el día de los muertos

While across the US many people were recovering from Halloween sugar highs, in Guatemala (and many, many other countries) we were marking El día de los muertos, the day of the dead. Preparations from this day began weeks ago, with the cleaning and fresh painting of graves. The tradition varies slightly from community to community, particularly depending on the predominance of the Mayan culture. The festival is certainly a combination of indigenous and ladino customs, but at its root is based on the belief that this is the day when the spirits of those who have died return to earth. The veil between the worlds of the living and of the dead are thinest at this time. In Guatemala it is believed that the best way to communicate with the spirits at this time is through the flying of kites. So at cemeteries across the country, children and adults alike are found flying beautiful hand-made kites (as well as kites of adorned with the images of all the best action figures--Superman, Spiderman etc). It is customary to bring huge bundles of flowers to the graves, sprinkle the grave stones with pine needles and draw symbols of crosses out of flower petals on the carpets of pine needles. The streets around the cemeteries are crowded with flower vendors and women crafting floral wreaths.

Today we went to the nearby town of Zunil where the custom of decorating the graves is taken to extrem heights. The beautiful thing about this cemetery is that people only use flowers and the long red leaves of a plant called Arbol de Gallo to decorate. No plastic, no paper, nothing synthetic. Some graves are so fully covered that you cannot see the cement below. One family had hired a brass band to play thoughout the morning in from of the grave. The muscisians were all under about age 15 and seemed to only know 2 songs, but it made for a really festive atmosphere. I think it was this general feeling of joy that was what I loved most about the holiday. In two days of wandering for hours around two different cemeteries, I only saw one woman crying, and this I believe was over a veyr recent death. Rather, families come to the cemetery in celebration. They bring picnics, drinks, music and danse. They eat traditional "fiambre" (a meat and veg salad that is sold only at this time of year and as far as I can tell is actually a glorified chef's salad: lettuce, cheese slices, deli meat etc.). In all the comedors, restaurants, storefronts and kitchen windows I've passed selling the dish, it has always been advertised as "delicioso" fiambre. Never sabroso, rico, or one of the many other terms often used to describe food. Always delicioso. As much as I felt like I should, I couldn't bring myself to try it. Poco a poco with the meat.

A fair is set up outside the cemetery in Xela with food stalls, games, rides (all the traditional ones--merry-go-rounds, swings etc. but they're all hand powered. So some very dizzy person just runs in circles to keep them spinning.

I could try and describe it all, but it's probably far better to just let the photos speak for themselves. So much color and motion--a wonderful weekend. I'm feeling quite excited to be back in Xela.