It was a beautiful day today but we've been wanting to go to the National Museum of Anthropology since we arrived in Mexico. Sundays are free for Mexican residents so there were swarms of people inside. The guard told me I could get in for free but I felt guilty since I wasn't an "official" citizen. So we waited in line, got our tickets and had a full day of museum-ing. There's so much in this museum, you could go for a straight week and still not be done! After we were done there was a traditional Danza de los Voladores de Papantla (Dance of Papantla's flyers). It's a ritual dance from Veracruz performed by the Totonac Indians. 5 men, each representing the 5 elements of the indigenous world climb up a pole, one of them stays on the pole playing a flute and dancing while the remaining 4 descend the pole w/a rope tied by one of their feet. The rope unwraps itself 13 times for each of the 4 flyers, symbolizing the 52 weeks of the year. This dance is thought to be the vestige of a pre-Hispanic volador ritual common not only in ancient Veracruz but in western Mexico as well.
About the museum:
- It's the largest collection of ancient Mexican pieces in the world
- It houses 23 permanent exhibit halls
- Several rooms have recreations of archaelogical scenes
- Is centered around a courtyard with an enormous fountain.
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