Gold!

So, today I went hiking through the mountains. The guide said there were some caves we could go in if we wanted, and I was exploring in one of them and and I found gold! I'm rich!
Really, Jess?!?
No, not really. But I did catch a cab to the Museo del Oro (Gold Museum).
Sorry, not as exciting.
I know.

A view from right outside. As you're walking in, there's a guard. She said (in Spanish) "Open," so I asked her how much. We just sort of looked at each other confused for a second, then the guy standing near her said (in English) "Open your bag." Boy, did I feel dumb. But the woman hadn't explained anything to me. If she had actually asked me to open my purse in Spanish, I would have understood. Anyways, once inside, I saw the ticket window and the rest of the trip went by without a hitch.

This is a human figure cast in gold. Terribly informative, I know, but I don't remember what the caption said.

This display showed different mixtures of gold with other metals and their respective abilities to reflect or absorb light. Gold was primarily worn by chiefs and religious leaders its reflective ability made it seem tied to the sun, and thus to power. Some ancient cultures also believed that those who formed the gold were also near-deities, because they knew how to wield its power. (Okay, not verbatim what I learned at the museum, but I tried to capture the essence as best I could. I read a lot today, and it didn't all have the English translation, so give me a break.)

Various busts that were commonly used during human sacrifices. Apparently, some cultures taught parrots to talk so they could be used instead of people. They believed that once the bird could speak like a human, then the animal was actually transformed into one (or at least its spirit, or something to that effect.)

Jewelry for the chief used by one tribe/culture, and its approximate placement on the body.

Jewelry from another tribe/culture. Notice that the headpiece resembles rays of the sun.

I actually took a picture of the caption! It reads: "The jaguar-man statues of San Agustín embody the strength and the symbolic power of the feline." Some cultures believed that the jaguar's colorings meant it embodied some of the power of the sun. Many Latin American cultures thought the jaguar and the deer were both sacred animals.

This is an actual mummy from...somewhere in Latin America. The apparent grainy-ness of the photo is actually because there was a black-full-of-holes layer in the glass. I think it might be there to protect the mummy from possible damage from flash (which I didn't use for any of these photos, by the way. I'm not about to intentionally break rules in a foreign museum.)

Although it's called the Gold Museum, there were plenty of other artifacts. I think these are some type of carved stone.

These are shells. They were often used with the coastal cultures and sometimes traded inland.

This scene, carved in stone, depicted dancers wearing animal masks. It was believed that when the dancers wore masks, body paints, and animal parts (feathers, hides, teeth, claws, etc), they actually saw and experienced the world through the eyes of that animal.

Haha, I took a photo of this caption, too! "It was with this lime container, which was found in Antioquia in the 19th century, that Banco de la República started its Gold Museum in 1939. It is a imitation of a gourd, the rounded features of which were associated with the female body."

This display was really cool. It was in a small round room with automatic doors. When you were inside and the doors closed, it was completely dark at first, then slowly different parts of the wall lights up, revealing hundreds of different gold artifacts. The whole thing is set to different shaman chants from Latin America. The sounds were often haunting and unearthly.

And on the floor of the room was a round display that had several layers of gold artifacts. The sound of dripping water preceded the light on this display, which created an awesome effect.

The top floor houses an exploratorium. The middle of the room had this display showing the diversity of humanity.

There were also models depicting various aspects of village life.

In the basement there's a temporary exhibit about body alterations.

This is a wooden carving. Possibly the inspiration behind the Batman villain Penguin?

A somewhat-creepy-looking doll. Then again, a lot of dolls are a little creepy.

Rollers and stamps used to make designs on the body with ink or paint.

Some of the materials used to make the aforementioned inks/paints.

This shows various skull alterations used by tribes in the not-so-distant past.

This photo and the next two photos display different ways people change their appearances in this day and age. I love the contrast/message, because as I was walking through the temporary exhibit, I was thinking, "Wow, some of this stuff is pretty bizarre." But then, if you think about the hundreds of different ways to alter your appearance now, it doesn't make the past seem so strange, now does it?

Images from ads and pop culture about changing your appearance.

And this is a list of many of the different things that people in this day and age commonly do to change their appearances. Yes, I realize it's in Spanish. If you really want to know what it says, Google translate should give you a pretty good start.

Fountain outside the museum.

Carvings on the side of the Banco de la República building, which sponsors/owns the Museum.

This was in St. Francis church, across the street from the museum. I found out after I took this that you're not supposed to take photos. One of the guards saw me with my camera and didn't say a word, he just shook his head and wagged his finger. Oops. It's quite a lovely church. This is just a side altar, too.

Oh look, a nice shot of the hustle and bustle of downtown. Wait, are those...mountains? Yes, yes they are. I loved the busy street life below contrasted with the serenity of the mountains in cloud cover above.

You generally see cops everywhere. They're on foot, in cars, on motorcycles, and on horses.

You see street vendors with carts like these all over the city. Some people also sell cell phone minutes. Apparently they just pay for a huge plan and then sell all the extra minutes for profit.

This is a great view of Monserrate Sanctuary. It's definitely one of the top places I want to visit. (No pun intended)