Wow, what a way to celebrate my 24^th birthday!  Four days ago I arrived in Guatemalan City, Guatemala.  Then my colleagues and I trekked through the jungle before finally arriving yesterday in Cancuen, in the Department (sort of like a county) of El Peten.  The weather has really been cooperating, 70’s and 80’s, I’m hoping it does not get too much warmer; the humidity in the jungle can be a little rough.  Yesterday, we roamed the palace ruins until it was too dark to see anything.  It’s amazing; it stretches over 23,000 square meters and has over 200 rooms. 

We got up early this morning to head to what is believed to be one of the two largest private living quarters in the complex.  There is one wall that is in terrific shape.  It has some carved drawings of Camazotz, a supposed bat god.  He had the body of a human with the head of a bat, the picture shows the bat god dressed in robes on a throne with similar characters, which are smaller standing around him holding strange looking staffs, one has a light or beam coming out of it striking a kneeling woman.  The wall is in remarkably good condition, it seems to be made of a unique material, and perhaps that is why it is in such good shape.  One of our guides promises to take us to another room that has a picture of the bat god with several strange markings that have not been deciphered.  Maybe this will lead to a new discovery.

Tonight after dinner Drs. Campbell Frenz and Justin Chase presented me with some sort of traditional Guatemalan dessert with a candle in it, it tasted a little like French toast, you are supposed to eat it with syrup, but we did not have any.  They also gave me a book that has the complete list of Guatemalan gods, it was published in 1890, and it is bound in leather.  What a thoughtful birthday gift.  The book is in Spanish; fortunately I am fluent; it has quite a bit of glyphic writing too! I am really looking forward to the next three weeks with these guys, and especially the palace.