Dia de Muertos

Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead) was yesterday (and the day before too) which means that the Gringo count went through the roof! Thursday night we went to a womans house with some others from the school and she described to us all the details of her altar.Then she fed us hot chocolate, squash cooked in some way that made it black and really sweet, some kind of apple thing that was also really sweet, arroz con leche (rice with milk, but it sounds much more appetizing in spanish) and something called micuatole which looked like some kind of cheese but was made of corn and other stuff and didn´t really taste like much, except a barbeque. Then we went to the Panteon General (Main Cemetary) to visit the parents of Flor, the woman who runs the spanish school. The cemetary was full of people and music. Everyone was there to put flowers and candles on the graves of loved ones and to celebrate their lives. It was quite a facinating experience, I´ve never seen so many people in a cemetary before. I actually don´t think I´ve seen more than maybe five people in a cemetary at the same time except during funerals.



On the walk back we ran into a couple street parties full of people in costumes and bands (of course) playing music and dancing in the streets. They were going to peoples houses and it seemed like they wouldn´t leave until they got some food or drinks. Then they would go down the street to the next place. Some guy was walking around giving people shots of Mezcal, so I got my first taste of the famous drink. Kind of like Tequila but with an aftertaste of barbeque.
The music was my favorite part, and my favorite part of all the parties and parades we see in the street almost every day. There´s always a tuba, a big drum, a smaller snair drum, cymballs, trumpets and I think trombones. maybe clarinets too, my horn identification isn´t the best.
It was good for us to stay up past 9:30. Although it meant the busses stopped running. so we took a taxi and the driver didn´t rip us off! Although I had to give him directions since he was fairly new.
Here is a picture of the altar we made at our home. We went to the big market and bought flowers, peanuts, pecans, candles, bread and a plaster mariachi. We set it up on top of our refridgerator since we had no other space. There is also a glass of water and some salt. We didn´t have any pictures of our deceased family members so we drew pictures of things that they liked or things that reminded us of them. For my Grandpa Larry I drew a picture of a weird looking gadget that he would have invented with all sorts of knobs and dials and antennas coming of of it. For my Grandma Lu I drew a picture of an apple pie since I know she baked the best pies even though I don´t remember her very well. For my Grandpa Don I drew a train, a Canadian flag and a big bolt since he always used to put bolts in our necks. For my Grandma Jane I drew a big margarita since I always remember her saying she liked margaritas and a lei since she used to go to Hawaii a lot.

So hopefully all our Muertos were able to find our altar and enjoy it. I like the idea of a holiday where you celebrate and remember loved ones. Building the altar seems a lot like putting up a christmas tree where all the family is involved and it´s a big event. Maybe this should be celebrated more around the world.