2014-10-03

【Aiden in English】

        The only thing worse than a long, boring, dreadful plane ride is a long, boring, dreadful bus ride that Mom and I took to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. The Yucatan Peninsula is located in the Central America where the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico meet. It is literally one flat plate. I could stare in one direction and see endless bushes and jungles for miles on and on. In fact, the highest point in the Yucatan Peninsula is probably the ramp onto the highway. So Mom and I watched the vegetation and land roll by on a coach bus for 3 hours straight. It was miserable for 3 hours straight. I was far too busy playing Pokémon to even study the landscape. Whatever we were going to do, it'd better be worthwhile.

        Mom seemed pretty excited, which was always a bad sign when it came to our tours. That meant the tour would be educational as always, tiring and memorable. Additionally, Mom's way of memorable is much different from the regular good memories. In another words, she'll be taking pictures every moment, which ruined the otherwise perfect tour.

        Today's educational trip took Mom and me to Chichen Itza at the edge of the Itza's well, one of the new seven wonders on the UNESCO World Heritage list. These Mayan ruins were taken apart by the Spanish conquerors and were used to build houses. But now, thanks to technology and archeologists, the ruins were restored.

        The Mayan culture seemed very complex especially when it remained little scripts and literacy writing. Unlike ancient Chinese, we learned about the Mayans history mainly derived from interpretations and speculations. However, the civilization had much more advanced science back to 1400 years ago. The geometry, astronomy, solar calendar, sound, and cosmovision reflected in Kukulkan Pyramid, Great Ball Court, Temple of the Jaguars, Tempe of the Warriors, Thousand Columns Market, Venus Platform, and the Observatory. Interestingly, the Mayans believed in many dimensions and their "heavens" had 13 dimensions. To enter it, they needed to reach something called an eagle. Then if fate was with you, you may become a Feathered Serpent, the highest level of all kinds.

        The Mayan's religion was intervened with science in astronomy. On the equinoxes of spring and fall, the sun shines the Kukulkan Pyramid at a perfect position for 20 minutes at sunset and sundown. During this brief period of time, the sunlight casts shadows on the northwest corner of the pyramid, forming 7 triangles of light. These triangles consist of the serpent in 98 feet/30 meters coming from Heaven down to Earth as the sun moves, and this brings goodness to the Mayans.

        Not only did the Mayans have the knowledge of astronomy, they knew about mechanism of the sound. How did I know that? Because the tour guide showed us a huge wonder that was a amazing. By clapping his hands in front of the Kukulkan Pyramid for 3 times, the sound echoed off the pyramid, making a high pitched noise of ku-kul-kan. This was something I had never heard of, and it was so cool.

        As much as the Yucatan Peninsula is flat, there are many sink holes or cenotes due to the collapse of limestone bedrock. One particular cenote created a gigantic well full of fresh water about 150 feet/46 meters deep in Ik Kil. Fish were darting up and down inside. As soon as the tour took Mom and me there, I was anxious to take a dip. The only thing I didn't expect was going down 93 steps into a circular area like a pool with people swimming. I thought the cenote was like a pool on the surface not underground. Nevertheless, the sight looked spectacular. The pool was a natural well of fresh water, and just as awesome as the pool was the diving platform. There were 3 platforms in total and each was at a different height. Knowing me, you all figure out what I was going to do. I rushed to the top platform, feeling brave and courageous. All of a sudden, when I reached the platform, the platform looked a lot higher than I thought. My courageous act evaporated as I stepped up. Doubts jammed my brain. Finally, I set my thoughts aside, and took a heap of faith. The water flew at me faster than my mind could register, then kapow! I hit the water hard, but in a moment, the memory was over. Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith, just like I did.

        The Yucatan Peninsula has so much to explore. I am sure that we'll come back soon.

【红霞译文】

        乘坐飞机冗长乏味，令人心烦，但世上还有比这更糟糕的，那就是我和妈妈前往墨西哥尤卡坦半岛的大巴旅行。尤卡坦半岛位于中美洲加勒比海与墨西哥湾交汇处，地势平坦。放眼远眺，无边无际的灌木丛林绵亘数百里，高速公路转弯处几近原始荒原的制高点。莽莽林海，萋萋野草，前后足足陪伴了我们长达三个钟头之久，有点逼人抓狂。一路上，我专心致志地玩《神奇宝贝》，根本没有功夫留意身外景致。的确，在这种情况下，手头最好要有点事做，否则会白白浪费宝贵时光。

        妈妈看上去情绪高昂，对我来说，这可不是什么好兆头，尤其在旅途上更是如此。言外之意，本次旅游将跟往常没什么两样，仍然重在教育。教育性旅游虽记忆深刻，但奔波起来实在辛苦。美中不足的还有，妈妈始终保持其独特方式，绝不轻易放弃任何拍照机会，直接影响到我游玩的心境。

        今天的教育之旅将带我们去奇琴伊察，本意为“伊察水井口”，它与埃及的金字塔、中国的长城、约旦的特培拉古城、巴西里约热内卢的基督像、秘鲁的马丘比丘、意大利的古罗马竞技场、印度的泰姬马哈陵齐名，同为世界新七大奇迹，被联合国教科文组织列为《世界遗产名录》。西班牙殖民时期，当地玛雅遗址惨遭破坏，被拆毁修筑其它房屋。感谢现代科技和考古学家的不懈努力，目前废墟已恢复原状。

        玛雅文化错综复杂，文字记录极其有限，有别于中国古代遗产，我们对玛雅的了解大多依赖于各种猜测与推断。尽管如此，早在1400年前，伊察玛雅人通过建筑羽蛇神金字塔-大球场-美洲虎庙-斗士庙-千柱市场-金星平台-天文台，就已经在几何、天文、日历、声音以及宇宙观方面充分表现出与众不同的聪明才智。有趣的是，玛雅人笃信空间维度，认为天堂由“13”维组成，如若人命升天，必须先变成所谓的雄鹰，然后再视运气而定，运气好的可以荣升至最高级别的羽蛇。

        玛雅人的宗教意识渗透着天文学思想。每年夏至和冬至昼夜均等的两天日落时，夕阳斜射筑羽蛇神金字塔，前后持续廿分钟。在如此短暂的光照时间里，建筑物西北角反射出七个三角形，这些三角形上下联成一串形成羽蛇状投影长达98英尺／30米，随着太阳的运行，投影由上而下移动，预示着羽蛇神下凡世间，为玛雅人带来福祉。

        玛雅人不仅具有渊博的天文知识，而且掌握声学原理。我怎么知道的呢？导游向我们揭示其奥秘。他站在羽蛇神金字塔前，双手有节奏地连击三下，掌声回荡在金字塔四周，发出“库-库尔-坎”清脆回音，我从未听说过这种奇迹，真够神的。

        如前所述，尽管尤卡坦半岛地势平坦，但由石灰石构成的地质容易崩陷，因此随处形成很多深坑，当地人惯称“天坑”。益基尔的天坑好像一个超级天井，地下河床的泉水流经此地久积成池，深达150英尺/46米，五彩鱼儿游乐欢畅。当与妈妈随大队人马抵达目的地时，我恨不能一头扎入水中。通往天坑的石路由93级石阶组成，我原以为其圆形水池突出地面而非埋在地下，天坑为人提供了一个休闲场所，整个地貌景致浑然天成蔚为壮观。益基尔天坑池水为自然泉水，非常适于游泳和跳水，内部因高度而异共设有三个跳水台。了解我的人都知道下面将要发生的事情。我急匆匆朝跳台最高处走去，一副毫无畏惧的样子。可就在踏上跳台之际，我内心突然发虚，方才意识到自己从未上过这么高的跳台，离跳台越来越近，我的勇气逐渐丧失殆尽，脑袋开始发懵。我努力镇定情绪，重新鼓足信心，看准水流走向顺势而下，扑通！我猛然重力击水入池，顷刻间脑袋出现一片空白，记不清眼前闪现的场景。看来有时干事不能犹豫，就应该像我刚才那样当机立断，有一股天不怕地不怕的大无畏气概。

        尤卡坦半岛还有很多地方值得探索，相信不久的将来，我们会再度踏上这片土地。