Alonso may be available to guide your group to any Mayan archeological site in the Mayan world. Please contact us if you would like to book him for a private tour. www.funkytours.com/contactus.htm
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An artist of Tzeltal Maya heritage, Mendez was born
in the highlands of Chiapas and raised in San Cristobal
de Las Casas. His mother worked as a secretary for famed
explorer and archaeologist Frans Blom in the 1970's and
as a result, Mendez grew up amongst anthropologists,
botanists and ethnographers.
As a teenager, he was awarded a grant to complete high
school and attend college in New England. Living with
relatives in New York obtained a BA in Fine Arts and
Latin American Literature from Middelbury College,
Vermont in 1987.
Mendez learned many trades in the during his college
years, making a living as an electrian and a carpenter
in New England and Arizona.
In the early 1990's he married American dancer Susan
Prins and he, his wife and their new born son, decided
to move back to Chiapas in 1995. Settling in Palenque on
land that would become El Panchan, the Alonso and Susan
became involved in the local artist community and
eco-tourism. Mendez's skills as an artist, an ecologist
and a builder combined with his personal interest in the
ancient Maya, made him a welcome addition to
archaeological teams working at the ruins.
First with the Palenque Mapping Project and subsequently
with INAH and the PGC, Mendez has worked at the ruins
for the last five years as a project artist, a surveyor
and an archaeologist. His reconstruction drawings of the
ruins and faithful reproductions of Maya ceramics have
gained him a reputation as one of Palenque's most
talented artists.