Our first day in
Some information:
Dias de Muertos takes place on October 31st to November 2nd. It used to be only on the first and second of 
November but it has expanded to include the 31st -- Halloween. Some people are worried that Halloween is swallowing Dias de Muertos, but that is
not true from our observations. If anything, it is the other way around! The little kids get dressed up in gory costumes, true. However, the outfits are worn the whole day, all three days, not just the one night. Dias de Muertos is all about celebrating and remembering the dead. Peoples graves are cleaned, and then decorated. Candles are put on the grave as well as bouquets of flowers. The traditional Dias de Muertos flowers are bright orange (like the Halloween orange except with more yellow) chrysanthemums. Some of the graves were covered in flower petals, with a different color petal for each part of a design. Others used colored rice, sugar, and beans. One of the graves we saw was
covered in orange flower petals with bright red flower petals in the shape of a cross in the center.
People set up personal alters at home, too. There would be aromatic candles, the favorite foods of the dead, flowers, and a photo. If the deceased was an angelito (little angel, in other words a child) there might be candy or a sugar skull on the alter and some toys. In the mercados and plazas the alters/displays are for groups of people who have died. There were many displays commemorating the people who died in the protests here two years ago. The feeling here is that the people were just saying what they believed in, and were suppressed by the government. The reason the whole world heard something else was because the only two newspapers are under the government’s control. The 
detail in the images in the altars was very powerful.
It is believed that the Deads’ spirits are closer to the living on the dates of October 31th to November 2nd. That is why people visit with their dead on these dates. All the bright colors and strong smells are to help the spirits find there way to the right family. The Day of the Dead is actually a misnomer, the festivities really only start at 
and celebrate.
People here have no fear of the dead, it is seen as a natural extension of life. It is not an end, but a beginning of a slower form of life. Children are as knowledgeable about death as adults. We saw children playing tag in amongst the graves. They were respectful of the dead, but not wary. Everyone hangs out in the cemetery long after dark, partying with the dead. Everyone treats the dead like an eccentric aunt or uncle. Even the skeleton figurines are dressed up to show off a chest of ribs, or have their hats on at a jaunty angle, a cigar dangling from bony fingers.
How we celebrated:
On the first night we walked around trying to find the panteón, where a thousand candles would be lit at 
I am not sure at what time the candles were actually lit, but when we got there the panteón was already bright. We didn’t realize until we were already there, but a panteón is actually a cemetery. They are one and the same. The cemetery was rimmed in a wide, covered walkway. That was also where some of the tombs were. The whole inside wall was covered with them. Until I realized what I was looking at (the ends of stone tombs) all it looked like was a fancy wall. Except the wall was actually tombs , about six caskets high. The ends of the caskets were set back a little, creating a ledge where the candles sat. We realized that all the candles couldn’t have been lit at one moment, to do so would have taken thousands of people.
Underneath the covered walkway were several different Dias de Muertos displays. My favorite was done by the cooking school. The image was a dancing skeleton woman done in rice and different types of beans. But there were other displays that addressed grimmer problems, like the murder of women in
At one end of the palisade a chamber choir was singing. We stayed and listened to them, and they were beautiful, but what we were really eager to hear was the orchestra. They were scheduled to play Mozart’s Requiem, an all too fitting piece for a cemetery. But we couldn’t figure out what time they would start and as we were leaving, the cellist was just arriving.
The cemetery itself, the part actually in the ground, was quite crowded. No orderly rows for this place! 
The graves were crammed in; there wouldn’t have been any room for someone to roll over. Mostly there were big marble monuments on the graves, but very little flowers. And in the dark, in a cemetery, with big looming shapes in the not so distant darkness—well it can get quite spooky. Especially when the only light is from some little tea
lights. In the center of the cemetery, there was the most impressive grave of all, at least I think it was grave. It was in a little plaza with big lights lighting it up from underneath. The grave was a huge cross, with a skull resting on the marble mausoleum. I am sure they didn’t mean for it to be scary, though I found it to be!
On our second night — I’m talking about the 1st of November— we took a taxi to a town outside of 
graves were decorated. Some
had vases of flowers, others had the flowers actually planted in the grave and most of them had candles. I don’t know how the candles stayed lit. Some of the more elaborate graves had flower petal designs, or an alter. The whole cemetery looked the a quilt; it was just covered in color! We could hardly see a spot that didn’t have some type of decoration—and therefore color—on it. There were kids running around, and as night fell more and more families arrived. The families usually came with flowers and food. In some places people got to the panteón before dark, 
and then they don’t leave until the next day.
As we were leaving to go find some dinner, a marching band and some fire crackers arrived with the rest of the townsfolk. After dinner we took another cab to the town zocalo. Many people were there too. In one corner little monsters (kids) were dancing and winning prizes. My favorite monster was the “cabeza de calabasititititita” (the ending ita means small, so the more itas , the smaller something is). The translation then is “the very, very, very, very, very, small squash head”. Then we took the cab back to
That night falling asleep was difficult. Firecrackers started going off and didn’t stop. And
there were also the marching bands. And the dogs barking from the firecrackers. And people walking on the street. No wonder it was quiet the next day!
Our third night.
Walking to and from the zocalo we came across three marching bands. One of the had stilt walkers. Another had firecrackers and giant sparklers. All of the bands were marching to the zocalo.
At the zocalo were some clowns with a crowd around them. Even I thought they were funny, and I couldn’t understand the jokes. At another place a band was playing Peruvian music. In another corner was a Latin jazz group. All the cafés along the rim of the zocalo were stuffed, spilling light and sound into the square. Then we headed home.
And now Dias de Muertos is done. Though for us the celebrating isn’t over yet. It is Georgie’s birthday tomorrow. But after that I am looking forward to getting to know
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I am shutting down my computer now but there is something strange happening on our street right. I just checked, it’s a group filming something. There is music (which I can hear sitting at our table) and people pretending to sing and play the music. They just had a pause to reapply makeup. They are either filming a music video or an ad. But by now they have been doing it for a couple hours.
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