“Para el habitante de Nueva York, Paris o Londres, la muerte es palabra que jamás se pronuncia porque quema los labios. El mexicano, en cambio, la frecuenta, la burla, la acaricia, duerme con ella, la festeja, es uno de sus juguetes favoritos y su amor más permanente. Cierto, en su actitud hay quizá tanto miedo como en la de los otros; mas al menos no se esconde ni la esconde; la contempla cara a cara con paciencia, desdén o ironía”.
Octavio Paz
Walking in the candy market in my beautiful Mexico city...well, I imagine can be any state in Mexico in the end of October and the first days of November, in my eyes appear the rainbow of lemons fill with coconut, tamarindo con chile candy, calabaza en tacha, while I am deciding what I am going to get. A group of foreigners look with astonishing eyes the sugar skulls, las calaveritas de azucar, and say “Gross”, I smiled , I understand that they can not understand.
This is some info in english that I found great to explain this beutiful mexican tradition:
This holiday is a perfect example of the complex heritage of the Mexican people. The beliefs of today's Mexican are based on the complicated blended cultures of his ancestors, the Aztec and Maya and Spanish invaders, layered with Catholicism. The origins of the Days of the Dead reach into the ancient history of Europe and Mexico.
The original celebration can be traced to many Mesoamerican native traditions, such as the festivities held during the
Aztec month of Miccailhuitontli, ritually presided by the "Lady of the Dead" (Mictecacihuatl), and dedicated to children and the dead. In the Aztec calendar, this ritual fell roughly at the end of the Gregorian month of July and the beginning of August, but in the postconquest era it was moved by Spanish priests so that it coincided with the Christian holiday of All Hallows Eve (in Spanish: "Día de Todos Santos.") This was a vain effort to transform the observance from a profane to a Christian celebration. The result is that Mexicans now celebrate the day of the dead during the first two days of November, rather than at the beginning of summer. But remember the dead they still do, and the modern festivity is characterized by the traditional Mexican blend of ancient aboriginal and introduced Christian features.
Generalizing broadly, the holiday's activities consist of families welcoming their dead back into their homes, and visiting the graves of their close kin. At the cemetery, family members engage in sprucing up the gravesite, decorating it with flowers, setting out and enjoying a picnic, and interacting socially with other family and community members who gather there. In both cases, celebrants believe that the souls of the dead return and are all around them. Families remember the departed by telling stories about them. The meals prepared for these picnics are sumptuous, usually featuring meat dishes in spicy sauces, chocolate beverages, cookies, sugary confections in a variety of animal or skull shapes, and a special egg-batter bread ("pan de muerto," or bread of the dead). Gravesites and family altars are profusely decorated with flowers (primarily large, bright flowers such as marigolds and chrysanthemums), and adorned with religious amulets and with offerings of food, cigarettes and alcoholic beverages. Because of this warm social environment, the colorful setting, and the abundance of food, drink and good company, this commemoration of the dead has pleasant overtones for the observers, in spite of the open fatalism exhibited by all participants, whose festive interaction with both the living and the dead in an important social ritual is a way of recognizing the cycle of life and death that is human existence.
The 10th of November was my birthday. WE went to this great mexican restaurant in Hollywood! Was a lot of fun
AVina, Audrey, Audrey's friend, Jake and myself!
A mix of 70% ethanol, caffeine, dopamine, serotonine, and chocolate to get ready!
Yes!!! Work never finishes.
Ronald " the Zombie"
Poor guys! They are the new souls recluted for the lab. They look so happy that hurts...but wait...WAIT!!!.... WAIT!!!!!!
