Otherwise known as the Day of the Dead. This is celebrated in Mexico and many Latin American countries to remember and honor the deceased. One might expect it to be gloomy or sad but it is anything but.
Families visit the cemeteries to clean and paint and decorate the graves. They will sometimes spend the entire night there, eating and drinking and playing music with their families. But all cemeteries are not close to the homes of families so they will elaborately decorate altars (ofrendas) in town or by their homes. These altars include pictures, food to feed the spirits, spirits to feed the spirits and personal items that depict the things that were special to them while they were alive. They are also adorned with sugar skulls, pan de Muertos ( a special bread) and marigolds ( which bloom at this time of year). The make shift altars often have a pathway made up of flower petals and candles so the spirits can find their way. It is believed that the deceased babies and children (Angelita's) come on the 31st of October at midnight and stay the entire day. The adults come the following day.
This picture was taken for my brother's benefit. As our friend Barry said - Oh look - another dead Raider fan!
This celebration coincides with All Saints Day and All Souls Day as practiced in the Catholic religion. It is different their our Halloween where tradition has children disguised so that they will not be harmed by spirits.
There is evidence of numerous Catrina's displayed throughout the town. Catrina is the Grand Dame of Mexico. The Mexican's believe that death and memories of our deceased gives us a strong sense of identity and rootedness in our culture. La Catrina is the annual guest associated with the joy of life in the face of imminence and inevitability of death.
We only live once and La Catrina with her mischievous smile pleads with us to seize the moment and through music and perhaps a little dance - find life's meaning. Having experienced the loss of family and friends - I find this a wonderful tradition to honor them and never forget.
Okay - they were not all "Dames"
The celebrations in Barra were fun. Here are pictures of a few of the altars and
several Catrina's - all hand made from paper mâché.
I had 5 escorts for the night. A good time was had by all! Dave and his friend Pat from Pacifico and Oceanside California, Barry from Seaswuft and the Pacific Northwest and Dan on Antarra who used to live in Port Townsend. Where is David you ask? Taking the picture of course!
There were also many food booths set up with samples of all kinds of things for 20-30 pesos - that is, a couple of bucks. We ended up the night at our favorite taco stand - 4 tacos, beer and lemonada for about $7. Not worth making it yourself.
It was a fun night!
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