Dia de los Muertos

Day of the Dead is a tradition unique to Mexico, which I have wanted to see since I first started learning Spanish when I was 14. A decade later and I finally got to experience this amazing custom firsthand. The roots come from a mixture of Spanish and indigenous Mexican culture. It seems that different cultures across Mexico held traditions honoring their dead during late summer until the Spaniards decided to combine the local holiday with their All Soul’s Day on Nov 2^nd. The Spanish holiday was meant to pray for the souls in purgatory, but after being combined with the local celebrations it has become the one day of the year when locals believe that souls of the dead are able to return to the land of the living.

An offering by the middle schoolers to honor a
tennis instructor who had recently died.

The math and science teacher from the middle school offered to take us to a village, Chilac, just outside of Tehuacan which is famous for maintaining the authentic indigenous traditions. In Tehuacan most people will visit the cemetery on November 2^n, leave some flowers, and then go home. However, in Chilac most people arrive on the night of the 1^st to clean and decorate the graves and then spend the night in the cemetery sleeping, eating, praying, and laughing.

I expected the celebrations to be somber and respectful, but was surprised and happy to find that everyone was smiling and joking. It felt more like entering a carnival than a cemetery with vendors selling food, mariachi bands playing, and whole families gathering to eat a meal together. 

1.       Doing laundry by hand always takes longer than you think.

2.       If the waiter tells you something isn’t spicy, don’t believe him

3.       The spicier the food, the worse my hiccups.

4.       Chili salt lime seasoning may just be the most genius invention ever.

5.       Always be prepared for the gas to run out when you plan a dinner party.