Dia de los Muertos

I will never forget the sights and smells of Dia de los Muertos. Locals dressed in costumes, vendors, and tourists flooded Alcala at the beginning of the week. Banda music rang throughout the cobbled streets and people joyfully danced throughout the night. It was honestly a wonderful sight to see and experience.

Our group had the amazing opportunity to enter into the local alter making competition at the local cemetery, El Panteon General. We decided to honor the railroad workers who gave their lives to build the railroads.

We traveled to two different markets to buy the necessary materials for the altar—a local market in Teotitlan and El Mercado de Abastos in Oaxaca. The local market in Teotitlan was so beautiful. Golden, magenta, and purple flowers decorated the area. The fragrances of fresh bread, smoky incense, and sweet chocolate danced around in the air, mixing with the beautiful languages of Spanish and Zapotec. El Mercado de Abastos was also full of people, colors, smells, and sounds. However, there were a lot more Western influences—there was a specific section in the market filled with scary masks, props, and costumes.

Mercado in Teotitlan:

pan de muerto

Mercado de Abastos:

sugar skulls (calaveras)

We spent that night stringing manzanitas and peanuts together, de-stemming flowers, and creating/decorating a sugarcane arc. The next day, we stuffed all of the materials into taxis and rode to El Panteon General. The cemetery was huge but also very peaceful. The vibrant blue sky contrasted beautifully with the stones and trees. Many different families scuffled around carrying bundles of marigolds (among other flowers) and buckets of water.

We worked on our altar and tapete for a total of 8 hours or so. Everything came together very beautifully. Everyone helped each other out and worked together. It was a great bonding experience and I enjoyed every minute of it!

jason and maria practicing their presentation for our altar

our tapete

Later that night, we visited El Panteon General to see our altar as well as the others. It looked a lot different in the dark. However, the beauty remained the same. Rows of lit candles lined the walls and emitted an orange/yellow tint. The earthy scent of marigolds and incense drifted among the visitors who were packed into the hall.

We also visited a cemetery in a pueblo 20 minutes from the city (Panteon Atzompa). This was a lot more different. It was a lot more emotional to me. A live banda played on a stage at the corner of the cemetery. Light from the candles dotted the darkness and lit the faces of those remembering their loved ones. Although the upbeat banda music rang throughout the cemetery, it could not disguise the solemn atmosphere.

We all experience the pain of losing someone. However, we cope with it in many different ways. Participating in the traditions of Dia de los Muertos was a HUGE blessing and honor, and it was a beautiful experience.

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We ended up winning 2nd place in the competition!

Here are some pictures of the other altars:

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Hello there friends! Sorry about the late entries! This first week has been packed with so much stuff that I wasn’t able to update this everyday :[ I still have days 5-7 to edit! I’ll think of a way to be more organized with this xP Thank you for being so patient with me!

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09.14.13

Taking a red-eye to Mexico City wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. The seats were a little uncomfortable and couldn’t recline back and the thought of leaving at night added to my fear of flying. But, the city lights looked beautiful as we ascended and calmed my nerves a lot. The view reminded me of lite-brites and I imagined flying over a giant light box.

We had a three hour layover in Mexico City. All of us were pretty exhausted and headed over to a Starbucks that they had near the terminal to caffeine up and get the wifi password (we needed to buy something in order to get it). When it was time to go, we headed outside and got into a shuttle that took us to a small plane to Oaxaca.

The first thing that hit me when I stepped outside was the humidity. The cloudiness and heat reminded me a lot of the summers in Korea. The second was the traffic. The traffic is crazy. As my host mom Meche drove us home, she expertly navigated around HUGE potholes, buses, and pedestrians. The lanes in the roads aren’t clearly marked off so a lot of cars and trucks would partly enter our lane. It was pretty scary but also exciting!

After Meche and Coco (her mother) showed me around their house, Meche took me to a fiesta at around 1:30. The fiesta was for her twin granddaughters who turned five on Thursday. When Meche and I arrived, Meche’s daughter was preparing food and the girls were running around. Friends and family members started trickling in at around 2 and we began eating at around 2:30. The food was AMAZING but the company was even better. Although it was super awkward being the only Asian among a gathering of about 50 Latinos, I never felt unwelcomed. The thing that impresses me the most about Mexican culture is the hospitality and love that they extend to everyone. Everyone who Meche and Coco introduced me to greeted me with a hug or a kiss on the cheek. They tried to include me in their conversations even though my Spanish was very limited. The atmosphere felt very warm and open.

Being in Mexico for the first time and meeting my host family produced a flurry of emotions. I was happy, excited, and scared all at once. These next 76 days are going to be a wonderful adventure!

09.15.13
Today, Meche served the most delicious omelette and fruit with yogurt for breakfast. It was the first time I’d eaten breakfast in a while. One thing that I really like about Mexican breakfasts is that they’re light and consist mostly of fruit and yogurt. In Mexico, the heaviest meal is served between 2-4pm and is called La Comida. However, I wasn’t able to eat La Comida with my host family today. Instead, I had an orientation meeting with the other Oaxaca students.

We all met in front of Becari 1—the language school that works with CFHI. From there, we walked to Hotel Anturios for the orientation meeting. Afterwards, we went to Oaxaca Real Hotel for the welcome dinner. The food was delicious. That is all.

Contrary to popular belief, Cinco de Mayo is not Independence Day for Mexico! It’s actually September 16. Thus, in honor of Mexican Independence Day, everyone gathers at the Zócalo for El Grito. A bunch of us decided to check out the Zócalo and spent quite a bit of time walking around, taking lots of pictures, and enjoying the music and culture that emanated from the heart of the city. Afterwards, we went to a bar, La Cantinita, and danced like crazy people.

9.16.13
We went to a hotel called Quinta Real for a presentation on Oaxacan foods and plants. It used to be a convent in the 1700s so the architecture had a distinct style but it was very beautiful! The presentation was very interesting. We got to sample a lot of exotic foods that are popular in Oaxaca. We got to try A LOT of cheese, giant ants (hormigas gigantes), maggots (gusanos de maguey), and a lot of spices and sweets.

The rest of the day was pretty chill. We spent most of the time walking through the city trying to get to Hotel Anturios and our homes. I went out with Maya, Katie, Wyatt, Lauren, and Maria R. to the Zócalo later that night for food and Mexican hot chocolate. There, I sang along with a classical guitar street performer and randomly took a picture with him.

We ended the night by going to a small café on Alcala and checking out Zapotec animal figures. The figures themselves contained a lot of symbolism. The man who was showing us around showed us an armadillo and explained each design that was painted on its tail. The armadillo itself represented humbleness. In addition, the colors were all derived from natural substances. The man estimated that the armadillo took about 16-18 months to finish! Quite impressive.
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During the Oaxacan foods and plants presentation, we had the chance to eat chapulines—grasshoppers. They tasted really interesting. The best way to describe the taste would be a mix between salty and sour It also had a very crunchy texture. A common Oaxacan saying is that when you eat chapulines, you will return to Oaxaca. I certainly hope I do!

9.17.13
Today was a fairly chill day. We had a very deep discussion about our respective cultures and how that has shaped us into who we are today. To me, one’s culture is made up of a network of many different things. Everything from an individual’s personality to family, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and social circle can influence his or her “culture.”

As a result of all of these different facets in our lives, we all view the same thing in different ways. Although certain customs, behavior, and values overlap, people still interpret these in slightly different ways. I guess what I’m trying to say is that in order to understand someone’s culture, one must be able to acknowledge that culture is unique to everyone.