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FRIENDS OF THE MAYA, INC.,
P.O. BOX 1770, BLOWING ROCK, NC
TEL. (828) 295-9861
english / español

NEWS FROM OUR FRIENDS
 

After the Maya Meetings at Texas in March, Romelia Mo' Isem accompanied Sue Glenn back to Blowing Rock, North Carolina, to spend several weeks of English immersion studies.   (She learned how to say "Y'all" with a proper accent, though she was unable to find the phrase in the dictionary!)  During Romelia's visit to North Carolina, Romelia accompanied Sue and a group from the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum on a visit to art museums and private art collections in Augusta and Savannah, Georgia, and in Aiken and Charleston, South Carolina.  They also visited Sharon Mujica and spoke with David Mora-Marin at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and visited the Robicsek collection of Maya ceramics at the Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, North Carolina.  In April, Romelia and Sue attended the University of Pennsylvania Maya Week-End, where Romelia attended lectures and workshops and visited many of Philadelphia's historic sites and museums.


After returning to Guatemala, Romelia Mo' Isem attended the Simposio de Arqueología in Guatemala City with other members of the Friends of the Maya group (see below).  During the summer, Romelia was accepted at the University of Bonn in Bonn, Germany.  In September, she began classes  in Epigraphy II, Mayan Mesoamerica, and Yucatek Maya, as well as German language.  She hopes to attend the WAYEB Meetings of the European Mayanist Association in Geneva, Switzerland, in December.
 

In April, Crisanto Kumul Chan and his wife, Juana, visited Chicago, Illinois, where they were guests of Suzanne Gaskins and John Lucy, who teach Yucatek Maya at the University of Chicago.  There, they helped Gaskins and Lucy update the Yucatek recordings at the University.  When not working, they toured Chicago.  Joel Palka, from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Cynthia Robin, from Northwestern University, were able to show them the new Ancient Americas exhibition at the Field Museum.  Jeff Buechler took them to the Art Institute of Chicago to view the Maya pieces there. Suzanne and John took them to the National Museum of Mexican Art to view the traveling exhibition Arte de Textile Maya. In the evening, they visited with Beth and Gary Spencer over coffee and cookies.  All were grateful to Mark Pitts for helping make the Yucatek-Chicago connections.
 

 
Bruce Love reported that in July, 2007, he and Ana Patricia Martínez Huchim co-presented a paper at the VII International Congress of Mayanists in Mérida, Yucatan. Love and Martínez outlined their project on the Chilam Balam of Tizimin in which they plan a new translation and transcription of this remarkable Colonial Period manuscript.

Also in July, Ana Patricia invited Bruce to address her class on contemporary Maya literature at the Universidad de Oriente in Valladolid.

Bruce also met with Crisanto Kumul Chan in Valladolid and delivered some much needed funds for Crisanto's ongoing workshops from Mark Pitts' The Aid and Education Project. Crisanto and a colleague were kicking off a new glyph workshop for school teachers in the bilingual Maya-Spanish programs in eastern Yucatán. Bruce and Crisanto had a lunch meeting with the mayor of Valladolid and received permission to use the municipal administration building to hold the workshop.

Maya scholars from the Texas Meetings were well represented at the XXI Archaeological Symposium in Guatemala City in July, 2007.  Antonio Cuxil, Romelia Mo', Raquel Macario, Iyaxel Cojti, and Hector Xol were all present and active, making sure that Maya voices and points of view are represented among the archaeologists and anthropologists from around the world.

Ana Patricia has continued to publish the K'aaylay literary magazine in Yukatek and Spanish every twenty days, with editions available online.

From September through November, Ana Patricia Martínez Huchim traveled to Bar Harbor, Maine, to give a course in Spanish at the College of the Atlantic.
 

In the fall, Antonio Cuxil, Lolmay García, and Iyaxel Cojti Ren were interviewed by a local television channel concerning the Dresden Codex.  A copy of the interview was given to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and an official presentation was to be made October 22nd.  Nikolai Grube was expected in Guatemala for a visit that week.

Antonio Cuxil was invited to Switzerland by individuals associated with the Society of Geology and Ethnology of Switzerland for a presentation on Guatemala and will stay to attend the WAYEB Meetings in Geneva.

Hector Xol Choc has been invited to give a paper at the December WAYEB Meetings, "Mitología Q'eqchi' y sus raíces clásicas." 

 


In November, Sue Glenn visited the Yucatan peninsula with friend Jeanette Juba.  In Valladolid, Crisanto Kumul Chan came to visit with four of his students, Julio Cesar Sabido Tzuc, Wilfrido Kumul Tun, Gloria María Rivera Cupul, and Patricia Evelin Juárez Ek'. 

            

Ana Patricia Martínez Huchim arranged a visit for Sue and Jeanette with her family in Tizimin.  Her father, Sr. Antonio Martínez, is a renowned musician, and entertained the visitors, friends, and family with his musical group.  Dancers joined the festivities.  Her mother, Doña Ula, and her sisters and family prepared a typical Yucatecan meal that was simply marvelous.  The only person missing was Ana Patricia, who was still in Bar Harbor, Maine, teaching.

In Mérida, Sue and Jeanette visited Alfonso Escobedo, who took them to the museum and archaeological site of Dzibilchaltun.

Guatemalan archaeologist Raquel Macario continues her important work at the archaeological site of Q'umarkaj (also known as Utatlán).