Voladores

 

Los Voladores de Papantla

Flyers of Papantla

Several years ago, Alice and I drove our little Tsuru to Merida. We stopped in Papantla to see the beautiful pre-Colombian archaeological site, El Tajín, and we bought a bunch of fresh vanilla beans. While searching for  fresh vanilla beans in the centro street markets, we encountered the voladores, the fliers. We saw them 'flying' in downtown Papantla - and it was an awesome site. There was a big hawk circling above them, and the bird seemed to be responding to their flute playing and drum beating. I took a bunch of pictures you can see here (https://plus.google.com/photos/102326992936227885261/albums/5468952612170978929?banner=pwa).

Since we have been in Puerto Vallarta, we have heard that voladores also 'fly' here. But despite locating their 30 meters ( 98 feet) high pole between the ocean and the malecon, we had not been able to find them performing. The tourist police told us that they came there every afternoon at four-thirty. Not true. Another person said that they only perform when a cruise ship is in port. Yet another told us that they didn't come if it was too windy or too hot. Others said that since it was now hotter in the afternoon, they would come much later in the afternoon - close to dark.

Finally, yesterday - the fourth time we had tried to catch the rascals, we went to that spot beside Bahia de Banderas where they were alleged 'fly'. They were not there, but a man at nearby Chico's Dive Shop told us they would be there in an hour or so.Time can be indefinite in Mexico. So, we walked along the malecon for the next hour. I bought a cup of corn in a chipotle salsa and we looked at people.

 

When we returned to the site, the voladores were just finishing their flight. We arrived just in time to see them touch down.

Before we could even cuss, the guy who works in Chico's stepped up and asked if we had missed the show. We told him yes, and he informed us there would be another performance shortly.   

The men reappeared in their traditional native costume. The Totonac dress for this ritual consists of a red pants with a white shirt, a cloth across the chest and a cap. The pants, hat and chest cloth are heavily decorated with embroidery. The cloth across the chest symbolizes blood. The hat is adorned with flowers for fertility, mirrors represent the sun and from the top of the pole they fly from stream multicolored ribbons representing the rainbow. 

After about ten minutes, they climbed the pole.  They wound four long ropes around the top of the pole. Then one played the flute, chanted and beat a small drum as he sat and then stood atop the pole.
The ceremony begins with a dance and song type called a son. Usually the initial song played and danced to is called the son of forgiveness. After this, the five men climb the pole with the chief or caporal going first. The caporal will not descend but rather will stay at the top of the pole until near the end of the ceremony. The caporal stands on the manzana (apple) which is a small platform at the top of the pole. From this capstan is suspended a square frame called a cuadro (square) on which the other four voladores sit.

Suddenly, the four literally fall head over heels off the top of the pole, dangling by just one of their ankles from a rope. The voladores gracefully spin and flutter around the pole as their individual ropes unwind swinging them into a wider circle until they reach the ground.

This whole "performance" is an important religious ceremony dating back 1500 years. The ritual started in central Mexico in honor of the God of Sun, for the purpose of boosting that year's harvest and improving fertility. The voladores represent fire, earth, water, and air. As they “fall” from the top of the pole, their arms are outstretched and their heads point towards the ground. The flutist on top of the pole begins the ritual by facing east, symbolic of the origin of the world. Each volador spins thirteen times around the pole before reaching the ground. 13 spins x 4 flyers = 52, and 52 years, according to the Mayan calendar, encompasses one solar cycle. Of course, 52 weeks makes a year, which symbolizes the birth of a “new sun.”

What the Hell is Happening in the US??

Looking at the news via the internet this morn I was directed to a video of police in NY spraying mace into female Wall Street protester's faces.



I thought the heartless days of Nixon, Reagan and Bush were over. How can Obama let this happen?

Obama, call out the national guard to subdue the police!!

'Southern Blues' Way Down South in Mexico

Two heavy doses of 'Southern' US culture have come our way in the last week. First we were treated to a great 'Southern' Bar B Que dinner, - a pig pickin
, and then we were treated to what I could only call hardcore 'Southern Blues' music - but, by a way southern Mexican Band, Monroy Blues. The band played at the Museo del Pueblo de Guanajuato, Calle Positos 7, Colonia Centro, next to Universidad de Guanajuato. We've attended a number of concerts at the Museo del Puebla, classical guitar concerts, etc. I was expecting traditional Mexican music, but was happily surprised to find so much more.

The group played two distinct styles in seperate sets. The first set was pure Blues and the second set was a loose form of traditional Mexican music called Huapango. This musical style originated and is played throughout La Huasteca region in Mexico which includes portions of the states of Veracruz, Tamaulipas, Hidalgo, Puebla, Querétaro and the band's home state, San Luis Potosi.

The band was great and shifted gears effortlessly. I'm guessing there were a number of family members playing together as the age range of the band member was wide and they played so smoothly together. I grabbed a taste of their music from the web to go with my pics. Check it out!
We hope to see them again.

Blues Set

Traditional Mexican Music

Eine Kleine Nacht Musik

Guanajuato Moonrise

I remember when I moved to Raleigh after living for many years in the deep country of North Carolina. I was startled and shaken by the night sounds of the city.

There were several railroad freight trains that came through the middle of the city each night. There was car traffic, university students, cats howling, and all manner of assorted mechanical screeches. It took many months to acclimate.

Mexico has brought a new menu of sound to my nights. In Guanajuato it's mostly dogs and music. 

On the last full moon I was awakened at 2:00AM by a mariachi group serenading some unseen woman in the night. At the moment the music began, even though I had been sleeping soundly, I became aware of this sound's special beauty. From across Rio Duran somewhere in Cerro del Cuarto a strong baritone voice sent 'amors' and 'corazones' out into the night air and across the canyon to my window. Violins, accordions, guitars and guitarras merged their sound and I fell back into sweet dreams.
 

Coto Y Su Eco Del Caribe

Last Thursday (October 28, 2010) my friend, Rolando, and I walked down to the Explanada de la Alhondiga for a night of music. I hadn't been out in weeks due to minor illness I've been struggling with, so I was really looking forward to getting out and  hearing some good music.

I was not disappointed. The 38th Festival Cervantino which was in full tilt had booked a couple of Cuban bands and I was lucky enough to get two tickets to see one of them, Coto Y Su Eco Del Caribe.

Coto

Coto, this Cuban band's leader, appeared on stage alone at first. He was wearing a finely tailored bright canary yellow linen suit though it appeared to be many colors as the stage lights were constantly changing. He was stocky yet handsome. He walked on stage playing the instrument that was to drive this twelve piece band. It was a tresillo. A tresillo is a guitar-like stringed instrument with three sets of strings, two strings to each set (see picture below).

Coto's tresillo had a twangy mandolinish sound. You can get a little flavor of it in the video clip at the bottom of this posting. The sound quality,however, is not so hot - you should have been there! Coto played a lead line through most of the concert which guided the band.

Near the end of the concert several of his tresillo's strings simultaneously broke creating a musical explosion. So he danced and sang through the next song or two until a stage hand was able to restring his tresillo.

Tresillo

There were three brass players - a trombone, and a couple of trumpets.

The 'Horn Section'

In addition, there were three percussionists, a keyboard player, two singers and a bass player - eleven musicians.

The Singers

There were also two dancers prancing in around and through the musicians throughout the concert.

Fast Moving Dancers

There was a big crowd for this concert and soon after the music began many of them started dancing anywhere there was space. The band was very 'tight' musically yet the singers had the loose feel of a gospel group. Near the end of the concert one of the singers jumped off the stage with his microphone and was singing in the crowd. It was a great concert!

You can see all of my pictures at : http://picasaweb.google.com/1kikiwin

Below is a portion of a youtube video that will give you a taste. The sound is not so good - you should have been there!

Give it a minute to load. 

Halloween Masks

 

Today we bought this selection of paper mache masks in Guanajuato with the idea of sending them with someone headed for the US to mail to our grandchildren. We were told by the shopkeeper that they were made in Celaya.

We hope they can make it to NC in time for Halloween!

Much Ado About Cuba

Many people in Mexico visit Cuba. Some go for medical treatment or training. Others go for political reasons, but most go for vacations. There are package tours which include airline fare, hotels and daily breakfast for a couple that are very reasonable and attractive for Mexicans.

As a result we have met a number of people who have visited Cuba and their comments are very interesting.

One of the most common comments is that the US embargo is not working to isolate Cuba. It is not honored by Canada, Mexico, Europe, China or any other country. Only the US pays the least attention to the embargo - and lots of stuff still comes in from the US. This means that Cuban goods are sold on the world market, and Cuba can import anything it wants and can pay for. It also allows Cuba to obtain investment of any size from any country or person wishing to invest.

Since Cuba has almost complete access to the global market, their economic problems are not caused by the US embargo. Rather the embargo creates the perfect political defense for Cuba's economic dysfunction.  And, the U.S. embargo has been totally ineffective in its goal of destabilizing the Cuban government. Instead, the embargo has become the convenient political justification for their economic woes.

It may just be that Cuba benefits more in having the embargo as a scapegoat than the US benefits in spite.

Religious Images

Virgen de Guadalupe

Tonantzin

 

One of the most common religious images that I see in Mexico is that of the Virgen de Guadalupe. I understand her to be the coded embodiment of the indigenous Nahuatl earth mother Tonantzin - cleverly co-opted by the Catholic Church. Whatever she represents the imagery is beautiful and in Mexico the Virgen of Guadalupe is widely revered.

Some of her images are simple and naive while others are wildly ornate.

 

And this one is in front of our dentist's office - a free insurance plan.

There are many images of Jesus. Some of them are gory depictions of his suffering - scary.

 

Some like this huge statue of Jesus atop Cristo Rey overlooking Guanajuato are as serene as the Buddha.

There are, of course, lots of saints as in this picture from Ex-hacienda San Gabriel de Barrera.  I would be hard pressed to identify most saints unless they had arrows sticking out all over them or birds and animals in their hands.

There is a beautiful little church in Atotonilco near San Miguel de Allende where there are dramatic murals full of life all over every surface inside of the building.

Some of these murals are scary!

There is also some religious imagery that is just plain hard to comprehend as this strange crucifixion. It is on a wall in a public building in San Miguel de Allende.

And what's up with this??