Guatemala

and snacks. Guatemala is also in the zone for mosquitoes carrying the Zikavirus, and insect repellent didn’t completely ward them off in Tikal or at the beach.

Among the sights we witnessed was a chicken sacrifice performed by an indigenous group.

As the excavated ruins of a oncegrand Mayan city-state, Tikal displays the brilliance of my ancestors, with towering temples, government buildings, housing for the ruling class. Its leaders maintained power through violence and by keeping its people wellfed. Our guide explained that deforestation likely contributed to the disappearance of this mighty civilization, because Tikal’s rulers razed the forest to build the stone temples.

The park’s central plaza is flanked by two temples. You can climb wooden steps to the tops of two of them, one at the grand plaza and another, called Temple IV. A shot from “Star Wars: A New Hope” was filmed here, depicting the planet where the Rebellion is based.

From the top of the temple, we could see the jungle, seemingly endless, stretching to the horizon, with the temple tops visible above the green canopy of trees. The sounds of birds and other critters filled the air. The setting sun painted the nearly cloudless sky a light pink.

I chugged the last of my lukewarm beer and decided this was the place — as a tourist in the motherland — to ask my girlfriend to marry me. She said yes, and a new chapter began.