Wendy In Mexico: Dia del Muertos

This is deserving of it's own post. Honestly one of the most awesome things I've experienced so far this year. Before actually witnessing this holiday firsthand, I'd briefly heard of it and just assumed it was a Mexican version of Halloween. As in, get dressed up in scary costumes, and go bumming candy off your friendly neighbours in nearby communities. I couldn't have been more wrong! 'Day of the Dead' is a huge Mexican holiday that honours the dead. Family and friends get together and remember their family, by celebrating at their graves on the day of (November 1 to 2) and by building altars. Some families camp out at the graves, while others come and visit for a few hours, bringing food and drink, even a mariachi band! These altars are specialized for the honoured person by including their favourite food, clothes and interests, along with photos. There are always a few staple items that are present on each altar, such as special Dia del Muertos bread, cempazuchil (marigolds), and sugar skulls. In schools, they've turned it into a competition where each class builds an altar, which is then judged. I got to experience two different school's altar building competitions, and as a result got to see an amazing diversity of altars. They're beautiful, and I think it's a fantastic way to not only remember your loved ones but celebrate their qualities and interests as well. The altars seemed to take over 5 hours to build, and the end results were extraordinary. Hopefully the photos can give you an idea!

This altar was dedicated to someone's little brother, who died at age 4. It was a really amazing altar, but it goes without saying how tragic it was seeing the dates on the ground (2006-2010)

I watched this class build the entrance- it took hours.
It's composed of marigolds and another type of flower woven around a wire frame- looks fabulous!

One of the altars built at school. Check out the elaborate sand/salt formation.
It looked even better at night illuminated with candles

The celebrations started on the Thursday and went until Saturday. On Thursday, I ended up being the katrina (skeleton doll) for the altar of my class during my school's presentation night. It's a bit of a funny story how this happened- a total misunderstanding on my part. Exchange students are not known for their attentiveness in class, and I'm no exception. Lets go back about a week. On this particular day, I might have been studying the recuperative benefits of resting (that is, full out sleeping in my desk). Suddenly, I woke up to half my class chanting my name while the class president stood up in the front taking a vote for something. Someone briefly explained to me what I was being so enthusiastically nominated for. I understood that there was this altar building competition for Dia del Muertos, and they wanted me to paint a doll's face and dress her her up so they could put her on their altar. I didn't fully understand why they would put a doll on an altar (or even really what building an altar entailed), but putting the exchanger motto "Just Say Yes" to good use, I shrugged and agreed. In case they were expecting me to be some sort of Picasso, I tacked on that they shouldn't expect any artistic demonstration- I didn't have any special skills of that sort. I got some weird looks at that (which I understand now because my comment didn't make much sense. You don't need any skills to stand in place.) However, I'm used to getting weird looks when I speak by now, so I thought nothing of it. I fell back asleep and completely forgot about it. Now returning to Thursday, during the day. The class was finalizing who would bring what for the altar (clothes, food, flowers, etc.). Then they asked me if I had my clothes ready for the night. Or what I was thinking of wearing. I was all 'Ummm, of course I don't have clothes for a doll, I've an extremely limited wardrobe, being an exchange student and all'. Then they asked me if I had any paint for my face. I started getting extremely confused, realizing that perhaps I hadn't quite understood my job requirements. Fast forward a few very confused minutes, and finally I realized there would be no decorating dolls to put on altars. I was the doll. I still didn't really know what this job included, but my classmates assured me all I had to do was stand still while they were presenting the altar. However, I would be dressed in scary black clothes, with my face painted like a skeleton's. I didn't want to look like a total idiot and considered backing out, but I'm so glad I didn't. It was AWESOME.

My lovely mum and I with the altar in the background. Bit of a height difference, eh?

I borrowed black clothes and heels from various classmates, and my awesome mum tracked down this veiled monstrosity of a hat from a friend. I arrived at school later that night and some lovely girls did a great job painting my face. I then got to go experience being a celebrity for a different reason than the usual foreign kid excuse. People really enjoyed getting pictures with a towering 'blonde' skeleton- bit of a change from the usual dolls I suppose! I just stood and stared at the camera- the face paint did a good job with the menacing part. (I actually smiled for a few pictures at first before realizing it changed my look from scary to absolutely demonic. I made a child start bawling when her parents wanted to get a picture with me.) There were other students dressed up as dolls for the other altars, in equally awesome costumes. It was such a fun night! It ended with me getting to sample various types of the special Day of the Dead bread and drinking atole, which was delicious. Just another great example of how saying yes to something (even without knowing the full details) permits you to experience a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity on your year abroad! Luckily, I have a lot of photo proof because my mum proudly took hundreds of photos of me and the altars.

MMMM pan de muertos....me gusta mucho. Que rico!
(Is what I said basically the entire drive home as I devoured various types)

The next day, all the exchange students had a Rotex activity at another preparatoria school. This time, I got to participate in the actual altar building. While ours definitely wasn't the most artistic or creative, considering it was a bunch of foreigners directed by only a few Rotex who actually knew what they were doing, we did very well! We started off by piling crates into a pyramidal shape, and then covering this formation in sheets. Sounds easy, but it was very finicky getting the shape just right. Then we put the food, skulls, photos and Rotary objects on the levels. We were honouring the first Mexican Rotary International president Dr. Carlos Canseco. Other than taking a brief lunch break, we were hard at work under the blistering sun the entire day. It was a very satisfying, busy day. Before we presented our altar, we took a tour through the nearby panteon (graveyard) with our Spanish teacher checking out all the ancient graves (some had been there since 1810, amazing!). Upon returning, each of us explained a bit about our altar (hopefully our audience understood our strong accents in Spanish). Then we took a tour through the other altars. Especially because it was now dark and the completed altars were lit up with candles, the overall effect was really amazing!

(PS the photo cred for the photos with Rotex Tepic on them goes to Roberto, one of the Rotex. They were so beautiful I figured they did a better job showing the process than mine did)

The look of supreme concentration.

A messy work site- true sign of hard work

Setting up the awesome tissue paper cutout pictures (another apparent staple material in building altars)

Andrea (Rotex) and then some happy exchangers

Outside the graveyard

In front of an ancient tomb

Ome massive family tomb from the early 1800's!

Mariana and Wendy, half of Tepic's Brazilian dream team

All of us with the school's principal

Touring around the other altars

My turn to get a picture with the scary skeleton doll!

Completed altar. It may not have been the most detailed,
but in my opinion it had some excellent personality,!

The team! (Plus a couple frightening katrinas we stole from the altar next to us)

On Saturday my family and I went to Guadalajara, where we arrived in the early afternoon and went straight to the graveyard where my host mum's mother is buried. My mum's father and sister were already there. We set up a picnic, and left some of the food on the gravestone besides a bouquet of marigolds. I took a tour around the huge graveyard (it took over an hour), and viewed the various gravestones. Like I mentioned earlier, some of the families had set up a lively party with a feast and a mariachi band, where others had decorated the grave with flowers or a mini altar and were quietly sharing some private time with their loved ones. It was kind of like viewing an enormous picnic, which I suppose it was, with the added element of including the dead as participants! I will definitely never forget these celebrations, they are just one more element to the rich and unique Mexican culture. Who would think that remembering the dead could be a lively event?