Final Project

For our final project, we worked as a class to recreate the Mayan City of Copan. We used cardboard as the base of the structures, then them covered in Rice Krispies. I worked on the stelae with Tyler. We used cardboard as the base, then stacked Rice Krispies on top. We held the structures together with toothpicks and hot glue. Designs were then added to the stelae with colored gel. After we completed our stelae, we helped the others work on structures 9 and 10, and connecting them to the ball court.

I enjoyed this project and I thought it was such a creative idea. It was different than your usual final project such as a paper or an iMovie. I think if we had more time to work on the city, much more details could have been added. These include, painting the structures red, adding people, and including the rainforest around the city. It would have been awesome to continue to work on the city and then present it to other FYS classes, explaining the city and its structures.

FYS Display Day

While at the FYS Display Day, one of the classes caught my eye. That happened to be The Global Religion of Professional Athletics taught by Dr. Rev. Justin Allen. This class caught my attention because it involved two of the biggest parts of my life, athletics and religion. The main focus of this class is to determine whether a specific sport is considered a religion. Each student at the display day had created a pamphlet on a sport of their choice. They discussed facts about the sport, facts about the religion, similarities between the two, differences, and a conclusion.

Sports and religion have been a huge part of my life growing up. I was a three sport athlete in high school and attended a Catholic church weekly. Religion has always been a part of my athletics because I pray before each game. I never actually thought of my sports being a religion themselves. By reading the different pamphlets, I understand exactly how sports can be considered a religion. I think this would be a really interesting class to take because of my interest in these two topics.

Mayan Cities

This week in class we discussed the greatest Mayan cities. These included Palenque, Tikal, Copan, and Chichen Itza. The architecture in these four cities is phenomenal. It's amazing that these people could build such elaborate temples, staircases, stelae, and ball courts. This just shows you how advanced the Maya were compared to other people of their time.

Traveling to other countries is something I am very fond with. I love to see how other people live and learn about their culture. After discussing these cities in class, I did a little bit of research myself. I would love to take a trip down to see these cities. I would think it would be a great experience to actually get to see what I learned about.

Monotheistic or Polytheistic?

This week we discussed more about the Mayan religion. Were these people monotheistic or polytheistic? This is a very controversial question when it comes to the Maya. All Mayan deities possessed K'uh, a sacredness inherent in all things. This gives them the sense of being monotheistic. The people also have many gods such as; God of Sky, God of Rain and Thunderstorms, The Sun God, and the Lightening God.This perception of distinct qualities represented by distinct beings gives them the quality of polytheism. Polytheism is the worship or belief in multiple deities usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religions and rituals. In my opinion, I believe that the Maya were polytheistic based off of my interpretation of their religion. I think that with more research, we will be able to determine whether they were monotheistic or polytheistic. But for now, researches will consider them to be both.

Contribute to the World

One contribution I can make to be a responsible citizen of the community and world is to be a role model to young children. As a member of the Shenandoah softball team, we are required to spend two hours every other week at the Boys and Girls club in Winchester. As a team and an individual we have an important role with these children. Spending our time there is something I truly enjoy doing. While we are there, we help them with homework and tutor them with anything they don't understand. By doing this, we can show these young students the importance of academics. After we help them with their academics, we play games as a group. Through this, we are able to teach them the importance of leadership and team work. Even though we are only required to go every other week, a lot of the team members will go on our own time to help out. This shows how much we love spending time with the kids and our focus on bettering the world. The children there look forward to us coming and see us as role models.  Every week, we hear from them how they want to be just like us when they grow up. These children are the future of Winchester as well as the world. Every minute spent there is an opportunity to help these children become better people in the future.

Chac

Chaac is the Rain God of the Maya. The maya felt a particular devotion for the deities controlling rain. Rain gods were worshipped from very ancient times, and were known as various names by the different Mesoamerican people. Chaac is also known as Chac and Chaahk among the ancient Maya. Chaac was also related to the four cardinal directions and was connected with a specific color.

Chac was the god of rain, storms, and lightening. He is represented holding axes and snakes that he used to hit the clouds which produced rain. He was assisted in these duties by dwarfs. The rain he produced assured the growth of corn and vegetation. Natural events such as storms and the dangerous hailstorms and hurricanes were believed to be the manifestations of the god.

The rain god had a strong relationship with rulers because rulers were considered to be rainmakers and could intercede with the gods. These rulers could reach the places where the rain gods dwelled and intercede with them for people. They lived on the top of mountains and in high forests hidden by clouds. In these places, the clouds were hit by Chaac and his helpers, then rains were announced by thunder and lightening.

We only have representations of Chaac from the Classic and Postclassic period. Images describing the rain god are on Classic period painted vessels and Postclassic codices. Chaac is found to be a human with characteristics of an animal. He has reptile attributes, fish scales, a curly nose and protruding lower lip. He holds a stone axe used to produce lighting and wears an elaborate headdress.

Ceremonies were held in honor of the rain god in each Maya city. Rituals to wish for rain took place in the fields. Sacrifices of young boys took place after dramatic periods such as a long period of drought. Rituals asking for rain are found for the Late Postclassical and Colonial times in the Yucatan.

The Creation Story

What is the real creation story? Does anyone really know how we all got here? These are questions that no one really knows the answer to. Some people believe we were created by a supernatural such as a God, and others believe in evolution. It was interesting to learn the creation stories from different countries. Each story has their similarities and differences. They all started with nothing and then something became. Each country's story is based off the characteristics of that country. For example, Japan talked about islands and the sea while Hawaii talked about volcanoes. I never realized that different countries had their own creation story. I guess it's just something I never thought of. I think it would be interesting to learn the creation stories of every country and see how they relate.

What is cool?

I believe that men should be tough and strong. But I also feel that it is okay for them to show other sides of their personality in public. Men have always been known as strong and protectors of their families and women. Our culture is changing though, and women are becoming more independent. Women are starting to have some of men's characteristics and are getting more rights.

To me there is no such thing as cool. What is said to be "cool" in America changes over the years. Things go out of style and aren't considered "cool" anymore. I don't think men should always try to project the current image of "cool". I feel that every person in this would should be their self, a unique individual.

I think that being "cool" is liked to how manhood gets defined in American culture. If a man does the "cool" things, then they are usually considered manly. Men display their coolness by being physically fit, having a lot of girls, a nice car, usually athletic, and being popular. Sometimes people get the wrong impression and feel that to be "cool" drugs and alcohol have to be involved also. Cool is just an term that doesn't exist to me. Everyone should be their self, regardless if they're "cool" or not.

Time

What is time? When a person is asked this question, they know what time is but don't necessarily know how to explain it. Everyone has a different view of time depending on where they live, their culture, and what they do in their life. Everyone in America seems to be obsessed with time. In other words meaning that their lives revolve around time. In the exercise we did with naming sports teams and dancers, we got a feel for time. Yeah, each exercise might have been the same amount of minutes, but it didn't feel the same. While doing the sports teams, the time seemed to go so fast. But once we did the dancers, time felt like it went on forever. Time for me seems to go faster when I'm enjoying what I'm doing, and slower when I'm not entertained. I found this section about the Maya very interesting. It's always fun learning how different cultures see things differently. Even though we use the linear version of time, I still think that somethings are seen through cyclical time.

The Mayan World

I'm so glad we finally got to start learning about the Mayans! It was really beneficial reading the text from the book before we started learning. This gave me a heads up on what we were going to learn. It is also helpful to go back and read in case I don't understand something in class. It was really cool watching the video on the Maya civilization in class as well. I learned a lot from this. It's amazing how much progress we have made when it comes to learning about the Mayan civilization. I found the ball game to be one of the most interesting things so far. I can't even imagine how hard this would be to play. It's super cool that this is how team games began. Without the Mayans starting this game, where would America be today?

Alcohol Wise

On Friday when Ricky taught the class, we talked about many different things. We talked about making smart decisions while drinking, preventing sexual assault, and college in general. It was a good change to hear from someone close to our own age about these topics, instead of someone like a parent figure. Instead of telling us not to drink, it was more about how to be smart while doing it. It was a benefit to be informed about preventing sexual assault and rape. Ricky also talked to us about college in general, such as what we like and don't like. I think this was a good talk to have at the beginning of the year. I enjoyed having Ricky teach, and I'm looking forward to him teaching in the future as well.

Culture Autobiography

I really enjoyed doing the culture autobiographies this week. It was really nice to get to know each students culture and how their lives were. I can't wait to hear the other students' that didn't go yet as well. I also thought this was a good activity to get to know yourself more. I enjoy doing things like this because it's so much more fun that just sitting in a regular class. I would much rather do interactive learning than just sitting and listening to the teacher talk. I hope this class continues to be as fun as it has been the first few weeks.

Going Global

During the Study Abroad Fair, one stand really caught my eye. Students Helping Honduras was the one that all my attention was focused on. After listening to you talk in class on Wednesday, I was really looking forward to finding more information about it. So after class, I did a little research on my own. I found all sorts of information and videos about SHH. At the fair, I got to talk to two students who had been there. It was really amazing listening to them talk about this from someone who has already experienced it.

Ever since I was little, I've always loved traveling. I also enjoy helping others who are in need. In my opinion, I feel like this type of trip would be perfect for me. It's the best of both worlds. I believe that in order to make the world a better place, us Americans should give our time, effort, and money to others who are less fortunate. I feel that I am a perfect person to do this. Because of school and sports, summer would be the best time for me to do this. I would love to go to Honduras for a week or two to help out in anyway that I could. I'm anxious to hear back from the organization here at SU and see when I would be able to go!