The Proyecto Arqueológico Cueca Mirador is the driving force behind the excavation and analysis of the Mirador Basin region of Guatemala, under the direction of Richard Hansen and Edgar Suyac. The National Museum of the American Indian travelled to Guatemala City to talk with Edgar, who is Co-Director of the project, and a pre-eminent scholar of Mayan descent.

I was overjoyed to be back in Guatemala City, and am tremendously thankful for the kindness and hospitality shown us by Edgar, his team of archeologists, and especially his protegé Enrique Hernández who took us on a tour of Guaté following our interview.

Enrique took us to some archeological sites that are associated with Kaminaljuyu, once one of the largest Mayan cities in the world, which now lies buried beneath present-day Guatemala City. Only a few exposed mounds remain of this once great urban center, and some excavations have revealed a rich and elaborate cityscape whose true grandeur may be lost to history forever. What still lives on, however, is the heartbeat of the Mayan people themselves, whose varied and rich culture is still thriving in this splendorous country of hardship and hospitality.

From there, we’ve launched ourselves into Lima, Peru; a dense urban landscape on the dry ocean plain of Peru’s Pacific coast. Tomorrow we have another interview, and then I will depart alone for the Northern Coast, where I hope to spend some time amongst the relics of the Moche culture that pre-dates the majesty of the Incan Empire by many centuries, perhaps visit Cajamarca in the Northern Highlands of the Peruvian Andes, and fit in some time to unwind!

It’s been awhile since I last posted an item to my blog, but I think there’s a new trip you might like to hear about!

Wednesday I’ll be leaving for Guatemala City, the capital of Guatemala. We’ll be shooting an interview there with Edgar Suyac, a Guatemalan archeologist, for an upcoming Smithsonian Exhibition called ‘Infinity of Nations.’ While there I hope to visit Antigua once again, which is one of my favorite Central American cities. It is a beautifully vibrant city located in the Central Highlands just a short trip from the capital that still bears the scars from a volcanic mudflow that devastated the city during the 16th century.

From there, we’ll be flying to Lima, Peru which will be my first time crossing into South America. We’ll buzz right over Costa Rica, which previously was the southernmost country I ever visited.

In Lima, we’ll be shooting an interview with a Quechua historian. The subject matter of this interview is a carved gourd from the Arica region (close to the Chilean border.)

After my work is done, I hope to explore the Northern section of Peru. I have heard terrible stories of deadly land-slides in the region of Cuzco and Machu Picchu, so I have decided to stay away. Transportation is reputedly impossible in some parts of this tourist mecca; and I wouldn’t want to strain an already overwhelmed infrastructure just for my sightseeing pleasures.

There are many interesting sights and experiences in the North: pre-Incan sites hidden in the cloud-forests of Chachapoyas, rich ancient tombs of the Sipán culture around the coastal city of Chiclayo, and the unique contemporary afro-peruvian culture of the Ecuadorian border region. Suffice to say, I am very excited about the journey, and thankful for the opportunity to see this fascinating part of the world.

Please keep an eye here, on my blog, and I will try my best to post updates from the road.

Relevant details:

From Mackinaw City; taken while chewing a stick a’ Blackjack licorice gum.

K’atepan is a second ruin site in close proximity to San Mateo Ixtata; it is directly across the valey from Wajxaklajunh, and in fact is visible from the top! When we arrived, around mid-day, an elementary school had just let out nearby, and about 100 kids streamed into the small courtyard of the ruin to play! Each kid had a little cup filled with a corn drink; Elias told us the that the mothers of the students take turns preparing it during the week. It was really funny watching these kids run around the ancient site: they were particularly fond of bouncing soccer balls off the stone walls of K’atepan.

Thursdays and Sundays are market days in San Mateo. Hundreds of Guatemalans come to the narrow streets of this small community to buy and sell food, textiles and essentials.

Click through either image to see my new set of images.

My first big set of images is finally up at my Flickr site, click the image above to visit!

I hope to send up a new big set every weekend or so. Since returning from Guatemala, I’ve been inundated with work: I have hit the ground running in my new role as videographer for the exhibition media department. Things in the new role have been great so far, but extremely busy. This week I’m working at the National Museum of the American Indian, on the National Mall (my office is still at the Cultural Resources Center in Maryland, however.) I love being able to step outside into the throngs of visitors and Washingtonians strolling along ‘America’s Back Yard.’

So I have returned safely home from Guatemala, to find myself up to my ears in work. I am trying desperately to find time to sort through my photos, and will have a nice set of images up soon.

In the meantime, here is a nice picture from Tikal, of Temple III taken along the Tozzer Causeway.

Here we are doing laundry at Elias and Beth Alonzo’s house (on Sunday.) In San Mateo, everyone uses these concrete wash basins, and does it by hand. When you finish washing an item, it goes up onto the roof. Everywhere you look in San Mateo you see colorful laundry drying on lines, roofs, and hilltops. Personally, I could think of no nicer way to spend my Sunday…

After 30 minutes in the internet cafe, I have one photo online! Never fear, I have taken hundreds, and will be sorting and uploading them when I get home (which will be a huge job, as I already have taken so many, and I still have a few weeks to go…)

This is the view down the valley here, it’s a long way to the bottom. The streets in San Mateo are precipitously steep, yet children play soccer on them: that is a high-stakes game for sure! I can imagine many lost balls have come to rest far down this beautiful canyon.

This week I pack my bags, cross my ‘T’s, and dot my ‘I’s; Saturday I am leaving town, bound for Guatemala!

I’m not going alone, and I will be working; The Smithsonian is conducting a virtual museum workshop in the Chuj Mayan community of San Mateo Ixtatin in the mountainous western highlands (elevation 8500 feet) and I will be providing photography instruction along with two co-workers, Mark and Emily. Our goal is to give the students enough hands-on time with camera equipment and internet publishing software to create a virtual museum of their community for the web.

If you are interested in the school we’ll be visiting, you can see their website at http://www.ixtatan.org/

I want to keep people updated on our work, and what I’ll be up to. Please come back for more information and pictures from the trip. We will have internet access there, amazingly!

Meanwhile, I should really get back to packing.