Merida, Mexico (CNN) -- There may be no one left on Earth to say TGIF this week. Some believe the world is coming to an end Friday -- on 12/21/12 -- which is when an important phase on the ancient calendar of the Mayan people terminates. Mayans don't buy it. At least the ones living in the city of Merida, Mexico, don't. Neither does anyone in the Mayan village of Yaxuna. They know the calendar their ancestors left them is about to absolve a key phase -- the end of an era and the heralding of a new one -- but they don't think we're all gonna die.
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Some believe a major calamity will occur Friday based on the Mayan calendar
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The Mayans don't think that's true: "It's an era," a Mayan wood carver says
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The end of the winter solstice marks the end of a 394-year period on the calendar
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Predictions mention a deity but not the end of the world, an archeologist says
Though 12/21/12 is a somewhat congruent date on the western calendar, the @placeholder version enumerates the event in a different way.