A Trip Downtown

It was a beautiful day yesterday so Paul and I went downtown to the Mall to the National Folklife Festival. This year Mexico, Asian Pacific Americans, and the Smithsonian itself were featured, and I was interested in seeing what was being offered for Mexico.

We arrived just in time to catch the Palo Volantin ceremony, a ritual done for hundreds of years by the Teenek people to ensure a good corn harvest. Four men climbed a pole, wound ropes around the top of the pole, tied themselves to the ropes, and then swung out, twirling around as the ropes unwound, going lower and lower until they flipped over and landed safely on the ground. If one of the participants slammed into the ground it meant the harvest would be bad that year. At least, this is what we learned from the people around us, since we couldn't hear what the man at the microphone was trying to tell us. In any case, we were all very impressed.


I loved the colors and texture of the fabric the Teenek women wore.


Paul loved the ice cold watermelon, so juicy that it ran down into his Crocs and made for a slooshy trip home.