Just about everything I’ve ever read or experienced about any Mexican holiday comes with lots of disclaimers and or contradictions so I’ve liberally plagiarized from a couple of web pages and provided links to my sources.
Kids in some parts go from house to house begging treats on 10/31, 11/1 or 11/2. I was told to expect kids on 10/31; not a one showed up after I walked a mile to buy candy. My buddy JuanJo from the hostel tells me they’ll come by tonight on 11/1. We’ll see.
Yes, I did have a bunch of kids come by on 11/1. They are as cute as or cuter than gringo kids.
A bunch did come around on 11/2 also.
The first noticeable Day of the Dead events were the altars set up in the Government Palace (State Executive Branch offices) and the Judiciary Building. The one in the Government Palace is a memorial to Pepe Aguilar. “a local boy made good” as one of the top Mexican singing cowboys of the 1950’s. The one in the Judiciary Building commemorates Zacatecan Eulalia Guzman, one of the first female archaeologists in Mexico.
I took some videos of the altars on 11/2, but there was also an altar outside the cathedral in memory of the students killed in the Mexico City riots in 1968. I included them in the Photos of the altars link above.
Wikipedia article on the riots
There are two aspects to altar making on el Dia de los Muertos (the Day of
the Dead). The first is to communicate with those that are no longer
physically with us. I don't see how this is any different from people going
to visit the graves of their dearly departed. It isn't about witchcraft, it
is about having an eternal dialogue with those that we love.
The second aspect is the connection it provides us to the world at large and
to our place in the after-life. By building an altar we are acknowledging
that we go on and that not being physically present isn't the same as being
gone.
A Dia de los Muertos altar is meant to honor
the memory of someone who touched your life. This can be anyone from the
family pet to Mother Teresa. Anyone who had a positive impact on your life
can be the subject of your Day of the Dead altar.
People also make altars to show their support for others. I have seen Dia de
los Muertos altars made to those who have died due to AIDS related
illnesses, to those lost in the World Trade Towers attack and the students
at Columbine.
There are people who believe that those building an altar are trying to
raise the dead. This can't be farther from the truth, because the belief is
that the dead are never really gone, so raising them would be redundant.
There is nothing demonic about building a Dia de los Muertos altar.
Foreigners have more trouble understanding Los Dias de Los Muertos than any of Mexico's other fiestas. At first glance, Day of the Dead decorations, colored paper garlands, little skeletons performing daily tasks and sugar skulls inscribed with names remind visitors of Halloween. Other tourists discover that much like Memorial or Remembrance Day back north, families here visit, clean and decorate graves of loved ones for the November 1 and 2 holidays. Many families honor their ancestors and dead with home altars, laden with harvest fruits, traditional bread with crossed bones on dough on top, all to greet the spirits as they return to the home for 24 hours each year.
Several links to Day of the Dead info:
http://www.diadelosmuertos.us/
http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/travel/jking/jkdayofthedead.html
http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/muertos.html
Neighborhood Spruce Up
Zacatecas was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and received a bunch of money from the UN and Mexican government. A couple of days ago, a bunch of workmen appeared and started sprucing up the facades of a couple of the buildings in the same block as the hostel. This morning, I noticed ladders leaning against almost all of the buildings in a two block stretch. They are going as far as building brick wall to even up the rooflines.