Temazcal and more dancing

Monday morning we gorged on TV, Gameboy and computer – I think we all needed a little veg time. We headed to the Centro for a light lunch around noon and then did a little window shopping on our walk to my parents’ hotel. We even ran into an artist whose paintings we had seen and enjoyed at the library on one of our first days here (he was piling the paintings into his VW bug), and Selso got his card. We dropped the kids off and Selso and I went to have a temazcal.

Skeleton decorating the entry way to shop.

A temazcal is an sweat bath used by indigenous people for therapeutic and medicinal purposes. Evidence of temazcals has been found dating back to ancient times – in fact we saw the remains of one at Lambityeco a few days ago.

We arrived in a lovely garden and then undressed and entered the temazcal. It is a small room (good thing we aren’t clausterphobic), probably no bigger than 5.5 feet, by 5.5. feet, by 4 feet tall. We had to crawl in and remain seated the entire time. Our temazcalera got the room nice and steamy, then left us to sweat and meditate for a while, with only a small candle for light. The room was so steamy that I had a hard time breathing, but the quiet was luxurious. When the temazcalera returned she performed a cleansing, where she stroked and swatted us with bundles of fresh herbs while humming. After a while of doing this, she poured warm rose petal water over us, to cool us down. That felt great!

We exited the temazcal and then rested on some prepared bedding. After cooling off, two women came (the temazcalera and another woman) and we each received a very relaxing massage. We rested a bit longer, then dressed and had a quick cup of lemon tea before we had to return to reality!

When we arrived back at my parents’ hotel, we heard about the fun activities of their day (the highlight being a trip to get ice cream). We visited for a bit, and around 6:30 left to find dinner. We ate a delicious meal (Selso and I both had mole Amarillo) at Casa de la Abuela (see view from our table, above).

After dinner we attended yet another dance performance, this one at Hotel Monte Alban. It was an intimate setting with only about 20 people in attendance. These dances were all from the state of Oaxaca (as opposed to other shows we’ve seen where the dances are from all over Mexico).

I was particularly interested in La Danza de la Pluma (The Dance of the Feather), in which men dance while wearing a large feathered headdress. The dance represents a conversation between Montezuma of the Aztecs and the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes, and the eventual conquest of Mexico by the Spanish. The dance actually dates to pre-Hispanic times, when it represented the Aztec prayers for rain. After the Spanish took over, the meaning of the dance and costumes changed, although the dance itself is remains similar to its ancient counterpart.