loads of information based on mayans in guatemala.

An intro to mayan

A couple of good Mayan phrases

Hach ki – It’s good as in referring to food.  After you try a bit of something you can say to the waiter or chef  hahch KEE – emphasis on the KEE.

Bix a beel – How are you? Or What’s happening? The “x” in mayan is a “shhhh” sound, just like you are telling someone to be quiet in a gentle way. So this is pronounced

Beesh a  beel.

Ma’alob – Good. This is the response to bix a beel.  The ‘ indicates a quick stop before the next sound. Think of the stop almost as if it a syllable.  So this is pronounced

 mah- (min-stop)-ah-LOHB.

Dios bo’otik – Thank you (literally God will pay you).

DEE-os BOH (min-stop)- OH-teek

Tu’ux a kaahal? What is your town or where are you from?  The folks at Cesiak we will meet come from different towns (I’ll see if I can get a good map) and can point out where they live now and where there families came from.  TOO(min-stop)-OOSH-ah-KAAH-hahl