Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a unique Mexican tradition with religious and indigenous roots that takes place on November 1 and 2 (yes, I know this was more than two weeks ago. Sorry this post is so late!) As a staple of every Spanish class’s culture unit, I was excited to experience the event first-hand. We went to the small town of Huaquechula, still in the state of Puebla, which is known for their celebrations of Dia de los Muertos.
Celebrated on All Saints and All Souls days, Dia de los Muertos is based on the idea that one night of each year, the spirits of the dead can come back to earth to visit their loved ones. This is not in the sense of hauntings or scary ghosts, but rather part of the idea that our loved ones still exist in the spirit world and that we can still have some sort of relationship with them, even when they are no longer with us physically. It’s a really beautiful idea, and has a strong influence on the Mexican attitude toward death, which is somewhat more accepting and in some ways more nonchalant than ours in the US.
Since the dead can only come back once a year, families prepare for the coming by building ofrendas, or altars, that are beautifully decorated and ornamented with flowers, pictures of saints, pictures of the deceased, food, candy, and alcohol. The decor is often based on favorites of the person to whom the altar is dedicated, but there are some traditional staples, such as pan de muerto (bread of death) that are seen on nearly every altar. People also leave paths of marigold petals leading to their door to help guide the spirits to the altar.
In Huaquechula, these flowered paths serve a dual purpose; they guide the living, as well as the dead, into the homes of residents who have built magnificent ofrendas and prepared vast quantities of food to share with whoever might wander in. I probably ate four meals that afternoon. I was astounded at each house, many of which were very humble, and their generosity in inviting not only their whole town, but large groups of foreign tourists to share in their memories and their meals. There were also groups of young children roaming the streets in the Mexican equivalent of trick-or-treating, where they asked for money or candy for their baskets.
Here in Puebla, I got a chance to participate in an ofrenda-building contest at UPAEP with my drawing class. We made an altar for Jose Guadalupe Posada, an artist whose work influenced many of the images of skulls and skeletons seen during Day of the Dead today. Although I was in and out, my group put in a huge effort and made a really beautiful altar. The entire courtyard at school was full of incredible ofrendas; it drove home how special this day is in Mexican culture.
The semester is drawing to a close; there’s so much more I want to see and do and share before I leave, so I will try to up the frequency of posts in this last month. My family gets here a week from today (yay!), bringing a new phone with them, so hopefully pictures will be part of the blog again soon!
Viajes en Puebla 