"God...we have to walk through the woods?...Seriously Spence?"
"Come on, Hanna, it's not that bad." Spencer said.
"There's like vines and roots and shit everywhere." Hanna complained as they continued on. "What the fuck?"
"It's the woods, Han, what did you expect?" Aria rolled her eyes.
"Come on, the ruins are just on the other side of the woods." Spencer said, taking Emily's hand.
"Great." Hanna groaned as she trudged on. "I didn't sign up for this."
"I know it'll be tough, but try your best to contain your excitement." Spencer said, turning around to look at Hanna.
"I just don't understand why you have to take us on a field trip to the middle of nowhere when we have a tropical paradise of a beach waiting for us."
"I'll be fun, Han." Emily said.
"God damn it." Hanna complained as she tripped over a large root that was sticking out of the ground, stumbling forward.
Spencer reacted quickly and caught Hanna to prevent her from falling.
"Thank you." Hanna said as Spencer helped her stand upright again.
"No problem...you okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine."
"You know you wouldn't trip if you'd stop dragging your feet and walk like normal human being." Spencer said.
"I also wouldn't trip if we were just laying on the beach like I wanted to."
"Should've let you fall." Spencer rolled her eyes. "You're lucky I'm such a nice person."
Aria laughed. "It would have served you right for being so hard on Spencer."
"Yeah, yeah...just keep walking." Hanna groaned.
As the girls neared the end of the woods, they approached a short stone wall that leveled off into a grassy platform. Spencer walked over to the wall, which came up to about her waist level. She placed both hands on the wall and jumped up into the grass. Spencer then walked across the platform and jumped down on the other side.
"Hey Tarzan, there is a path, you know." Hanna said as she, Aria and Emily met Spencer on the other side.
"I know...but that would be way too easy."
Aria and Emily both laughed as they walked toward the huge open field where the famous pyramid stood.
"Ow. Damn it." Hanna said, swatting a bug away.
"What?" Aria asked.
"Something bit me…stupid bugs."
"I told you to wear bug spray." Spencer said.
"And I told you I'm not wearing that crap, it smells gross."
"So what...at least you wouldn't get a million bug bites…you never listen to me."
"You don't listen to me either."
"Clearly, we have a communication problem." Spencer said.
"God, you guys argue like a married couple." Emily laughed.
"Sorry." Hanna and Spencer at the same time.
"Wow...Spence, it's huge." Emily said as she turned around and took in the sight of the gigantic pyramid in front of them.
"This is incredible." Aria said, looking up as they walked as close to the building as tourists were allowed to get.
"This has got to be one of the most recognized structures in Mexico. This pyramid was constructed during the Pre-Columbian period and used for astronomical and religious reasons." Spencer said, looking up at the giant stone structure. "The Maya were masters of both astronomy and astrology...in fact, most of the structures here have some sort of complex astronomical significance."
"That's so amazing. And it's almost unbelievable that the Maya built this entire pyramid without any modern tools." Aria said. "Everything's so symmetrical."
"It's so much bigger than I expected." Emily said. "How tall do you think it is?"
"It's around twenty-nine meters tall, which would be roughly...ninety-five feet." Spencer said, taking a moment to do the conversion in her head.
"Wow. And there are so many stairs too. I can't believe people actually climbed up and down them." Emily said. "It's so steep."
"All the staircases rise at forty-five degree angles." Spencer said. "With ninety-one stairs on each side."
"Ninety-one? Seems kind of random, don't you think?" Hanna said.
"Not at all." Spencer said. "Think about it...four sides, ninety-one steps on each, add that together and you get three hundred and sixty four, count the top platform as a final step and you get three hundred-sixty-five...same number as the amount of days in one year according to our current calendar...seems pretty significant to me."
"That's insane." Hanna said.
"I know...it's incredible how much the Maya knew about astronomy and how they incorporated that knowledge into their architecture...especially this pyramid." Spencer said looking over at Hanna.
"I didn't mean the pyramid." Hanna replied. "I meant it's insane that you're doing freakin' math problems on vacation...what a nerd."
"Well I'm impressed, Spence." Aria said.
"Me too." Emily agreed. "That's pretty amazing."
"You know what the really amazing thing is?" Hanna asked.
"What?" Emily asked.
"That there's a mathlete who actually manages to get laid." Hanna chuckled at her own joke. "That in itself is a miracle."
"Spencer is the mathlete exception." Aria laughed.
"Yeah." Emily said. "Smart and sexy...how lucky am I?"
Spencer smiled. "Let's move on...come over here." Spencer led her friends over to another large stone structure characterized by a steep, yet much shorter staircase and many large stone columns.
"What's this one, Spence?" Emily asked walking over to the building.
"This one is called the 'Temple of the Warriors.' After the pyramid it's probably the second best known structure in this whole complex."
"Look at the carvings...these are amazing." Aria said, running her fingers over a carving of a serpent on one of the columns.
"Everything's so detailed." Emily said, looking at the same carvings Aria was looking at.
"What's with all the snakes with feathers?" Hanna asked. "They're carved everywhere and there are like a million snake statues."
"Are you actually interested in learning something?" Spencer asked.
"Maybe. You obviously know a lot about this stuff…so teach me something."
"Hanna, I'd love to teach you stuff...come here." Spencer said, grabbing Hanna's wrist and pulling her toward the columns Emily and Aria were standing beside.
"Okay. You see all the snakes carved into these columns?" Spencer said. "They're basically effigies, representing the Mayan deity, Kukulkan."
"So Ku...kul...kan..." Hanna said taking time to slowly pronounce the name. "Was like a God or something?"
"Yes. One of the most important Gods of the Mayan society...that's why his image appears so frequently. The pyramid we just saw, is actually called the temple of Kukulkan, it was used as a place of worship." Spencer said. "The name means 'feathered serpent.'"
"How do you even know all of this stuff?" Hanna asked.
"History is fascinating, Hanna."
"Are we allowed to climb to the top of this one?" Emily asked. "Other people are up there."
"Yeah we can. Come on." Spencer said, walking over to the steep staircase, leading up the front of the structure.
"Be careful, the stairs are really narrow." Spencer said placing her hands on Emily's hips as she followed behind her girlfriend.
When they reached the top, Hanna looked around at the landscape below.
"This is actually pretty cool." Hanna said looking off into the distance.
"I told you it was." Spencer said.
"So what are all of these weird symbols?" Hanna asked staring at a stone panel on the side of what looked like a throne.
"That's how the Maya wrote." Spencer said. "They use pictures to represent words or ideas...sort of like Egyptian hieroglyphics."
"That's my kind of language...no spelling involved." Hanna laughed. "But I don't understand how you read it...the symbols are everywhere."
"I'll show you." Spencer said, as she bent down, kneeling in front of the stone panel that Hanna was looking at. "Come here."
Hanna then knelt down beside Spencer.
"Okay...you see how the pictures are arranged into columns?"
"Uh huh."
"All right...well you read them in pairs of two...this one pairs with the one beside it in the second column." Spencer said, pointing to a pair of intricately carved symbols. "Then you move down to the next row and pair these two together and so on, cool huh?"
"Yeah...it's nothing like English." Hanna said, looking intently at Spencer.
Hanna and Spencer were too focused on the carvings to realize Emily and Aria observing them from a few feet away.
"Look at them. They're so cute." Emily said. "Hanna's actually interested in leaning something."
"Either this place has some sort of mystical power beyond our control or your girlfriend is a miracle worker." Aria said, staring at Spencer and Hanna.
"I think maybe it's a little of both." Emily laughed.
"So, what does it say?" Hanna asked, focusing her attention back to the pictures.
"That I can't tell you...I only know how to read the structure, I don't know what each symbol means."
"Damn. I wanted to know."
"I have a scroll at home that I had made up the last time I was here...it has my birthday and my name written on it, using these symbols...I'll show it to you sometime, maybe we can figure out how to read it." Spencer said standing up and offering her hand to help Hanna up.
"That would be awesome." Hanna said as Spencer pulled the blonde to her feet.
"We better get moving, we've still got a lot more stuff to see." Spencer said, walking back over to Emily and Aria.
"You guys are totally gonna love the cenote." Spencer said as she and her friends walked toward a large round stone wall. "It's awesome."
"It's dark down there." Hanna said, glancing down the shaft, which looked like an ordinary well only on a much larger scale.
"It's not that bad." Spencer said as she clutched the towel that hung over her shoulder and moved toward the long, winding stone staircase that led down the side of the huge stone well.
Emily, Aria and Hanna followed behind Spencer, carefully making their way down the stairs.
"This is awesome." Aria said as she walked the wide stone ledge, a few feet above the surface of the water.
"The water's so clear." Emily said looking straight down through the deep water to the bottom as the sunlight from above beamed down across the surface.
"Come on, you guys have to check out this view." Spencer said, slipping her shorts and t-shirt off and abandoning them along with her towel.
Aria, Emily and Hanna also got undressed and followed Spencer up a another stone staircase that leveled off into a wide platform about thirty-five feet above the surface of the water. The girls walked over to edge and looked down.
Hanna's eyes widened and her heart began to race as she realized how high up they were.
"Pretty long drop, huh? Don't fall." Spencer said, gently pushing Hanna just enough to throw her slightly off balance.
"Oh my God." Hanna gasped as she grabbed Emily's arm.
Spencer just laughed.
"You're such a bastard...you know I'm terrified of heights." Hanna said, punching Spencer in the shoulder. "We're like a million feet high."
"If we were a million feet high..." Spencer said.
"You know what I mean." Hanna said, cutting Spencer off and backing away from the ledge.
"So you gonna jump?" Spencer asked, looking over at Emily.
"Yep...check this out."
Emily then leapt off of the edge, executing a perfectly formed dive before breaking the surface of the water. Emily resurfaced a few seconds later and looked up at her friends.
"What a show off." Hanna laughed.
"Is it cold?" Aria asked, yelling down to her friend.
"No. It's actually pretty warm...come in."
"Here goes nothing." Aria said, before jumping straight off the ledge.
"All right, your turn, Han." Spencer said, turning around to look at her terror-stricken friend.
"No way. I can't do it."
"Aw come on...you have to. It's really not that high."
Hanna took a few small steps forward and looked down again as she tightly clung to Spencer's arm.
"Come on, Hanna!" Aria yelled looking up at her friend.
"You can do it." Emily shouted.
"You're thinking about it too much...just jump..." Spencer said. "Or else I'm picking you up and throwing you in."
"You wouldn't."
"Oh wouldn't I?" Spencer laughed. "Quit stalling...we'll jump at the same time."
"Great. We can both fall to our deaths together..."
"Nobody is going to fall to their death, Hanna...we'll be fine..."
Hanna then reached down, taking a bone-crushing grip on Spencer's hand.
"Don't let go." Hanna said as her knees trembled.
"I won't...you ready?"
"Ready..." Hanna said, nervously.
"Okay on three...one...two three..."
Spencer and Hanna then jumped off of the edge. Hanna closed her eyes and felt a strong adrenaline rush wash over her entire body as she plummeted toward the water, before finally breaking the surface and disappearing underneath the clear, blue water.
"I can't believe I actually jumped from all the way up there." Hanna said looking up, when she resurfaced.
"See it's no big deal, there's really nothing to it." Emily said.
"Easy for you to say, you're like a professional swimmer." Hanna said.
"That was a pretty sweet dive, Em." Spencer said. "And I can't wait to see you swim with the dolphins tomorrow."
"It's gonna be so amazing. I love dolphins."
Later that evening, Spencer and Emily were in their hotel room getting ready to go to dinner, when Spencer heard her phone ring.
"Who is it?" Emily asked.
"It's your mom...she wants to Skype." Spencer said, looking at her phone.
Spencer picked her phone up off of the night stand and accepted the call.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Spencer, it's Pam. How are you doing?"
"Good. How about you? How's everything in Texas?"
"Everything's fine here. Thanks for asking...are you girls having fun? How's the beach?"
"We're having a lot of fun, the beach is beautiful...we're lucky, we've had gorgeous weather so far."
"That's wonderful. I hope you're taking a lot of photos."
"We definitely are. When we get back, I'll make a photo slideshow and burn it to a disk for you."
"Great. That's very sweet of you. I'm excited to hear all about the trip."
"Well...I'm sure you want to talk to Emily...she's right here, I'll put her on."
"Okay. Thank you, sweetheart."
"Hi, mom." Emily said, taking the phone from Spencer.
"Hi, honey, I hope you're having fun...what did you do today?"
"We went to see the Mayan ruins...it was so cool, I loved it."
"That's great. I'm glad you girls are fitting in some educational sightseeing."
"You know Spencer, she wouldn't have it any other way. How's dad?"
"He's fine...he wants to talk to you. Hold on a second."
"Emily?"
"Hi, dad."
"Hi, Em. Are you having fun?"
"I'm having so much fun. This resort is beautiful."
"I'm glad to hear it. How's Spencer?"
"She's great."
"Good...do you girls have any big plans for tomorrow?"
"Yeah! We're going to swim with dolphins."
"Really? Swimming with dolphins? That sounds wonderful. I bet you'll love it."
"Me too. I'm so excited."
"I definitely want to see pictures."
"Don't worry you will…lots."
"Perfect...well I don't want to keep you too long...you girls have fun and be careful. Do me a favor and tell Spencer I said hello."
"Okay...when am I gonna get to see you? I miss you."
"I miss you too, baby, I'm going to try to get up to Pennsylvania soon."
"Good. I love you…"
"I love you too, honey."
"Tell mom I love her."
"I will. Goodnight."
"Night dad."
Emily hung up the phone and handed it back to Spencer.
"Here's you phone back. Thanks."
"No problem...your parents okay?"
"Yeah, they're good. My dad said to tell you hi."
"Are you gonna get to see him soon?"
"I'm not sure. He's hoping to get up to Pennsylvania soon, but who knows if that'll happen...he had to cancel the last time he was supposed to come home...but anyway, my mom seemed awfully chatty with you."
"Yeah, she was, wasn't she?"
"I'm so glad she let me come here with you." Emily said as she sat down on the bed, next to her girlfriend.
"Me too." Spencer said, staring Emily in the eyes as she tucked a lock of hair behind her girlfriend's ear.
Spencer then leaned in and gently kissed Emily on the lips. Emily placed her hand behind Spencer's head and deepened the kiss. Spencer shifted her position slightly and laid Emily down on the bed, without breaking the kiss. Emily closed her eyes as she felt Spencer's tongue slip into her mouth. Emily reached up and began to unbutton Spencer's shirt, as Spencer began kissing her neck, but the pair was soon interrupted by the sound of their hotel phone ringing.
Spencer pulled away from Emily and stared her in the eyes.
"Hanna." Spencer and Emily said in unison.
Spencer then used one hand to support the weight of her body as she reached over to the nightstand and picked up the phone.
"What's up, Han?" Spencer said. "I'm a little busy."
"You and Emily doing it?" Hanna asked.
"Not yet...but getting there." Spencer said, raising an eyebrow at Emily. "Can I call you back when we're done?"
"Yeah, but hurry up, I'm starving." Hanna laughed.
"Give me the phone." Emily said, rolling her eyes and taking the phone from Spencer. "Hanna, we'll be over in a minute."
"Great. Bye."
Emily then reached over to the nightstand and hung up the phone.
"Come on, let's go to dinner." Emily said, placing her hand on Spencer's chest.
"All right. But you owe me later tonight." Spencer laughed.
"Don't worry, Spence, I won't let you down."
"Good." Spencer said as she got up off of the bed and buttoned her shirt.
Spencer then walked over to the door with Emily following closely behind.
"After you." Spencer said, opening the door and letting Emily walk out first.
Hope you guys enjoyed the update. :) I actually did go to Mexico the summer before last, so a lot of this is based on personal experience. If you ever get the chance to go to Mexico, definitely be sure to go see the things I mentioned, they're amazing. Until next time…
