Day of the Dead

November 1 in Mexico was Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. It is a holiday mostly celebrated here in Mexico. On this day, people build altars to their family members who have passed away. The departed souls are believed to return on this day and take part in the remembrance celebration.



My friends Cynthia and Jeannete with the altar they built on campus. Usually the schools here have a contest to see who can build the best altar.

Mariana, Raul, and Ivan with their altar.

On Day of the Dead, Kim and I went to one of the cemeteries here just to see what it was like. I have never seen so many people at a cemetery before! People were constantly going in and out.

Outside of the cemetery there were all kinds of people set up selling things. These are the traditional candy skulls that they sell this time of year.

This is the traditional "pan de muertos" or bread of the dead.

People were everywhere selling flowers for people to take to the graves.

This is an example of an altar that people build for the dead. On the altar they put certain items and different types of food and drink on the altar that the person liked when they were alive. Many people will build these types of altars in their houses.

Everyone cleans the grave of their family member before decorating it. There were tons of kids walking around with buckets of water asking if you needed help and trying to earn a little money. A fire truck was even there, pumping water into the fountain for people to use.

Not your typical cemetery back home with rolling hills, lots of grass, and little streets to drive your car on. As you can see, the graves are actually above ground and they are in no order whatsoever. They just put them wherever there is a little bit of room.