If You Think Chichén Itzá Is Wonder-ful, Vote Here

As we were having lunch at a seafood palapa in Telchac Puerto Saturday, the smiling young waiter tried out his English on us. He could have been auditioning for a job as a tour guide as he proudly talked about Mexico and, particularly, about the state of Yucatán-and he reminded me of something I've been meaning to tell you about…

An organization called the New7Wonders Foundation is in the final stages of its campaign to name the "new seven Wonders of the World."

The commonly known "Seven Ancient Wonders of the World" were selected by Philon of Byzantium in 200 B.C. His selection of wonders was essentially a travel guide for fellow Athenians, and all were located around the Mediterranean basin, the then-known world.
The monuments he chose to be remembered in perpetuity are:

The Lighthouse of Alexandria
The Temple of Artemis
The Statue of Zeus
The Colossus of Rhodes
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus
The Pyramids of Egypt
All are man-made monuments, built between 2,500 B.C. and 200 B.C. Today, only the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt remain.

In 2001, Swiss adventurer Bernard Weber founded the New7Wonders Foundation with a mission to protect humankind's heritage across the globe. Through film, television, the Internet and books, New7Wonders reports on the destruction of nature and the decay of the world's man-made heritage. Of all net revenue raised by the New7Wonders Project, 50% is to be used to fund restoration efforts.

The foundation's current campaign, as I mentioned, is to name the "new" seven Wonders of the World. And "new" is a relative term, since any monument or building constructed from the earliest time of human life through the year 2000 can be considered. The criteria are that all must be"human-built and in an acceptable state of preservation." All candidates must be well enough preserved that the original vision can still be perceived without artificial aids.

To determine the seven new wonders, the New7Wonders Foundation has opened voting to…well, the world. More than 60 million people have voted in one of the biggest global polls ever conducted-and national pride is definitely playing a part in the contest's popularity.

So what does this have to do with Mexico? The pyramid at Chichén Itzá ( at left) is one of the 21 finalists. It is not known exactly when the pyramid was built-probably some time between 250 and 600 A.D., but possibly earlier. Thought to be a temple and solar calendar, the play of sunlight and shadow at the equinox creates an image of a plumed serpent moving along the staircase. Chichén Itzá, one of the greatest Mayan archaeological sites, is located in the Yucatán Peninsula, about halfway between the cities of Mérida and Cancún.

Passions run high in Mexico and the fervor here is growing as the contest winds down. Radios, newspapers, and even Coca-Cola cans with advertisements are urging people to vote for Chichén Itzá. Mexico's tourism board created a simulation of the Mayan ruins in the virtual world of Second Life (a popular Internet-based virtual world), which has its own economy, currency, and more than seven million registered users, to lobby for votes in the competition.

Everywhere I have gone the past few days…from my insurance agent's office to the palapa restaurant in Telchac Puerto, Mexicans are talking about the contest and urging one another to cast a vote for Chichén Itzá.

There are nine days left to vote and you can do so here.

The new seven Wonders of the World will be announced during an official declaration ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal on Saturday, July 7, 2007-fittingly 07.07.07.

Best Regards,

Suzan Haskins
Editor, Mexico Insider
International Living

P.S. Mexicans are very proud of their country-and rightly so. Mexico currently has 25 World Heritage sites-more than any other country in the Western Hemisphere-and many other sites are awaiting designation. Plus, it has time-honored traditions, a stable government, a growing economy, gorgeous beaches, charming colonial cities, and much more. If you're looking for an expat destination where the living is easy and the cultural and geographic diversity is vast, look no further than Mexico. Discover the best places to live and invest in Mexico here