Headed South: Dios Mio! Dias de los Muertos y Mas!

How many celebrations, events, parades, masses, vigils and dance events can be compressed into a single week? Well, the full complement of fingers and toes failed me so I'm guessing about 23. Roughly. Maybe a few more. Along with fingers and toes, words may fail me on this one because this week was VISUAL. So, there will be lots of pictures. To begin...

We put Alex on the plane to Vieques at 6AM last Saturday (he's fine, got apartment, looking for work) and picked up our friends Ginny and Gary at the airport at 7:30 that same night. In the interim, we attended the Thriller Zombie Dance held on the Plaza at 2PM that was a fund raiser for Cruz Roja. In Mexico, the Cruz Roja (Red Cross) is entirely supported by donations. The difference between the US and Mexico is that, in Mexico, Cruz Roja runs the ambulances (hospitals/fire depts. don't) and will also stitch you up, administer anti-venom for scorpions -- don't worry your little heads about THAT potential visitors--and generally provide basic emergency room care. So it's a real good idea to make sure these folks have money. About 100 semi-gereatric people learned the Thriller Dance, dressed as Zombies and pranced their little hearts out for Cruz Roja raising about USD$10K.

Zombies show they have rhythm...

as they invade Ajijic Plaza...

and dance...

and dance to Thriller.

Note the Zombie dancing with the baby.

A zombie up close and personal.

We scurried back home and then to the airport to pick up Ginny and Gary. Excitement ran high as we began our whirlwind celebration of not JUST Dias de los Muertos but also the conclusion of the celebration of the Virgin of the Rosary. G & G were able to get into the swing of celebration at about 5:30AM the next morning when the cacaphony of bottle rockets and church bells threw them from their bed (well metaphorically). They were strangely unenthusiastic when I offered that the early morning celebrations would only become more raucous and persistent until the Virgin assumed her rightful place in the Church North of the Plaza on Wednesday night.

While all our guests are special, Ginny's arrival at the peak of Virgin season was kismet. Ginny is British and, one would have assumed, all secular and blasé about Virgins and their celebrations. Secular, yes. Blasé, not very. It turns out that Ginny is into religious art and particularly Virgins. Mexico is the proverbial candy shop of Virgins and Ginny was the kid in it. It is truly daunting to discover how many ways the Virgin can be depicted and in how many different materials. Suffice it to say that Ginny was most pleased.

I am nattering on here. I believe a quick replay of the various festivities interspersed with photos is the way to go.

Return of the Virgin

On Wednesday night, they held the parade for the Virgin of the Rosary. I'm still working out how the Aztec dancers are reconciled with the Virgin's quest to return to her home church. Those outfits are something (note Wild Boars head provided to you as an attachment on your email alert) and, if I were the clerical staff in charge, I might be a tad afraid that the Virgin would be upstaged. But that's just me.

After the parade, the Virgin returned to the St. Andres Church for a mass and then returned (at last!) to her home church North of the Plaza. The Plaza was jammed with celebrants, food vendors, dance bands and a giant iron scaffoldy thing strung with vast amounts of fireworks. We didn't make it all the way to the 11PM fireworks at the Plaza but could hear them loud and clear from our casa which is 6 blocks away.

Even the Native Americans join the parade for the Virgin of the Rosary

More Native Americans in the Parade

Even more Native Americans

Floats are part of the parade as well

Each neighborhood contributes a float with a religious theme

These themes generally depict some portion of Christ's life

This theme shows the Virgin with the baby Jesus

Dia de los Muertos

This is not to be confused with Halloween. However we, in America, are already tainting the minds and outfits of young Mexicans who are increasingly traipsing around on the 31st (when they should be worried about the Virgin of the Rosary) demanding sweets. But I digress.

Dia de los Muertos lasts for two days -- November 1st and 2nd. It is the time when the Mexicans remember and communicate with their Dead. It is believed that the veil between the two worlds is thinnest at this point in time and that the spirits of the passed can return and visit with those they loved. It is not scary to them. It is, in fact, a happy event for them. November 1st is dedicated to the young (infants and children) who have died while the 2nd is for adults.

There are two principal ways that the holiday is observed. First, most people decorate the graves of deceased family members. They first clean the site and paint anything that is worn. Then, they purchase or create ornate floral arrangements that decorate the grave. Added to this may be items that were of particular interest or particularly dear to the dead person. Then, in many cases, the favorite food of the person is put on the grave -- usually including bread, salt and water as the basics of life. Families will stay at the cemetery for hours, sometimes over night, and visit with the deceased and trade stories about them with other family members. We saw a man playing a guitar for one grave. The children are involved in this -- as they are in every family activity-- and no one worries about trauma.

Grave decorations for Dia de los Muertos

Decorations on a child's grave

The graves are decorated with items personal to the individual

The Mexicans have a very different attitude toward death than most Americans have. Death is just regarded as another phase of life -- like childhood or middle age. They joke about death -- a lot. They grieve for those they lose but it isn't regarded as a permanent state in quite the way NorteAmericanos think of it. I attribute their attitude to their very personal connection with their religion (many really perceive the Virgin as an almost corporal, living being with whom they can directly communicate) and the fact that death is so much more common and familiar to them. When you walk the cemetery you see how high the infant and child mortality rates were until quite recently. Our gardener lost two children as did my Spanish teacher. In America it is unusual, fortunately, to know anyone who has lost a child.

The second form of celebration is the creation of altars in front of houses or on Plazas. In many ways they are similar to the gravesite decorations but frequently even more elaborate. An altar is created out of plywood and then draped with cloth. Usually right in front of your house on the sidewalk and street. Flower petals are strewn in intricate designs to create a background upon which are placed items significant to the person being honored.

Altars are even created for famous dead personages...

or dead revolutionaries...

or dead revolutionaries and their children.

Another aspect of Dia de los Muertos are the Catrina figures. You see these all over Mexico during this period of the year. They vary in size from very small to larger than life size figures. The basic model is a skeleton. From there, they are dressed in all types of outfits -- bride and groom, musicians, participants in various occupations etc. Honestly, I'm not sure what purpose or symbolism is involved with them. I need to get on that by next year.

Our friends Gary & Ginny with one La Catrina

Another La Catrina (one of many we saw)

Kuddos to Gary and Ginny for their stamina in celebration. It has taken us months of rigorous fiesta training to be able to stick with a schedule as arduous as Day of the Dead. Through a program of careful pacing and consistent margarita infusion we all managed to survive the day. We kicked off Day 2 of Day of the Dead by witnessing a rather vague ceremony at the San Juan Cosala Malecon. It involved sending messages to the indigenous Mermaid Goddess of the Lake. The messages were enclosed in small clay 500 year old pots that had been culled from the lake bottom and were returned, via panga, to their original watery resting places. Under a blazing sun, we tried to make sense of how this fit in with the Day of the Dead while constantly checking our watches to see when we could first imbibe a margarita without being considered hopeless drunks.

The children of San Juan Cosala with faces decorated for Day of the Dead

From there, we moved on to the Viva Mexico Restaurant (finally margaritas!) for an excellent meal of Chicken Mole, tamales and various other treats. Next, back to the casa to change. We all had to wear totally white outfits to the Mermaid ceremony and felt it important to reassemble ourselves before we were mistaken at later events for a roaming band of Good Humor men. Then off to Chapala to visit with Ron and Wes and have one or two of Wes' world renowned margaritas. Stumbling ever so slightly, we then wended our way to Cinco de Mayo, a street in Chapala that is closed down for the day and in which altars are created. There are also street food vendors and live music. People also dress up as real life Catrinas. Very diverting.

From there, to Ramon and Ed's new house for a party. They just moved from Guadalajara and bought this house that is amazing. Well, will be amazing after they get done with it. Hacienda style with the rooms all opening onto a central courtyard. We'll do an architecture post some day when things quiet down. Post party, back to Ajijic where there was yet another parade, culminating in yet another fiesta in the Plaza. This week there are no fiestas. Thank God.

So, there you have it. Hopefully Michael can cram a lot of pictures in here to give you a better feel for what has been going on. Alex is settling in Vieques, Gary and Ginny are safely home, Siam continues to enjoy her retirement. My brother Stephen and wife Lee are due in next week, Justin here for Thanksgiving and Michael's brother Brian and wife Dian the week after. Hope you are all doing well and that our Northeastern friends and family are pulling back to normal after Sandy. Let us know what you are up to. Take care.