We've seen the sun. We've been in the sand. Today, we got to the "cult of death" part of the trip in Pomuch. This is an experience that is at once shocking to our sanitized Western ways of knowing death and fascinating in its syncretic complexity. Part Maya, part Catholic -- wholly sacred and intimate.

I have mixed feelings about this part of the trip (big surprise). On the one hand, encountering one of the most intimate of human rituals (death and burial) affords opportunity for empathetic and humanizing intercultural exchange. On the other, we seemed like interlopers, voyeurs even -- tourists. Yes, we asked permission to be there. Yes, we treated the space with the respect it deserves. But should we even be there? 

Clearly I answer this question in the affirmative, but it is still a question worth asking. And I am still not completely satisfied that I've come to the correct conclusion. For now, it is enough that we seek and receive permission from the keepers of the place. Shallow rationalization? Perhaps.

This experience is also challenging for students. We encountered bodies in various states of decay in cramped space. We heard stories about ritual bathing of the dead, which include using the bath water to cook food for other parts of the death ritual. 

In short, this is an exhausting, fascinating, troubling, promising, honoring, shocking experience.

From Pomuch we moved to the coastal city of Campeche. Tomorrow, we take the long trip to Palenque. That trip begins at 6 a.m. in the morning, so I leave you with some photos of the days events.

Hasta luego....