la tour de la pyramide parte deux aka 'my first mayan pyramid'

waking up right now to a myriad of bird calls and chirps
perched in my own belizian nest safely under the mosquito net
i think it must be around 7 in the morning
i spent the last half hour trying to discern the different avian voices
and imagine which bird they might belong to
yesterday i opened up the howell and webb guide
to birds of mexico and northern central america
great book
scouring the pages for the birds ive already seen
the truth is i have seen too many to remember
exotic robins, woodpeckers, toucans...
so i have begun giving my own names
roseredbelliedlikesdangerinthejunglebird or the canaryyellowwithsomeblueonthebackareyouakiskadeebird
some birds seem to loop their calls
and get in circular formations
others let out one or two loud blasts
some sound like machines or turbines or trains in the distance
others sound like they might be mimicking the few human souls
out in this deep jungle zone
i hear camilleandjasonbirds (my lovely friends who are hosting me) all the time thinking they are nearby
soon some bird might mimic me
my laugh or maybe just my display of feathers

its been two days since my first belizian and mayan pyramid
xunantunich or lady of the rock

located on the west side of belize
the trip took us about three or so hours
this included stops at waterfalls and magical markets

once we reached the zone
we began our entrance into the park by means of a floating bridge
that moved along a little system of cables
after dancing our way over
we ascended to the site in our truck
picking up some kids along the way

i really nerded out at the welcome center
and decided : i will learn how decipher the mayan calender
i understand there is some combination of a 260 day almanac year
and a 365 solar year
and that only every 52 years would a cycle or 'calender round' be completed the starting point of the mayan calender is equivalent to 3113 bc
and dates measured from this date are called long count dates
and... from what i can tell they have been separated into periods
i think and i will get back to you when i learn more
that the time period during the mayan regime and heyday is referred to as stella
which i love, of course

when i had enough i made my way up the final steps to the site
my feeling was not as anticipatory as usual
in fact i felt relatively calm
my first sense upon seeing the old mayan city was some combination
of comfort and serenity
the site is beautiful
so much green everywhere
and the mounds, temples and big pyramid definitely carried with them
the weight of time and heavy happenings

this little rock lady site consisted of three plazas aligned on a north south axis with two main plazas - the public plaza for the commoners
and the private plaza for the royals

i first climbed the largest pyramid known as the castillo
at 130 feet this was thought to be the highest man made structure in belize until they discovered the sky palace at caracol
lying near the border of guatemala, from the top i could see both countries belize and guatemala
...the lowlands of peten and the blue flanks of the mayan mountains

this was not just my first mayan pyramid
this was also my first pyramid that i visited with other people
this time i was with camille, jason and stephan
three great and super special friends forever
that i was happy to share the experience with
most of the pyramids i see during this journey will be with others
aka the pyramid lady brigade
and so i look forward to completing this new more communal chapter
of my epic world pyramid tour

the wind and the sun were really revealing themselves that day
almost as if in a trance all four of us spent a great deal of time seated or lying down (i was lying down) at the top and zoning out
ahem, i mean meditating
i think we all agreed that there were vibes to be felt
i could definitely feel them hitting my body
like shockwaves moving from the base of the pyramid up through me
imagine squiggly lines emanating from the base of the pyramid to the the top
my sense of up and down did get crazy in my mind at that moment as well
at times i felt like i wasnt lying on a flat surface
but that i was up against a wall dangling
like on the gforce rides at the fair
and for moments i even felt suspended from the ceiling
with the force of the jungle and all its ancestry holding me up

later after hanging with a mayan descendant park guard and learning about power structures of this particular mayan regime
stephan and i climbed the the central mound
separating the public and private plazas
this mound is supposed to be the central point of the site
we could see the sun on one side and the moon directly on the other
they mirrored each other
pretty mystical
stephan even readily agreed to do some yoga with me
again the wind and sun were in full force


i loved this site

(
1 for 1
go mayan pyramids!
i knew you'd follow through
)

after some belikens and burritos and a little dancing in the street
back we went along the hummingbird highway past belmopan
and such lush scenery;
rich tropical hardwood forests, palms, citrus trees and flood plains
into and through dangriga or 'sweet water' our local town
to the deep jungle backabush haven of mamanoots
where i currently reside

i have been working pretty hard here digging a LOT
mainly sticking to tasks that are needed here at the noots
today i think i get to sift sand and make concrete
helping with a fence
and maybe make cements casts of rocks
for the little garden around the main house we have been organizing

i wish i had catnip, rosemary, or geranium seeds
to help keep the mosquitos at bay
in the meantime i embrace the whole
what doesnt kill you makes you stronger deal
as well as my bottle of deet poison
close to my heart

AUDIUM

one perk in sf will be this: the audium.

adam told me about this in london. 

thanks adam!

JONAS MEKAS ON WARHOL LOVE AFFAIR

you should catch mekas' walden. 

JOSEPH BEUYS

i am searching for a beuys vest for my central american journey.

AIR PLANTS RULE!

the bromeliad family was quick to become an integral partner in my personal space. with my first home away from home, came with the freedom to reinvent my self habitat in ways i had never done before. my first step was to buy about six bromeliad plants. there in my little half of a dorm room among these little guys and my funny keepsakes, i was able to create my first sacred space; a world outside my own reality, a world of myths and magic stories, a slice of the dark crystal, a world where my fascination with miniature microcosms could flourish. as i grew older, and my personal space never quite grew the ways other peoples' did, i narrowed my vision into the genus tillandsia. with the plant comes its home. i enjoy finding wood bits , shells, anything to house these little guys. in 1991, nasa experimented in the regeneration of the ozone layer and found that at the time, that the tillandsia regenerates and purifies the atmosphere. go air plants! thanks for purifying my zone. on the mega new age tip, i suppose this plant family has always stirred otherworldliness in my own soul.  

i love you guys. thanks for existing.