Since we learned we'd be coming to Mexico we knew we had to see the ancient pyramids that were in the area. We learned that the largest ones were around eight hours away by bus so we opted to go to La Quemada, a ruins just outside the city of Zacatecas. We boarded the bus this morning with the majority of our cohort members and headed out. Miles of desert and farmland later we got off two miles from the ruins. Walking down the long, seemingly endless, cacti surrounded road we wondered if we'd ever arrive. The ticket booth appeared and we paid our 40 pesos to see the ruins of an ancient civilization. The pyramid was on top of the only hill in the area and we scaled it to find what we'd desired at the top after some doubts. It loomed at the end of an ancient "ball field ". Square and massive it had large steps reaching to a ledge at the middle of its height. We continued to climb the mountian to see the other structures in the area. There was another half pyramid built into the cliff. We came upon a human sacrifice altar and the area where the rituals occured. We imagined what living in this desolate environment so many years ago, tentatively 6thc. AD, would look like. From this height we could see for miles: cacti, mountains in the distance and trees. This was the head of their civilization, it connected the many ranchers and peasants that were ruled from this spot. So much has come before us, what will we leave behind?
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