An Ancient Athenian would look at our democracy and both approve and disapprove. They would disapprove because of our select way of allowing people to become representatives. Though you can vote for a representative, maybe you don't have the same ideas, but the chance of you ever getting to that position is incredibly slim. The Greeks had someone else go into the government all the time -as long as you were over twenty, male, and free, you could have a part in leading the country. Also, if you are from outside of America, or from outside of Washington D.C., then you still may become a representative. For the Greeks, you could only be a representative if you lived in Athens. They would, however, like our system of state votes. Each state has a certain amount of votes according to population, but since not everybody over eighteen can travel to one place to vote for the president, each state has an elector, who travels and votes for us, as a representative of a village votes for the whole village, if they are away. Although their democracy mirrors ours, the reflection is different, and they wouldn't entirely approve of it.

How do we see Mayan values in our modern world?

We see Mayan values in our modern world everywhere. In architecture, there are stairways that are designed like the temples of the Maya, with step levels, and the steps coming in. Our homes nowadays are also similar to theirs. Before, civilizations like Egypt made their roofs pointed. But the Mayan often made their homes stone with a flat roof, as many apartments and houses are today. In our modern world, Mayan women are still weaving and making tortillas. Although the Mayan women back then would not have worked, now many help to support their family by weaving and then selling their work. And of course, much of the food has remained. Today, whole restaurants are dedicated to the task of cooking Mayan food, although often adding the European adaptations. And of course, we are always looking for more of Mayan history - through stellae, through pyramids, and through remains. We are always keeping a part of this history with us.