Abaj Takalik, Mazatenango and San Cristobal

Before heading to the coastal town at Mazatenango (Mazate), we made a slight detour to visit the ruins at Abaj Takalik.

Abaj Takalik is ancient Mayan ruins set on land now occupied by coffee, rubber and sugarcane plantations. Only 5 percent of the city — which was an important trading center in the late Preclassic era before AD 250 — has been excavated. Although the remaining 95 percent has been mapped, it remains on private land.

The site, which is about 6.5 sq km, is made up of nine natural terraces and filled with temple mounds, ball courts and flights of steps paved with rounded river stones. The site is still being excavated today and recent discoveries include an ancient aqueduct.

We had an awesome tour guide who knew just enough English that when our translator Ronald got a bit stuck on certain words, was able to help ease the way. Everyone seemed quite interested and did a pretty good job of paying attention throughout most of the tour. Hopefully they learned a lot because there will be a quiz later!

Although Lonely Planet says that travelers should “keep on keeping on” instead of stopping in Mazate, one-third of the Knights are fairly glad we stopped as we are now at 2-0-1 overall (old heads, young guns, chicas).

The Hoops women’s team was first up and although they didn’t quite recapture the glory of Friday’s game in Reu, they still put on a good show in their 45-30 loss. Suiting up for the ladies in Mazate were Jordyn, Tyler, Breezy, Brittany, Bookie, Kara, Melody, Imani and Akasha (Jasmine played the role of head cheerleader). As the buzzer sounded Jordyn had 19 points and 1 assist; Tyler had 11 points and 1 assist and Breezy had 3 assists. Both Jordyn and Tyler probably had a few more points than they were awarded because of some questionable 3-point calls.

The starting five for the Young Guns were Brandon, Johari, Connor, Jeffrey and Ronald, with Lexus filling in as a solid 6th man. Despite outstanding performances by Brandon (19 points, one assist), Johari (9 points, 3 assists) and Connor (10 points, 3 assists), the Young Guns fell to the Mazate youth team by a score of 47-38.

Aided by an Academy Award-winning performance by Shaq, changing Hoops Sagrado into Hoops Stuntgrado, the Old Heads beat the Sate of Suchitepequez selection team by a score of 59 to 49. Poor sportsmanship abounded, as classic Suchi dirty play and hard fouls came out down the stretch but in the true tradition of the Knights cultural exchange program players were able to say in Spanish “Shut your mouth, and play!” In the immortal words of Sam Levy “F… Suchi”

The stat-line shows a very well-balanced game that featured Bryan (11 points, 6 assists), Aniekan (10 points); Stan (6 points, 3 assists); Jerrod (11 points); Brandon (2 points, 1 assist); Johari (3 points, 3 assists); and before being felled by a mysterious knee injury (quick, get the magic spray) Shaq had 16 points and 1 assist.

Stat-girl hopes to keep rebounds next game, although the assists are proving to be more of a challenge than one would imagine.

On Sunday, after giving everyone a chance to sleep in, call home, explore Xela, we headed to San Cristobal to participate in the annual tournament. Unfortunately Mother Nature had other ideas about our participation. And even though some of the group enjoyed spending an hour or so playing a pick-up game in the rain, most everyone hovered in a nearby washing area and closet in hopes that the rain would stop.

Unfortunately the rain never stopped and we headed to a closed gas station to wait out the rain and wait for our bus. While waiting, folks entertained themselves in a variety of ways including a dance-off between Team Johari-Stan and team Aniekan-Melody.

Next up is Chichicastenango on Friday night…fortunately for those who remember, Friday is not a market day in Chichi. Yeah!!! No shoveling fruit goop, and horse caca from the court before the game.

And in an action of futility we’re going to give the San Cristobal tournament another try on Saturday…this time in the morning when it’s less likely to rain. Psych!!