Palenque

Post date: Jun 4, 2010 5:45:38 AM

Life. It surrounds me everywhere, thick as the humid air I breathe in the jungle of Palenque. Only one mile away from my hostel here in the national park sits the ancient Mayan capitol of Palenque, one of the most prominent cities of Mesoamerica around 600-800 AD. I would call this paradise, given my lust for vegetation and animals, but the heat and humidity dim the senses and make the air laborious to breathe so full appreciation seems impossible until this American (San Diegan) acclimates to the richness of this climate. It’s the perfect climate for organisms. I have only begun my travels through tropical rainforest, but already I can easily fathom why the Amazon is renowned for its biodiversity and its undocumented lifeforms.

Humans called this home thousands of years ago, ages before air conditioning, showers, ice cubes, and electric fans. How adaptable are we? The answer is obvious- from the polar tundras to the driest deserts to the thin-aired snow-capped mountains to the equatorial rainforests we have thrived. I have learned from documentaries that there are physiological differences between natives of these various areas which make these various climates more than tolerable. The Mayans must have had impressive cooling systems. Today rivers of sweat poured constantly down my body as I explored the ruins, yet when I looked at the darker skinned natives I noticed no shine to their skins. The body does adjust, but I wonder just how much a North American Midwesterner could fully transition to feel perfectly comfortable and clear-brained. Certainly the heat and cold of Indiana takes its toll on endurance, but its weather transitions frequently. I think the desert would be even more inhospitable; it has far less water with which to douse oneself.

Lizards are everywhere! I saw a striped iguana-like lizard race in front of me along a leaf-littered ruins trail. They come in all sizes. Compared to Indiana, they are as common as grasshoppers in a grassland and squirrels in the forest.

Near my hostel runs a crick teeming with little fish and larger fish that look like cousins of white suckers. Let me take a minute to count the number of types of chirps, buzzes, whistles within ear range of my cabana porch. At the moment I can distinguish at least eight separate calls. The undertone of it all is the monotonous cicada-like scratchy sound. I suspect that the Mayans knew what was happening everywhere based on the sounds alone.

A common theme found in every primitive culture is the worship and science of the natural elements. Their lives depended on it, and it consumed their entire attention. Removed from their worlds are trivial thoughts like self-esteem issues, who said what to whom, and mulling over the unmowed yard. No, their thoughts centered on daily living chores, the movements of the seasons, the crops to be nurtured, the sun, the moon, the rain, and the wind. A similar mode of existing can be achieved, I think, by extensive camping and backcountry hiking. Such activities attune one’s senses to the physical environment, not mental phenomena. One’s activity focuses on where to go, what to eat, how to repair a tool or injury. With the expansion of civilization and vocational specialization, more time was permitted and dedicated to philosophy and religion, both of which seem rooted in the science of survival. Without experimentation, we would not be here today. The scientific method was nothing new; it was simply a symbolic expression of what we have been practicing for millions of years. We learned not through pure observation and subsequent application but through the manipulation and testing of wood, rocks, water, fire, and wind. We learned about multi-purpose capabilities as we tested material properties. Flints and obsidian, for example, was discovered to make durable cutting and piercing tools and weapons. Plant fibers are pliable yet durable enough to make shelters and clothing. Our cars are not so much inventions but adaptations of universal physical principles. Certainly the discovery of electricity and combustion systems were new energies at our disposal, but the mental processes used in their discovery were the same ones we’ve been using since way, way back.

*** Holy crap*** a freaking lizard just plopped down from the porch roof onto my netbook screen as I was typing this! It just landed and stuck there like a perfect 10 gymnast landing, then bounced off once I jolted back. I love this place! Next a parrot is going to land on my shoulder, right?

One lizard I saw earlier ran across the trail to hide from me and it looked like it was flitting along on its two hind legs alone. Upon closer observation I noticed it simply has very long front legs. Further down the trail another lizard leaped well over ten times its body length. This is a wild land! North Americans to this day believe in Sasquatch. What monsters are imagined here? I can imagine monkeys with wings and beaks, alligators that hop along on their tails, and all the abominations straight out of Dungeon and Dragons manuals.

Last but not least I should mention being robbed today. I was climbing a mossy temple on the outskirts of the ruins, pouring sweat, and looking around when a collared blue shirt guy hollered at me and waved for me to come down. Come down I did, as he was rather assertive. He did not look happy. The bits of Spanish I could interpret meant that I had trespassed onto prohibited property. I thought this strange since I had seen no yellow tape or “prohibida” signs barring the temple. I explained this to him the best I could, and when we walked further around the temple he pointed to just such tape. I said, “Oh, I see it now. There is not such tape on the side I approached the temple from. There should be more tape around the circumference.” ( in far fewer, less articulate Spanish words, mind you) He then kept saying “police.” He insisted that I stay with him and wait. He said the police were coming. He made call to them on his walkie-talkie. I asked if the policeman would speak English, and he said no. He then mentioned, “three days.” I took this to mean jail for three days. Three non-Mexican-looking girls walked up the trail. I asked if they spoke English and they said yes. I explained the problem. One girl took the lead and explained to the security guard why I had been on the temple and that I had no intention of trespassing. He told her that the temple had just been discovered and was in the beginning stages of research. He said there was likely a tomb within it and that every stone that I had bumped was my responsibility and wrongdoing, and for that reason I would likely go to jail for 5 days. @*^#^&$@%@&@$%@%$*@$*(*I^O)()*@$^&!&*#%(OQ@!(* My heart started thumping. I remained visibly cool. My gracious interpreter asked if there was anything I could do to avoid jail, such as paying a fine. The policeman was there at that point, but the guard continued to do all the talking. After a lifetime of discussion with the guard looking angry as can be, and after the guard spoke to the policeman in hushed tones, the guard’s face softened. My interpreter’s voice untensed. She turned to me and said that I could pay the policeman a “good tip, but it must be a good tip” in order to avoid jail. A bribe, essentially. “How good is good?” I wondered. The three girls did not know either. I handed the policeman a 500 peso bill (about $40-45), and he smiled and said there was no problem and that I could continue to explore other areas of Palenque, so long as I stayed outside the marked areas. I reiterated that the areas are not clearly marked then shook his hand. He seemed very mild and happy. He said, “No problem!” but I responded that I am leaving because now I am worried that I’ll trespass again since some areas are so clearly undefined. I thanked my interpreter sincerely for keeping me out of jail. She smiled and basically said farewell.

I headed towards the parking lot, thankful I would not have to recover it from the police (again), and I wondered whether the guy who offered to wash and watch out for the safety of my motorcycle had stolen something from it. I stumbled upon some French English-speaking student tourists and I cautioned them with my story. They are studying business. I asked what Mexico can do to improve its economy, and they laughed. I joked that the police clearly had a great business plan in action, and they laughed again. I have little doubt, I said, that they deliberately leave areas unmarked just so that they can extort tourists. In retrospect, I should have hired one of the three guides who approached me in the parking lot! I lament for the Mexican people being so neglected and abused by their own government. A revolution is in order. And if the U.S. wants to resolve the illegal alien problem, it must start with the root cause- the corrupt Mexican holders of power.

Good news is: the motorcycle was untampered; I found this nice, empty, cheap cabana at this tranquil hostel; I ate two days worth of fajitas, broschetta bread, and peaches and cream at nearby restaurant; and I’m sitting in an amazingly scenic environment on which the Mayans once shed blood in battle, built temples that replicate the Underworld, played religious sports in which the losers were beheaded, precisely predicted stellar movements and seasons, and thrived in such a muggy, dangerous habitat. I loathe to think that the Mexican police descended from such people. I wonder if such blood is more from the conquistadors, the slayers of life and culture of the indigenous here. Too much speculation here- bad apples grow even on the best trees.

I’ll sit still now in the jungle’s darkness with the twinkling fireflies and whirring insects.

… later, I was just finishing my shower in my cabana when I felt something on my thigh, so I brushed it and looked down only to see a three inch cockroach flop to the ground and scurry off! Then I exited the bathroom to the bed area, flipped on the lights, and I saw tiny and giant cockroaches alike scurry about, many of which darted under my gear. So, I lift my bags and stuff carefully, and I see them scatter with blinding speed like sparks from a sparkler. Nothing I could do but shake my stuff, prop it up, and hang it up. I even found one roach clinging to the screen on the wall. This is something I am not used to! In a way, I love it though. Lizards, roaches, and overgrown ants… all part of the experience. I am happy my bed is draped in mosquito netting. I tucked it beneath the mattress and slept without a problem.