Xalapa, Veracruz- Anthropological Museum

I have to say that I was really excited to see the Anthropological Museum in the state capital of Veracruz, the city of Xalapa. They did not disappoint and are quite impressive. The first colossal head was found in the mid-nineteenth century and because only the top was sticking up out of the ground, it was believed to be the base of a huge kettle. Since then, sixteen more were found so there are 17 in all (and some of them had been defaced, buried or mutilated in some way). 10 of the heads were found in San Lorenzo, four in La Venta (state of Tabasco), the largest one was found in Cobata and two were found in Tres Zapotes, another site in the state of Veracruz. The first picture is of colossal head #8 from San Lorenzo (state of Veracruz) and is the very first thing that one notices at the entrance of the museum. The second one is #5 from San Lorenzo (they're numbered by the sequence in which they were found) and the other one in front of which Paloma, her mom Eileen and I are standing is #1 from San Lorenzo (the very first one found!!). I believe that it's the second largest one of the 17 known colossal heads. Well, here are some of the highlights of my visit to this museum. I had a great three hours here and would love to go back.

This first figure (which has the big spool like objects in his ears) is the ancient god Huehueteotl, the god of fire. That, of course, is his name in Nahuatl, the language of the Tenochca Mexica (part of the "Aztecs"). But he is an ancient god and the Olmecas did have certain deities that SEEM to have been carried into other cultures and times within Mesoamerica. The second sculpture is the Potrero Nuevo Monument from the early Formative Period (Formative Period was from about 2000BCE to 250CE-some people use different time guidelines but this is a general timeline). These "altars" are now seen as thrones (David Grove was able to convincingly demonstrate their true function as thrones based on evidence from an Olmec cave painting at Oxtitlan in Guerrero). These two distinct Atlantean dwarves hoist up the throne towards the heavens; someone must maintain the heavens as being apart from the land of the earth but their images also bring to mind the fact that twins were are somewhat ubiquitous in the San Lorenzo region (the monument was found in Potrero Nuevo which is situated in Loma del Zapote which is located in the San Lorenzo hinterland). And of course, the last pictures are of a set of twins sitting in front of a jaguar personage. These twins were found in El Azuzul at Loma del Zapote, sitting just as they are displayed so scholars believe that this represents either an anthropomorphic transformation OR as can be seen up close, the twins are each holding a kind of stick or bar in their hands and the theory is that these twins are in the process of hoisting the world tree, the axis mundi that keeps this world balanced (the world tree can be found throughout Mesoamerican cultures and times and is a basic precept upon which the Mesoamericans viewed the creation of the world- five basic directions- East, West, North and South and of course, the axis mundi, the world tree being the fifth direction).

This is the La Mojarra Stela 1, from the site of La Mojarra which is located on the Acula River in the state of Veracruz. The site was actually pretty small (about 1 sq. km-or .4 sq miles) and the stela was found in the river shallows of the site. The text has not yet been deciphered (definitively) but there are two dates that do occur within the text: one is the 21st of May in 143CE and the other is the 13th of July in 156CE. It is speculated that perhaps the glyphs refer to this personage on the stela but we need to have better information and a larger body of recovered examples of the text in order to place it within its cultural context.

These last few images are of various sculptures, carvings and craneal modification. The cross-legged figure that is seated was decapitated and no head was ever found. There are a few more decapitated sculptures from the site of San Lorenzo. The face mask and statue found in the blue case picture perhaps depict real people and it has been speculated that they appear so happy because of their recent consumption of psychotropic drugs (found in different plants around Mesoamerica), hence they might be in a trance (or they could just be naturally happy). I wanted to also show what the inside of the museum looked like. It was a pretty big building and some of it was closed; one colossal head had even been wrapped up in covering so we didn't get to see that one. It was a memorable experience being there and I would love to go back but it also inspired me to try and see more museums around Mexico.

Cordoba, Veracruz and Tlacotalpan

So this last Friday, my friend Paloma and her parents and I left Cholula for a Mexican adventure in the state of Veracruz. Our first stop was for lunch in the quaint little city of Cordoba, Veracruz. These two pictures are the only ones that I took while we were eating lunch. It was a beautiful day and a bit warmer in Veracruz than in Puebla. It was a great start to our trip and I was excited to be on the road.

Here are some pics from the boardwalk in the city of Veracruz. It was pretty nice although the wind was blowing hard from time to time. I got to take my picture with Diver Dan (as we referred to him) and it was a nice evening to walk around and see the ocean again (I feel so spoiled to have seen the ocean twice within the last 7 or 8 months-yes Heidi, we know that you go there everyday). Anyways, I really liked Veracruz and would like to spend more time here (just like every other place I've been to in Mexico!).

These are some pictures from the centro of the city of Veracruz which is in the state of Veracruz. The state lies on the eastern coast of Mexico on the Gulf of Mexico. It's a long, thin state and the landscape was extremely green, considering that it's the dry season right now for this region of Mexico. Veracruz is famous for coffee, bananas, mangos, papayas, other tropical fruits and of course, for its seafood. The city of Veracruz is famous for hosting the port into which Hernando Cortes sailed in order to begin exploration. The zocalo and the city are not very big, but it is a nice city and I received a lot more smiles here than I ever have on the streets of Cholula or Puebla. It seems to be a rather big tourist attraction within Mexico. I also included a few of the pictures that I took on the beach which is actually closer to Boca del Mar than to the city of Veracruz.

Tlacotalpan is situated on these waterways, a bit inland from the Gulf of Mexico, in the state of Veracruz. It's a little town and the atmosphere is one of friendly people and lovely, colorful streets. It's famous for being one of the two disputed birthplaces of Agustin Lara, the famous Mexican composer and songwriter that was married 11 times (once to the famous actress Maria Felix). There are a lot of people that fish here and make their living that way. Almost every restaurant promotes their seafood so Paloma and her parents enjoyed very fresh seafood. The server just looked at me like I was crazy when I explained to her that I didn't eat any kind of meat, including fish and seafood. I was still able to leave with a full stomach and enjoyed the view from our table at the restaurant, as you can see in these first two pictures.

Here are some more images from Tlacotalpan, Veracruz. I just loved how colorful the buildings and homes were here in this town of 8,606 residents. It's just really beautiful here and I absolutely loved it. I've always thought that I was a big-city person but I can actually see myself settling down in a little town such as this. It's only eighty or ninety miles away from the city of Veracruz and the people here are very friendly.

San Andres Cholula

So for one of my classes called Regional Seminar, I have to become more observant of San Andres Cholula, the municipality of Cholula in which I live. The other municipality, San Pedro Cholula, has a much larger centro and that's where I spend most of my time if I'm going to "downtown Cholula". But Cholula is actually broken up into these two centers and the centro of San Andres is much more tranquil with less people. The first assignment for this class was to walk around the centro and just observe. I've been here a few times before but was not aware that this centro houses the government offices, a few maps of San Andres, and right now there is an exhibition of photographs from the first half of the twentieth century of different parts of Cholula. It's interesting to see these photos and the development of Cholula within the last 60 years or so. Kids are usually playing in or near the fountain but not today. Each week we have a different thing to do in order to gather information about San Andres (next week we have to find 5 different maps about San Andres and describe what they focus on or what image they try to represent for San Andres). So now I'm learning a little bit about where I live!

This is the Church of San Andres. For one reason or another I believed that it's name was much longer but it isn't. It sits directly in front of the zocalo (main square) of San Andres and it's a serene place to be. I've looked at this church before but I never entered its plaza or looked inside until today. It's very ornate inside and has some interesting iconography but you can't take any pictures inside the church. The stainglass artwork on the facade of the church is falling apart which makes me kind of sad. But what a beautiful day to explore the centro of San Andres!

Here is a picture of the pyramid and another picture of this field of flowers. Hopefully this class will help me become more observant of my actual surroundings. Cholula really is pretty and I'm glad to be here.

Cincinnati Visit

So it was great to be able to come home for three weeks (even if that meant coming to Cincinnati!). Actually, I love Cincinnati because that is where my parents live. They open their home to all of us and the chaos that can ensue. The only problem is that the weeks just came and went. I loved seeing the fam damily but I missed Tricia and Kelly. It was great to be able to speak to both of them. Here are some pictures of me and the nieces and nephews. We had so much fun singing, playing all kinds of games, romping around the house, acting silly and carefree and just being together. I love this picture of Xander; where did he get those lips?

I sure do love my nieces and nephews. These are just some of the pictures that I took. This Christmas and New Years would not have been the same without them.

Here are some more pictures of the family. One Friday we all went to Chuck E. Cheese. I even got into the spirit of being a kid again, playing some games and having fun. Again, it was great to see Tracie and Heidi and their cute kids. I loved spending time with them. Grandma (dummy) even got into the fun in the basement.