Día de los Muertos

I was fortunate enough to spend Day of the Dead in MEXICO! One of my fellow Fulbrighters was kind enough to organize a trip for a group of us to go to Pátzcuaro, Michoacán. We heard this was the place to be so about 14 of us headed to Morelia, the capital of Michoacán on Friday. We stayed in Morelia for the weekend in a cute little hotel with free breakfast. Once everyone arrived on Friday, we were starved so we found a cool-looking restaurant. It was great catching up with people I hadn’t seen since orientation. We came from all over Mexico. We had some delicious food, divine wine, and chatted for hours. After dinner we found a beer festival near the hotel. I actually met someone who lived near Toluca and we had a mutual friend! Small world. We didn’t stay out too late because we know we were going to have a big day on Saturday!

As part of this planned trip, the hotel for two nights was included as well as transportation to and from Pátzcuaro Saturday night and a tour around the area. The planned activities didn’t start until the sunset, though. So in the morning we walked around downtown Morelia. They have a sweets MALL so I was in heaven. There was also an ofrendas (offerings or alters) contest. Families, schools, etc. set up alter to honor the souls of deceased loved ones. There were about 30 different ofrendas. Typical ofrendas have the following:

• Candles- Candles are lit to welcome the spirits back to their altars.

• Marigolds- These yellow-orange flowers, also called cempasúchitl, symbolize death. Their strong fragrance also helps lead the dead back to their altars. Marigold petals may also be sprinkled on the floor in front of the altar, or even sprinkled along a path from the altar to the front door, so that the spirit may find her way inside.

• Incense- Most commonly, copal incense, which is the dried aromatic resin from a tree native to Mexico. The scent is also said to guide the spirits back to their altars

• Salt- represents the continuance of life.

• Photo of the deceased- A framed photo of the dead person to whom the altar is dedicated, usually positioned in a prime spot on the altar.

• Pan de muerto- Also known as "bread of the dead", is a symbol of the departed.

• Sugar skulls- As symbols of death and the afterlife, sugar skulls are not only given as gifts to the living during Day of the Dead, they are also placed as offerings on the altar.

• Fresh fruit- whatever is in season oranges, bananas, etc.

• Other foods- Traditional Day of the Dead foods that you would find on altars include atole, mole, tamales, and tortillas. Altars also usually include the dead person's favorite foods, including modern foods like Rice Krispies or potato chips!

After that we headed back to the hotel to paint our faces and get ready for the real adventure! We looked up ideas on Pinterest for our faces and did them ourselves. They were all different and turned out really well!

We all loaded in a van and first stopped in a town called Tzintzuntzan. We toured a church and learned about a growing Jesus (due to the material he is made out of). Then we went to a cemetery. I could have stayed there for hours. Every grave was decorated differently yet brilliantly. One even had flowers mounted to something in the shape of a bicycle. We only spent about 20 minutes there before we had to move on. The next stop was Pátzcuaro. We hopped on a boat that took up to the island of Janitzio. We had traditional Mexican food for dinner then went to an outdoor theater production where there were native dances and even a “dance” that fishermen boats did on the water. After we got back to the mainland, we visited another cemetery in Pátzcuaro. It was about 2AM at this time. Not many people were in the cemetery but there were some who were singing, playing music, eating, etc. I don’t care if I’m the only person in the cemetery with a decorated grave in the US but on November 1^st every year after I pass, I better have a party at my grave site.