Today with my student group we went to the Academy of Mayan Languages in San Jose, Peten - sorta the hub of the Maya Itza language. There are some strong Mayan languages out there with over a million speakers, but Itza is not one of them. I visited this center 3 years ago with my 1st Dragons group and they said there were 30 fluent and native speakers left. This year that number is down to 10-15, including Jorge, the man in the video below. Mayan languages are super duper fascinating to me and today while we heard a talk from a sweet kid named Marcos, I interjected and translated a bit to be sure my students got it - I compared the loss of Itza to problems on a bigger scale, the racism, discrimination and fear that permeates in Guatemala among indigenous and campesino people. Marcos told us that in the 1930s the Itza language was the main language found in this part of the Peten, but then people came in to teach Spanish to everyone and punished people for speaking Itza. Those memories remain and people have lost their language. Jorge said that his parents would take him into the woods, teach him about the plants and trees and speak only in Itza. Tomorrow is Jorge's 60th birthday. Here he is playing the marimba in the Academy. What a smile!