Then we went snorkeling. When snorkeling, you have to wear goggles, a life vest, and a tube that sticks out of your mouth. The life vest helps you to float, the goggles help you to see the coral reef under the water, and the tube sticks out of the water so that you can still breath while your face is under water. The coral reef is where the fish live (like in Finding Nemo). We saw lots of very bright blue, yellow, and multicolored fish. We even saw a starfish, a stingray, and a barracuda!!
After our water adventures, we took a trip to see the Mayan ruins. This is where the Mayans lived hundreds of years ago. The reason that none of the buildings in the photos have a roof is because they were made out of palm branches. The palm branches weren't sturdy enough to stay in place all of these years, so all that is left now is the stone part of the buildings. The Mayan village was built right on the edge of a cliff, next to the ocean, so that they could not get attacked by enemies and so that they could have access to boats. The building that has the most steps was the most important building. This is where they performed their important ceremonies and sacrifices. A sacrifice is when they would offer valuable things to the higher power they worshipped. The biggest house in the village was located next to the most important building. That's because only the most important person in the village could live close to it.
While in Mexico, we also discovered that their lizards are much larger than the lizards in Florida! Proud Panther became pretty good friends with some of them!
Proud Panther and I also spent some time shopping. Most of the items being sold were handmade, so they were all a little different than the rest. They were selling lots of clay pottery and blankets. There were also some items made of wood. Almost everything was painted with very bright colors.
After all of our exploring, Proud Panther and I still found some time to relax and enjoy the beach!
I think his favorite part of the trip was the towel animals that housekeeping left for us everyday!
Well, I hope that you all enjoyed your virtual field trip of Mexico! I hope you found it as interesting as Proud Panther and I did. Proud Panther will be back in your class shortly, but I will still be missing you all from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania!
