Before you go to Central America: eras, customs, phrases and what is still there

Eras in a line

Before 1492 (15000 BC–1492) — Mesoamerica, from central Mexico to Honduras, saw three thousand years of cities before the Spanish arrived.
Empire and the colonial Americas (1492–1808) — Created in 1535 with Antonio de Mendoza as first viceroy, New Spain was governed from Mexico City, built on the ruins of Tenochtitlan.
Revolutions and new nations (1808–1898) — When Napoleon imprisoned the Spanish king in 1808, towns across Spanish America formed juntas to govern in his name.
Revolution, war and dictatorship (1898–1975) — After 1945 Latin America became a front in the Cold War.

Adelante, joven. Pase, mire con calma. — Go ahead, young man. Come in, take your time looking.
Los mayas no desaparecieron: hoy son unos seis millones de personas. — The Maya did not disappear: today they number about six million people.

The Classic Maya: Tikal, Palenque and the collapse — You can walk among the temples of Maya cities such as Tikal and Palenque, where the buildings raised under King Pakal still stand.