November 17, 2002 - page 2



The first order of business was to find a computer card catalogue. Of course, there was an old-school card catalogue, but neither Danya nor I had ever actually had to use one before, and I honestly don’t remember much from that part of high school English. Suffice it to say that after many exclamations at the computer and asking directions from local students, we finally procured the titles of books that we wanted.

Next step was to find the books. I’m sure Danya and I made quite a funny picture wandering around loaded down with our notebooks and laptops trying to find the right section for our Maya books. Not having any luck, I finally found someone who looked like he could help us. He told us we were looking in the wrong section; there was a special room for all things Yucatecan and that was where we could find what we were looking for.

So, we progress to the Yucatecan room; however, the room was full of desks and magazines; no books were in sight. We espied a small room full of books and were just about to find our section when a lady appeared and told us we weren’t allowed to be in this part of the library and we must immediately return to the desk and wait to be helped. Danya and I were completely mystified; I’d never encountered a prohibited section of a library before. The lady returned and asked us what books we wanted. We made a list; when she brought the books out, we had to sign for them and turn in our ID. After about 45 minutes, we could finally sit down and get started on our research. Our day just goes to show that when living in a foreign country one must have patience; things will get done eventually.