I was going to school in Mexico at the University of Guanajuato and its San Miguel de Allende Art Center, when one weekend a companion and I decided to go to Tikal. When the plane landed on the airstrip and we stepped off, my friend saw a snake, and with that, she hopped right back on the plane without even looking at Tikal. Not me. A little old snake wasn't going to send me away.

Detail of Stela 31, Tikal. This and all rubbing images by Merle Greene Robertson copyright 1995 Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute.