Answer:
Perhaps more than elsewhere in Mexico, ancient rhythms and customs form part of everyday life in the Yucatán. In rural areas this is apparent on the surface. Women wear colorfully embroidered, loose-fitting huipiles (long, woven, white sleeveless tunics, from the Maya regions, with intricate, colorful embroidery) as they slap out tortillas in the yard; families live in traditional oval thatched houses, rest in hammocks after a day’s work, and consume a diet of corn, beans and chilies.
Various forms of Maya are widely spoken, and pre-Hispanic religious rituals are still observed and forms of social organization followed. In some parts of the region, Maya languages prevail over Spanish, or Spanish may not be spoken at all. More than 30 Maya dialects exist, spoken by up to three million people in southern Mexico and northern Central America. Yucatec Maya is the dialect spoken on the Yucatán Peninsula. Eight Maya languages are spoken in Chiapas; Tzeltal, Tzotzil and Chol are the most widely used, the latter believed to most closely resemble the one spoken by the Classic Maya.
Many youngsters are now choosing to leave their rural roots, heading to the maquiladoras (factories) of Mérida, to the megaresorts of Quintana Roo or even to the US. Rather than study Yucatec Maya, many are learning English instead. But still, there remains a broad, ubiquitous undercurrent of pride in Maya culture – a hopeful sign that the culture will endure
