Country Lines and Thoughts

Something that I have been thinking about lately is the fact that for as long as I have known about Mayan People, I am pretty sure that I have always thought they were from Mexico. Now however I realize that I am very much mistaken and in fact the span of ancient Mayan civilizations includes Guatemala and Belize. The Mexico part of the ancient Mayan civilization only comprises a very small amount of ancient sites, the more magnificent and astounding sites (in my opinion) are in Guatemala. The Petén region of Guatemala has some of the largest pyramids in the new world, yet due to the dangerous nature of Guatemala, I will never get to see them on this trip. For me, Chichen Itza is exciting and it is great we are seeing a “wonder of the world” but I think I would rather go to the sites that we keep reading about and seeing pictures of. The sites in Guatemala that I have heard about so far are incomparable to the sites we have seen in Mexico. It is all beautiful and I am lucky to see any of it, I just wish that silly country boundaries didn’t have to stop me.

            This actually got me thinking again of how they took these people who are all connected speak the same language (originally) and share the same traditions and religion and put up country lines between them essentially removing all unity that once may have been. It is weird to think that there is a whole nation of people who share the same ancestors and culture/customs who in the current world considered very different due to the fact that some are in Mexico, and some are in Guatemala. It makes it obvious how silly the lines we draw on maps to separate ourselves really are, and allows me to see that really the only things stopping us from considering everyone together are some lines man conjured up.

            These lines however are a way of identifying yourself, and without them we would have to find different ways to identify ourselves. If someone asks me where I am from, depending on who I am talking to there are many different levels of identification. I can say my street, town, city, state or even country. With each identifying statement, judgments are made because the way that we define ourselves says a lot about who we are, or at least who other people assume we are. If someone said they were from Mexico and someone else said they were from Guatemala, to me they would be different. However, if they both said that they were Mayan, they would be grouped together. Therefore I suppose, depending on the level of identification you choose for yourself, people will respond to you differently and place you in  a section of their mind accordingly.

            In the United States we have a subculture that many times slips our minds because they are on the west coast and we are on the east. However, identifying as a person from the United States is MUCH different than identifying as a Native American even though we live on the same soil. So I guess, it is all relative and how you introduce yourself depends entirely on how you would like others to identify and group you. For me, I always mention that I am 100% Italian, however I can’t identify with anyone in Italy because my families traditions are much altered than they were 2 generations ago. My ethnic identity and my cultural identity are different, and I guess I never realized that that exists in other countries as well. We are learning about the Yucatecan culture while we are here in Merida. Everywhere I hear yucatecan food, music etc. however in the same country, just on the other side there is a much different culture and even within this yucatecan culture is a culture infused with the traditions of the ancient Mayans. I think this is why archeologists have been having such a hard time figuring out who the Mayans came from, and what their language was and all of that. Because truthfully, maybe we can never be sure. I guess, I just am still unsure of how to define myself, as a student, American, Italian, teenager, adult etc. Depending on the circumstances, a different definition would arise, and that is a little strange.