Today is a very exciting day! For starters it is my birthday and we get to celebrate it in Mexico.  I am going to have a traditional Mexican birthday party after I do some site seeing and learn about their customs and how they are different from how I celebrate my birthday back home in the U.S.A.

My site seeing adventure takes me to an ancient pyramid called the Chichen Itza (chee-CHEHN eet-SAH) which means “at the mouth of the wall of Itza”. It is located on the Yucatan Peninsula and was once a very important part of the Mayan city that existed there a very long time ago, way before I was born.I learned some very interesting facts today about this pyramid. Did you know that what they call the “ball court” is 545 feet long, and if you whisper at one side of the court you would be able to hear it all way on the other side clearly? I don’t even think I can hear that well at home when my mom calls me for dinner.

I got a lot of exercise while visiting the Chichen Itza. Can you count all of the stairs you see in the picture? Well, let me tell you, there are A LOT! There are 91 steps on each side, and there are four sides. That means that there are 364 stairs on this pyramid.Though it was a lot of work walking up the stairs it was fun coming down and counting each step.

Do you also know there is something called “The New Seven Wonders of the World”? The Chichen Itza was voted as one of them this year in 2007, and I am sure you can see why. I wonder how the Mayans built this massive building such a long time ago when there was no big equipment to help them. They must have been very strong!How do you think they did it?

I am very excited because it is time to go back home and celebrate my birthday!
Wow! The house is decorated with amazing paper flowers. My Spanish friends are telling me “Feliz cumpleaῆos” which means “Happy Birthday”. We then had my birthday cake and I made sure that I blew out all of my candles at once. In Mexico if you blow out all of your candles at once you get three wishes, not just one, like in the United States.  My friends are trying to give me chetes which means “spanks” when they give me my birthday presents. Do your friends do that too?

Last but not least my party ends with me and my friends playing a game called “Coyote and Sheep” and breaking the star shaped piῆata.

I had a blast!  I wish all of my birthdays were this fun!  Have any of you celebrated your birthday in Mexico?