The boys seem hopelessly at odds, their only hope being to win the ancient Mayan game played with a heavy rubber ball which may not go out of the air and can only be hit with the middle of the body, but once Pieter gets his head back it ...See moreThe boys seem hopelessly at odds, their only hope being to win the ancient Mayan game played with a heavy rubber ball which may not go out of the air and can only be hit with the middle of the body, but once Pieter gets his head back it proves a close contest, which they win after returning the cowardly stolen first point of the Lords of the Underworld, who know tell them -accidentally- the way out, back to the surface. They wonder how man can be made by corn in the Mayan tradition, since that crop only became what it now is by slow selection of every more grains per stem. Sowing is considered an act of creating life, even re-creating a 'new' world. Villagers teach them to make a pact with mother earth trough prayers, before clearing the jungle-overgrown field-to-be laboriously by machete after a ritual excuse for hurting the vegetation, then a Catholic procession and grand fiesta meanwhile prepared by the women to bless the seeds, with various dances considered as a form of moving prayer. The next morning, they finally can start separating the individual seeds before planting them properly, not deep but using pointed stakes. Written by
KGF Vissers
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