20090813 -- Cruising Down to Mexico (2)

Cruising Down to Mexico

"The place of the red corn"
Our first port of call, Costa Maya sits on the southern end of Mexico's Caribbean coast. After disembarking, we traveled inland to Chacchoben, one of the many Mayan ruins that have made the region famous. A 1.5-hour ride through towns, countryside and jungle brought us to a once-thriving city that now lies quietly in ruins. Indigenous to Mexico and Central America, the Maya became known for their advances in mathematics and architecture, and for their highly developed calendar. Long considered one of the great civilizations of the Americas, the Maya built magnificent stone cities while Europe was still in the Dark Ages.

Chacchoben, which means "place of the red corn," is one of these ancient cities. Even after the Maya abandoned the city, causing it to fall into ruins, local tribes continued to frequent the area, especially for hunting and farming. Despite these activities, the city basically remained unknow to the outside world until 1972 when American archaeologist Dr. Peter Harrison spotted the ruins from his helicopter. Today visitors can see six excavated buildings and can walk up the steps of the pyramids, which for the Maya, represented stairways to heaven.



dis-離開
disembark v. 靠船豋岸/下飛機
=> leaving the ship
eg: After disembarking in Oahu, Hawaii, we took a plane to one of the smaller islands.
eg: The passengers will be disembarking from deck 5(第五層夾板).
eg: When we arrive at the gate, we'll start to disembark.

disembarkation n. 靠船豋岸/下飛機
eg: The disembarkation will start at 8:30 a.m.

thrive v. 興旺/繁榮
=> to grow healty and strong
eg: The thriving puppy was sick only one month ago.

indigenous adj. 在地的/土生土長的
=> native
indigenous to
eg: The clothing of the indigenous people in this area is bright and colorful.
eg: Kiwi is a fruit that is indigenous to New Zealand.
eg: The local government is trying hard to preserve the indigenous culturess in the area.

ex-向外的
excavate v. 挖出/挖掘
eg: Broken pottery from an ancient civilization was found at the excavated site.
eg: Tons of soil was excavated from the building site.
eg: The excavated tomb of the Chinese emperor(中國皇帝陵寢) is not open to the public.

port of call (航行途中的)停靠港/停泊港/(旅途中的)落腳處/落腳點

inland adv. 在內地/在內陸/向內地/向內陸
eg: travel inland 去內地旅行

ruin n. 廢墟/遺跡
eg: ruins of the temple

magnificent adj. 壯麗的/宏偉的/宏大的
eg: There is a magnificent palace in the city.

Dark Ages (歐洲中世紀)黑暗時代

archaeologist n. 考古學家

stairways n. 樓梯/階梯
eg: The child fell down the stairway when chasing after the other child.

//== Chat room ==//

country 鄉村
=> I live in the country. (O)
=> I live in the countryside. (X)(不會這樣用)

countryside 鄉村的環境
=> the surrounding of the country
eg: The countryside is beautiful
eg: I love the countryside.

jungle n. 叢林
concrete jungle 都會叢林(高樓林立烏煙瘴氣有暴力事件的現代城市)
=> he lives in the city and surrounding by the buildings and he's not pleasant

corporate jungle 企業叢林(形容商場中弱肉強食的競爭環境)
=> refer to a lot of intensive competition and business