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Here's a view of the new thatch roof on Temple XIX and the steel cables that are designed to hold it down in the next hurricane. For another view, see What's New in Palenque.

This view from last season shows how beautiful our Temple XX "job site" can be first thing in the morning.

This model of the Palace and Temple of the Inscriptions was made by Caroline Jacobson (photo) using "scraps from around the house": blue styrofoam sprayed with rock paint for the structures, paper mache for the grounds, and telephone wire and foam for the trees. Caroline's mom writes, "We printed the background picture from someone's vacation pictures posted on the web. The more we found out about Palenque, the more details we could add. I don't think we are the first to become obsessed with the beauty of this Maya site. Hopefully we can visit it someday to see how close we came to the real thing. In the meantime we keep ourselves occupied through another a cold Canadian winter!"

At the start of the 2003 season, restoration expert Rudy Larios and principal archaeologist Alfonso Morales survey Temple XX to determine what restoration work still needs to be done before we can trench up to the entrance of the tomb.

In March we celebrated Pakal's 1400th birthday and the Spring Equinox with a three-day festival. The local schools provided the dances — some wonderful, large-scale ones like an interpretation of the Tablet of the Foliated Cross (pictured above), the Maize Goddess and the animals from the Popul Vuh, and the Palencana — and many other smaller ones. Many of the hotels and restaurants made contributions that covered the production costs and allowed us to pay the custodians to keep the site open an extra 3 hours on the 21st. City Hall also contributed the stage, lights, and sound system. We probably had 700 to 1000 people attending the show each of the three nights. A major success!