Day 6 - Zaci and Ticuch

The cenote Zaci is a basically a large cave filled with water located smack dab in the center of Valladolid. Many of the kids commented how strange it seemed to have such an amazing natural wonder in the middle of town. The truth is that Valladolid is built on the bones of an ancient Mayan city. Every Mayan city had at least one large cenote located nearby as a source of water for the people (there are not rivers in the peninsula). 

We had a great time there.

Later we traveled out to a small village called "Ticuch" to visit a family that are old friends of mine. 

 

I have known Juan and Lucia for 14 years and have visited them often. They are a traditional Mayan family who speak and live Mayan traditions. They have many children and you can see that they care about each other very much. They were married when Lucia was very young (in her mid-teens) and Juan was in his 50's. When I first met them they were a very humble family with lots of mouths to feed and Juan had to work long, long days to provide for the family while Lucia did the same, caring for Juan and the children. Now however, the girls are grown and have families of their own. They all work to provide for each other and now have quite a large income. 

The kids treated the family with respect and it made me glad to see that. They played with the kids, made tortillas and put up with listening to Juan tell stories that had little to no meaning. I feel that it was a beautiful experience that the kids won't soon forget.

  

 

 

 

Here's a short video of Juan that we took. It was a great visit.