Mayan Architecture

This week we continued talking about the Maya's great achievements and intelligence. I was amazed at how precise their measurements and buildings were for being so primitive. They were able to design and erect buildings that have lasted for centuries. The Maya's constructed temples and palaces that were beyond the level of the Roman architects of the same time period. That to me is outstanding. The Maya have proved to be a civilization for greater and grander than I ever would have expected.

Mayan Intelligence

This week we discussed the Maya's intelligence. The Maya were actually highly intelligent for being such an ancient civilization. They had a written form of communication and a numerical system for recording numbers. There number system is really cool and I am rather surprised at how well it is for being so primitive. However, it is vegisimal and that part makes it a bit tough to figure out. The number system I know and use is based on units of 10 but the Maya used 20 as their unit. However, it is still a cool system and I can't believe how well it works. I hope to learn a bit more about their writings though. Unfortunately, they use symbols and they aren't consistent enough to be easily interpreted. The Maya are (not all that surprisingly) a very interesting and intelligent civilization.

Mayan Deities

This week's topic was the Mayan religion and their gods. I really enjoyed learning about their gods and how their view of them is rather different from how most people view god today. The Maya sometimes would see one god as many gods and one god could actually be the exact same god as another. That part makes the Mayan deities rather confusing. However, by analyzing key gods and learning which ones are commonly divided, the gods become easier to comprehend. One god that is commonly multiple gods is Chaak. Another one that is interesting is K'uk'uclan, the Plumed Serpent. K'uk'uclan is the same as the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, which is to me, a bit odd. It's just strange that the Maya used a god from a different religion and made it their own. All in all, the Mayan religion is very interesting.

Dance

Wednesday's FYS class was unique in that we sat in on a dance lecture. I learned about the various types of dances and about how some dances center on the music while others focus on the movements. I also learned about leading and following. The seminar also made it very clear that dancing is about communication, whether it is with the partner or to the audience. The one question I was left with was about tribal dances. All sorts of ballroom and social dances were discussed but since our FYS class is about the Maya, I wondered what their dances were like or how they viewed dance, if they danced at all.

Mayan Goddess: Ixchel

The Maya had many gods and goddesses. I found one I haven't heard of before named Ixchel. Ixchel is the mayan goddess of child birth, medicine, crafts, rainbows, and the moon. She is depicted with snakes for hair and carrying a jar. The jar is said to hold immense amounts of water, which becomes rain and floods when she turns over the jar. Ixchel is most notable for being the patroness of child birth and as a moon goddess. Ixchel loved the sun but was not trusted by her father and the sun. Ixchel decided to follow the sun, but angry over the sun's mistrust, she decided to disappear whenever the sun came around. This explains the day and night cycle. This also ties into Ixchel as the child birth goddess, because when she is avoiding the sun, she aids and nurses pregnant women. Ixchel's medicine and child birth abilities were so legendary that a temple was erected on the island Comuzel. Mothers and daughters from all over would migrate to this "Island of Women" to worship Ixchel.
Aside from child birth and the moon, Ixchel is said to have invented weaving and controls rainbows and storms. By turning the jar upside down, Ixchel is able to unleash rain and floods that can be beneficial or disastrous. Rainbows form from Ixchel being happy about the new born children.
It's interesting to see how the Maya tasked so many things to one goddess. However, all of the tasks intertwine and relate in some way to create a very unique deity. I do think that Ixchel looks strange for having the personas of motherly care giver and lustful mistress. It is said though, that the snake hair symbolizes rebirth and that the clothes revealed her emotions. This symbolism is interesting but still leaves the goddess looking less than envisioned.

Religion

This week's topic was the Mayan religion. In the FYS class, we specifically talked about the Adventures of the Hero Twins. The Hero Twins were not humans but were human-like. Their adventures emphasized the cardinal directions and the creation of the Ballgame. The Maya's reactions to their gods and religion was extremely devout. Their culture and religion are one in the same. Everything the Maya did had a religious purpose behind it. It's kind of weird to conceptualize because of living in a world were one might do something out of religion but do something different out of culture. The Maya's actions whether cultural or not were always for religious reasons. I wonder if other civilizations have such a fusion of religion and culture?

Time

Last week's topic was time. It was literally the most mind boggling subject I've ever learned. Time is viewed by so many cultures in so many different ways, and yet, it is not even real! Of course, it is but it isn't... Time is just confusing. As an average American, I view time on a linear level. I can't jump to any one time. The past is the past, the future is the future, and I live in the present. However, I also see cycles in time. Day and night, the seasons,  and the calendar all repeat. The Maya saw time cyclically. This explains the big talk about their round, repeating calendar. In Christianity, Jesus died for all. This one time was good enough because it would affect the entire future, and only the future is the future. However, the Maya had many human sacrifices because the sacrifice would only cover until the cycle restarted. I guess that means when the future became the past? Well, when all is said and done, I do understand that how the Maya viewed time is very different from how I view time. Time is something however, that I, and probably most people, will never fully grasp!

Popol Vuh

This week the subject of the FYS class was the Popol Vuh, creation myths, and Mayan civilizations. I still am a bit confused with the Mayan creation story because it is rather long and detailed. However I am surprised to see how many creation stories have such strong similarities. Many of them mention a "Great Flood". Many of these myths also blame women for something or mention a fruit that was not supposed to be eaten. (Eve ate the fruit of the forbidden tree and Persephone ate a pomegranate.) So many similarities between such random cultures and eras is very interesting. Even more interesting is that the Mayans had huge pyramid like temples, much like the Egyptians had only thousands of miles away. I am very curious as to how cultures that are so far apart physically can be so similar.

Gender in Culture

This week's focus seemed to be centered on the roles that society thinks men and women should have. It seems that no matter how someone looks at a social problem like street harassment, gender seems to be the gray area. The FYS class seemed to have different opinions on victim blaming and gender dominance. Unfortunately, I think both views are somewhat right. Women, at least in our current society, are not equal to men. The big example was that in a rape case, the woman should not have been dressed like a whore. If the victim wasn't dressed inappropriately, then she should have been in a group or should have ran faster. Well, if she had done things differently she might not have been raped. However, should of she had to do those things to avoid rape? No. The MAN was the one who raped her and that won't change. He was in the wrong and that is all there is. This gender role issue however, seems to no longer just be men over women. It seems that men are simply the only ones holding on to the idea that women are less than men. Most women are stepping out of their shackles and most men are letting them. When there is a dispute in this trend however, men seem to be the ones not allowing things to change. Do I know what the future holds, no. Do I hope that women escape their past and become equals, yes. I truly don't think there is much that can be done about this because I think the problem is psychological. Men will need to change their view of women. However, for now, women should take more preventive measures. Rape probably is more likely if the women provokes the man through appearance, even if she doesn't mean to. May the world someday reflect that men and women are equal.

Street Harassment

On Wednesday, all of the FYS classes gathered to hear a guest speaker talk about International Anti-Street Harassment Week and about street harassment in general. The speaker showed this video which I thought was a nice little clip that fit in with what she was saying. One thing that really surprised me was that Egypt and the Middle East have really high numbers of gender based street harassment even though the women are hardly visible because of all of the clothing. It is so bad in Egypt that they have separate transportation modes just for women to limit harassment. This blew my mind. I knew that America would have bad numbers but I never thought the Middle East would. In America I have noticed women have a tendency to dress inappropriately, and men tend to be disrespectful perverts. (Not saying all men are perverts or women trash.) For the US I can simply understand why the numbers would be high. The problems line up. In the Middle East however, there must simply be a gender dominance thing that is not as prevalent here in the US. I don't see any other reason why men would hit on women that are so under exposed. Women in the US tend to over expose their bodies which would lead to harassment here, but I was truly shocked to hear about the issues in other parts of the world.
On a side note, I wonder too how the Mayan women were treated. I know some ancient cultures worshiped women over men, but others used the women as sacrifices and slaves. Just curious as to how street harassment would have been viewed in their eyes...

Cultural Perspectives

So this week the FYS class finished the cultural autobiographies. But as I looked back to write about them, I realized that the FYS all had similar autobiographies. That's because everyone is from America. However, what are other people's autobiographies? I looked on Youtube and found this video and it showed me how someone from a totally different place, views America from a cultural standpoint. Sudan's customs and practices, the way of life, is so different from those of America. They didn't have the same foods or habits and it was really interesting to see that. I hope that the Mayan culture will soon become a focus of this Seminar, but I understand now the global objective of this class.

Study Abroad

Today my class went to a Study Abroad Fair. It really showed just how much other stuff is out there beyond the borders of the US. It was cool to find out about some of the interesting places people will go to study things like nursing or business management. As a pre-pharm student there wasn't much in the way of internships to other countries but there were still tons of cool trips that would benefit anyone. Surprisingly, I kind of want to travel abroad now, but I don't know if that will ever happen. It was interesting to say the least, but I'm sure the US probably looks just as interesting to foreigners who haven't been here before. I wonder how much of my interest is true wonder about a foreign land and how much is just curiosity of leaving the US? Is that country interesting because it really is, or is it interesting because it is not America?

Culture

This past week the class gave individual cultural autobiographies. From these autobiographies I easily gathered that what people define culture as greatly differs. Some people viewed culture as where their ancestors came from or what their religion is. Some thought it was what personality traits they have and where they got them from. In my opinion, all of those views are right, but I think culture is probably best defined as the combination of all of those. Ancestry affects people greatly but so do the friends and family around them. I also think knowing where you're from can help guide you where you want to go. After hearing all of these autobiographies and discussions on culture, I do wonder what the Mayan culture was like and what defines the Mayans. I think they were very religious and maybe their culture revolved around that. The big question is does their culture have a large affect on this Doom's Day 2012 thing? Maybe their culture doesn't have anything to do with it? The Doom's Day mystery seems to be centered on the Mayan calendar, but how important was this calendar to the Mayans and how does it fit into their culture? I guess I will have to wait and find out.

Welcome!

This blog will cover my opinions and views on information gathered from a college seminar called The Mayan Prophecy of 2012: End of the World? This seminar will hopefully provide me with an insight into the Mayans and teach me more than I could ever know about a people, culture, and prophecy shrouded in mystery...