S3E5: Marissa Brown - 'The Mystical Mayans’

Beliefs and rhythm are the common threads that connect people all over the world, from Utah to Chichen Itza, from the ancient Mayans to the modern Americas. Marissa Brown, a Utah, United States native who studies music and enjoys world percussion, comes to Hayden to share the stories that taught her how similar humans of different cultures and times really are. Hayden and Marissa discuss world percussion and the beats that cultures bring to the worldwide table of rhythm. They toy with starting a band, but move on to talking about how music fits in with travel in Marissa’s life.

She learned a while ago that the best way for her to find herself was to lose herself, just for a little while. Marissa discusses the feelings brought to her by visiting ancient sites, how those feelings changed her afterwards, and the levels of happiness she experienced at the time. The not-so-hidden gem of this episode is titled “The Mystical Mayans” by Marissa; in it, she talks about the time she visited the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, to the heavily-populated site called Chichen Itza, an ancient Mayan city, which had a huge temple. She went on a tour with a local who gave her a personal perspective on the area, his home. She also went to Ek’ Balam, a true hidden gem, and climbed a thousand steps to the top of an ancient ruin. While Marissa was in Mexico, she saw temple sites, marriage altars, baptismal fonts, and realized that these people, who lived so far away from Jerusalem, believed such similar things to the people there, and she saw the people living in Mexico, and she learned that people all over the world weren’t so different from one another. Beliefs and rhythms connected them, and Marissa could feel a new beat starting in her heart.

• 1:50 - Hayden talks about how every place in the world has a different beat, a different rhythm to play and dance to.
• 4:23 - Hayden introduces Marissa Brown, a musician who caught the travel bug. She participates in world percussion, the rhythm that brings the group together. Hayden and Marissa discuss drum beats from different areas and how their distinct beats can be associated with certain cultures and feelings.
• 10:00 - Hayden and Marissa talk about how music fits in with travel in Marissa’s life. Marissa thinks the best way to find yourself is actually to lose yourself, just for a little while, as she learned on her mission call to Louisiana.
• 16:26 - Marissa introduces her story, “The Mystical Mayans”, in which she travels to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. First, Marissa goes to a heavily-populated site called Chichen Itza, an ancient Mayan city, which had a huge temple. She also went on a tour with a local who was able to give his personal perspective on his home, including a history of the area and how it compares to the area now.

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