Making tamales, Papantla and El Tajín

Some of the female colleagues of Reed's invited us over to on a Saturday to make tamales.  We started at 12:30 in the afternoon and finally got around to eating at about 6:30pm  What a process!  In the end we had made 5 different kinds of tamales (peppers and cheese, chicken and cheese, chicken and mole sauce, Oaxacan, masa cocida (cooked corn) and over 300 tamales total!  The work is tedious but with friends and, of course, beer, it was a lot more fun than work!

The next day, Sunday, we took a day trip to Tlayacapan, Morelos.  We visited the Augustinian Ex-Monestary Museum which had mummies in one of the rooms.  We also visited the tiangis and some of the stores that sell the pottery that the town is famous for.

The next weekend we traveled to Papantla, Veracruz.  Papantla is most famous for it's flying Voladores and the ruins of El Tajín.  The ritual of the Voladores dates back to Mesoamerican times (2nd - 9th century) and was originally done as a message to the god of fertility to end the drought and bring the rains back to nurture the crops.  The Voladores (5 in total), after doing a special pre-ceremonial dance, have the incredible courage to climb a 150 ft. pole in the forecourt of the church, wind their ropes (4 of the men) around the pole while balancing at the top (the fifth stands on a small platform at the top playing the flute and small drum--without a rope or safety net).  After tying the ropes around their waist, they freefall back to earth gradually unwinding the ropes until they touch the ground again. Then, they ask for donations from the crowd watching them.  We watched this about 4 times, each hour, in one day.  It is incredible!

The next day, we visited the archeological ruins of El Tajín, a pre-Columbian, World Heritage Site.  It was one of the largest cities in Mesoamerica during the classic era .  It was one of the most beautiful ruins we have visited this year!

Before we toured the ruins, we stopped to talk to one of the vendors outside the main shopping area.  We had noticed that he was in a wheelchair and after asking some questions, came to find out that he had been a Volador.  In an unfortunate accident in El Tajín, he had fallen off the very top of the pole before he was able to secure his rope around his waist.  He told us that he was very fortunate to only be paralyzed from the waist down!  

Click on this link to see the pictures:  http://picasaweb.google.com/regnor11/TamalesTlayacapanPapantalaElTajin#

Coming next:  My final thoughts of my year in México

The final blog:  After returning to the U.S...