Today’s Theme: Ancient Maya
Today’s Arts and Crafts Project: Beanbags
Theme Song: “Hi, My Name is Joe”
5:30 AM: Howler Monkeys won’t let us sleep in again!
It looks like the Howler monkeys decided to overnight in the trees over a couple of the cabins, as we were treated to another one of Nature’s alarm clocks at 5:30 am. While a couple of campers rolled over and went back to sleep, several others got up and played a full game of volleyball before 6:30 in the morning!
At the morning muster, everyone was quite excited to find out that today’s theme was the Ancient Maya. Some campers even ran to grab their shoes right away when they found out that
we would be hiking to the nearby Chaa Creek maya site and getting a in-depth presentation from Mayanist Joe Awe.
While waiting for the hike to begin, campers took a stab at sewing their own beanbags. Some of the boys had very nice stitching, and some even got requests from the counselors to sew them one!
Our hike today was one of the longest ones that we would have at the camp, up a couple hills through the jungle and onto a flat area dotted with Mayan mounds. At the site, Mr. Awe gave an amazing rendition of the Mayan creation myth, and an overview of the entire site, as well as providing campers with a photo opportunity over the lookout. Some of us even saw the top of Xunantunich peeking over a hill in the distance.
Once we arrived back at Chaa Creek, Mr. Awe gave a presentation on the history and culture of the Maya, from their origins as hunter-gatherers crossing the Bering Straits, to the decline of their civilization thousands of years ago. And just to make sure the campers were paying attention, he split boys and girls into two teams and gave a pop quiz at the end. It was a close call, but the girls scored higher by one point!
After a lunch in Chaa Creek’s nice cool dining room, we headed down the river to find some pet rocks for tomorrow’s arts and crafts exhibitions. Some campers cracked back and relaxed while their counselors rowed them upriver to select just the right rock, while other grabbed a paddle and pitched in right away. The trip downstream was slightly delayed when campers started an impromptu splashing war, but we managed to get back in time to hike back to camp for a break, games and dinner.
Tonight, Mr. Awe will be keeping us entertained around the fire with some stories from the Maya culture, including the legend of Hunahpu and Xbalanque, the Mayan hero twins who defeated the gods of the underworld!
The howler monkeys probably won’t let us sleep in tomorrow, so we should be up bright and early. Sunrise walk, anyone?
