Fabrica de Jade

Today was an awesome activity! Definitely one of my favorites so far. First a little background. There are two kinds of stone that are called jade: nephrite and jadeite. They both look exactly the same and are both considered true jade, they just have a different chemical composition. Nephrite is mined in twenty-six countries around the world and is relatively common, whereas jadeite is only mined in two: Burma and Guatemala. That means that the jade jewelry here is very unique (and therefore pretty pricey). Jade is the third hardest stone in the world, just behind carbon and diamond. It was (and still is) considered the most valuable stone in Guatemala, and it was used to indicate wealth in Mayan society. For our trip, our school went to a jade factory and museum. The jade is mined in the south and then shipped to Antigua where it is polished and cut into jewelry. They sell some beautiful there but its a wee bit out of my price range.

Here's a picture of the factory floor where they're polishing up and cutting the jade:

Here are some random shots from the museum:

The Mayans used a lot of jade to make masks for their kings. Since it was so hard and the only tools they had were wooden saws and stones, it would take decades to shape the jade.

Some of the masks that have been recovered:

Wealthy people would also drill into their teeth and insert chunks of jade.

This person must have been really important. After he died, his skull was decorated with a ton of jewels

I don't know what's going on here. Either this person is having a baby or his penis has a face. I was too busy taking pictures to listen to the tour guide.

Does this remind anyone else of Stitch?

This was my favorite! Hooray for anthropomorphic jaguars

Sorry Mom, I tried to "borrow" these beads but the case was firmly sealed ;)

I wanted to buy this necklace for my mom but since the lavender jade is rare, this was expensive :/

So I bought these instead! Just some little beads to use for her jewelry :)

We learned a few interesting things about Mayan history too. For example, they used to play this game where a player would try to get a ball through a sideways hoop on his opponents side. They weren't allowed to use their hands, feet or heads, only their elbows, hips and knees. The person who scored was considered a champion, and he would be deemed worthy of sacrifice to the Gods (which was a great honor, so he would gladly be killed).

We also talked about the whole end-of-the-world stuff. The guide confirmed that the last day of the Mayan calendar is Dec 21, 2012, but he said that it just means everything starts again. The Mayans view time as being circular, when the planets align that signifies the start of a new cycle. This has already happened six times since the Mayans made the calendar and the world hasn't ended yet, so there's no reason to believe its going to happen now. Of course some of this conversation was in Spanish and I may have misunderstood him... DUM DUM DUM! But no, seriously, you're all going to die.

Look what I had for dinner! Grilled cheese and fries, Guatemalan style!