The last week of language school was pretty easy-going and fun, Laura and I tended to use our teachers to help us withdraw money, drink beer, go shopping or to the movies. On Friday evening we had a traditional supper at the school as a part of the graduation party. Our teachers presented us with our certificates and we

ate supper together. After supper we went out dancing.

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 After a late night dancing some other students and I, participated in an outing that the school had arranged for us to visit some Maya ruins. They are called Takalik Ab Aj and they are located in the southwestern region of the country close to the Mexican border.

 The site is currently being excavated and it is actually the oldest Mayan city in all of Guatemala.

 The city was comprised of ten terraces, only 3 of which are open to the public. The rest of the city is currently under land that is owned by very wealthy finqueros (plantation owners). Therefore, much about the city is unknown as it lies under either, coffee, sugar and banana plantations.

Archeologists are currently excavating the second and third terrace where they have found many altars, as depicted in the photo on the left.

 This is the stairways of one of the temples that has not been fully excavated yet. The area is surrounded by what looks like simple hills, that are really ancient Maya temples. However, they are different than ones found in other areas, because they were simply made of stone and soil. Therefore, much of what was has shifted significantly, although archeologists are reconstructing it to the way they imagine it was.

They have also found graves and other important artifacts at this site that have been sent to national and international museums. Many of the monuments are carved beautifully, however it is difficult for my little camera to pick-up.

The weather here was really really humid and tropical. It was quite different than in Xela (where I studied Spanish) because Xela is part of the highlands and is much colder. Many of the altars at the site are still being used for Maya ceremonies today. On particular days of the Maya calender people come from surrounding areas to proceed with their spiritual ceremonies on newer constructed altars beside the archeological ones, in order to preserve the archeological site and adhere to indigenous rights.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takalik_Abaj

The following morning we headed to Guatemala city because we had a meeting that evening with a former BTS intern and a meeting at the Canadian Embassy on Monday morning. My cold was developing this entire time, as I had been out dancing around cigarettes, and then there was a drastic temperature difference between Xela and Takalik AbAj. So I wasn't feeling so hot, but nonetheless went to the meetings. This picture is in Guatemala city that raises the issue of collective memory and the 36 year armed conflict that Guatemala suffered, ending in 1996. The words here are comprised of faces and stories of people that were murdered or disappeared during the war. There is a lot of really interesting and political street art and graffiti in Guatemala City.