streets of the beautiful city of San Andres Itzapa, Guatemala, I was welcomed by the unfamiliar sight of stray dogs roaming through the streets, a mass amount of trash lying in the river, and children running about without any shoes. I heard the sound of roosters crowing, the horns from tuc tucs passing by, and the native Spanish speakers. I felt overwhelmed because Guatemala had put me in a situation outside of my comfort zone. I was culture shocked. I had little idea of what was in store for
wonder why certain traditions can be noticed within a mix of unrelated cultures? Well some cultures may not be so distant after all. Izapa is an ancient civilization that arose around 1500 B.C and is located along the Pacific coast of the Isthmus of Tehuantēpec in the district of Chiapas, Mexico. Not far from the Izapan civilizations are two different ancient communities called the Olmec and the Mayan. At first glance these cultures may not seem to be related but at closer inspection archaeologists have
the nomadic Nahua tribes, who were under the power of the Mayan Empire (Haggarty). It can also be noted that, “the area that is now El Salvador was made up of two large Indian states and seven principalities…[m]ost of the area was inhabited by the Pipil,” (Dickson-Gomez). While the Pipil were agricultural people, they did establish large urban centers. It has been stated that the Pipil culture was one that was advanced, however, “Pipil culture did not reach the advanced level of achieved
in one geographical area covering all of the Yucatan Peninsula and modern-day Guatemala, Belize, parts of the Mexican states of Tabasco, and Chiapas, and the western part of Honduras and El Salvador. The Maya isolated themselves in this area to remain relatively secure from invasion by other Mesoamericans. During this era, long-distance trade was developed, the famous Mayan pyramids/temples were built and the ancient Mayan people continued to develop the art, math’s, and sciences they are paid homage
only a murderous madness, but the thought of a political Utopia, tempting many political leaders of multi ethnic, religious, and cultural societies throughout history. ADD HERE The Genocides in Guatemala stemmed from a long build up of racism and anger between the government and the citizens of Guatemala that cascaded into a civil war were tactics of warfare and a merciless genocide were conducted by General Efrain Rios Montt and his “death squads”, slaughtering thousands of people. Due to attempted