Today is November 2nd. And here in Mexico, it is the final day of Día de Muertos, or
Day of the Dead, celebrations. Even though I've lived in Mexico for three years, this
year is my first time preparing a Día de Muertos altar, and I'm headed to Mercado "La
Cruz" in Querétaro city center right now to pick up a few last minute items. I thought
I'd bring you along. For honest insight and practical advice about
living in Mexico, subscribe to my channel and hit the bell to be notified when I upload
a new episode every Thursday. Each year, Día de Muertos takes place on
November 1st and 2nd. While it's largely inspired by pre-Hispanic cultures, Catholicism's All
Saints Day and All Souls Day have also influenced the celebrations. The Aztec, Toltec and other
pre-Hispanic cultures understood that death was a natural phase in life's long continuum.
And for that reason, they elected to celebrate as opposed to mourn the dead. Today, in Mexico
and other parts of Latin America, family and friends gather each year in early November
to do the same. The last thing on my to-do list before I head
back to the house is to pick up a Negra Modelo. So part of my errands today were to buy the
comida favorita, the bebidas favoritas, of my loved ones who I am paying tribute to with
my altar, and my grandpa loved Negro Modelo, so got to have one.
I am home from the market now, and I'm getting ready to put the finishing touches on my altar.
As you can see, it is right there behind me. I've got it in my dining room, set up on a
desk. I've had it there set up for about a week and a half now, I think, and as much
as I have loved seeing it, I think I might have put it up a little too early because
some of the flowers, they're not doing too hot. So you live and you learn.
The flower section at Mercado "La Cruz" was almost entirely sold out of flor de Cempasúchil,
which are the orange marigolds, which are pretty much the flower for Día de Muertos.
Fortunately, I managed to snag this bouquet here, which also has some Baby's Breath and
some Cresta de Gallo. Those are also important flowers for Día de Muertos. And I am going
to now kind of, like I said, put the finishing touches on my altar, and I will share with
you some of the main components. Due to the pandemic, Día de los Muertos celebrations
were much smaller in Mexico this year. City officials across the country made the decision
to cancel parades and public altars as well as close cemeteries. But virus or not, the
souls would still be temporarily returning to earth, which meant home altars, or ofrendas,
were more important than ever. These altars aren't for worshiping, but rather they serve
to welcome souls back to the realm of the living and provide sustenance after what is,
as I'm sure you can imagine, a very long journey. If, like me, you have lost someone important
in your life, then you know that not everyone feels comfortable talking about someone who
isn't around anymore. Especially in the United States, people have a very closed off view,
very uncomfortable attitude about death. Día de Muertos is a time to remember those people
and to be happy, because even though they are gone now, you were fortunate enough to
have them in your life for a time. Now, something that I really love about Día
de Muertos is the fact that there are no hard and fast rules for your altar. You can really
make it however you want it to be. The Aztec, or the Mexica, where this Día
de Muertos tradition originated, believed that the flor de Cempasúchil, which has a
very distinct, very strong smell, that smell would help lead the souls from the afterlife,
from the Land of the Dead, Mictlan, to the Land of the Living. So on a lot of altars,
you will see, obviously, flowers in their full form, and then also petals.
These Sugar Skulls were meant to be a replacement for actual skulls, which the Aztecs would
put on their altars. And when the Spanish came to the Americas, well, they had something
to say about that, like they had something to say about everything, and convinced the
Aztecs to start making their offerings out of sugar. I learned so much about the origins
of Sugar Skulls from The Learn Spanish and Go Podcast. If you are looking for a little
bit of Spanish listening comprehension, then definitely check out Jim and my's podcast.
I will leave a link in the description below. Pan de Muerto, or bread of the dead, I've
never said that in English, it sounds kind of funny, but Pan de Muerto is a very traditional
pastry for this time of year, and I managed to snag the very last one from a bakery near
my house. It's a little hard to tell on this piece, but usually, you can see this extra
piece of bread here, it's usually in a cross bone. So two bones crossing, pirate style.
The bread kind of has a little bit of an orangy flavor and obviously a ton of sugar.
People will often use Papel Picado to decorate their altars, and it represents the element
of air. When the paper moves, a soul is believed to have passed by the altar.
As night starts to set in, it's time for the candles. They represent light, faith and hope.
They will guide souls on their return journey to the Land of the Living.
Taylor and I are about to eat dinner and watch Coco. But before we do, I need to place the
last element on my altar. I have some chorizo for my grandpa, and a hot dog with tons of
ketchup for my dad. There it is. My altar, my ofrenda, for Día
de Muertos is complete. I am so glad that I decided to share this with you, and I hope
you enjoyed hearing about my Día de Muertos experience. This has been one of the most
beautiful experiences I have had since moving to Mexico to date. I really cannot underscore
how special and how meaningful this has been for me.
If you have any questions about Día de Muertos, or about living in Mexico in general, then
leave those in the comments below, and I will definitely get back to them.
I'm Alex from backpackingbrunette.com. Thanks for watching.