FINDING LOST CIVILIZATIONS This

The Treasures of El CondeIt was another sunny, pleasant, and splendid day whileRafael and I ate lunch at a small restaurant situated infront of the Municipal building in San Pedro Lagunillas. Aswe were preparing to leave we started talking with a younglady sitting at an adjacent table who introduced herself asYolanda.During the conversation Rafael mentioned that wewere buying land in town to build a house and showed herour plot map. Yolanda said that she too wanted to buy behindthe town church and said that many farming people inthe outlying area found ancient figures on their land whentilling the soil. She told us that her brother, who lived nearby,had recently unearthed some ancient statues.I was not surprised; I had heard this many times duringmy travels in Mexico and had similar experiences myself.As we began to question her about these statues she lookedaround and in a hushed tone told us that she had severalof these objects in her home and that we could see themif we wanted to. She agreed to take us to her house, whichwas located four blocks from the Municipal building. As wewalked to her house she told us not to tell anyone what shewas showing us. Also, that if any of her neighbors would askher who we were, she would tell them we were friends ofone of her relatives living in the U.S.Upon arriving Rafael and I sat in the living room ofher home while Yolanda went to the back of the house. Icould hear scraping sounds and assumed that Yolanda waspulling her treasure trove out from a hiding place. Severalminutes later she called out to us and we went down a hallwayand into a kitchen area. Situated on the floor were twolarge, brown-colored, plastic containers that looked muddyand were filled with rags, newspapers, and old clothes. Rafaeland I looked down at the containers as Yolanda startedunwrapping the rags. Each rag or piece of clothing waswrapped around an ancient statue. I was astounded at thequantity and quality of the statues. I started helping Yolandalay several of these figures on the table and felt a real senseof amazement at the recent turn of events and what wasunfolding before my eyes.During my journey and fascination with the ancient70