Museo della Culture

So, as part of my anthropology class today, we hit up the Villa Helena, which contains the Lugano Museo della Culture, which contains ethnic Indo-Africo-Oceania artwork, which contains much awesome. It's the perfect place to take a bunch of students in a class called "Anthropology of Art," except for one tiny detail:

IT IS APPROXIMATELY ELEVENTY-BILLION LIGHTYEARS AWAY.

Yes folks, today was a day of walking. Yes, there was a bus involved, but I'm convinced it was provided only at the point where we were in danger of physical collapse, and only long enough for our legs to regain a modicum of integrity before we trudged ever onward. To get to that damn museum, I had to walk from my dorm to the reception desk to meet the group, walk back PAST MY OWN DORM on the way downtown, go under a train station, go down a hill, go through a maze of back alleys, escape from the island of the witch Circe, get on a bus, go through ANOTHER maze of back alleys, then go down ANOTHER hill. Yeah...

Still, the museum was super-cool. We talked a little bit in a classroom with one of the curators, and then he took us on a tour. Highlights include a mask covered in real human hair, which was harvested from the beards of men who did not cut them for a year in mourning, and a set of carved wooden bludgeons that were meant to both display the bearer's wealth and split open human skulls (Madison Avenue, I await your response).

For my money, though, the best thing there was a giant ceremonial pole carved with human figures, from Papua New Guinea. This wasn't some wussy pole meant to bring rain or cause fertility or whatnot. No, this pole was there to remind you which of your enemies you need to get around to killing and eating.

Its like a twisted grocery list...that could kill you if it fell on you...MADE BY CANNIBALS.

So after that delight, I made the arduous trek home, and made it back just in time to enjoy a hearty meal of The Dining Hall Is Closed, with a side order of despair.

And THEN a bunch of suitors were after my wife!

Today's Moment of Multicultural Goodness:

Today I realized that I can order pizza in Italian, and I can also understand the part of "Psycho Killer" that goes:

Ce que j'ai fait ce soir-là
Ce qu'elle a dit ce soir-là
Réalisant mon espoir
Je me lance vers la gloire... OK

I did a little jig. In my head. No one noticed.