Día de los Muertos, Tepa Style

Catrina on Horseback

I feel like Day of the Dead is becoming more widely celebrated throughout the world, especially in the U.S., but if you want to know more about its origins and meaning, here is an excellent website. In different parts of Mexico it's celebrated more elaborately than in others. Over this past week, people kept saying to us that we should go elsewhere to observe the special celebrations: a parade of Catrinas y Catrines in Mexico City, an entire city corridor of altars in Puebla, and a huge community party in La Huasteca. They didn't understand that we didn't necessarily want the grand experience - especially not the tourist experience. We wanted to celebrate with and in this community, wildly spectacular or not. To me, it was pretty spectacular.

The Nobles

1600s Feminist Nun Sor Juana

Body Painted Torsos

It helps that at the university where I teach they do celebrations in style, and this was the case on Monday, October 31st. Jon and I got there at 10:00 that morning to see the Catrinas y Catrines contest as well as the altar (also called ofrendas) competition. Soon after we arrived, I was accosted by the tiny lady in charge who informed me I was to be one of the judges. This was news to me. I was glad I had dressed up a bit because I was plopped into a chair at the viewing table where everyone could see me. It was comfortable there in the shade, though I had brought my trusty green umbrella just in case. The festivities were about an hour late to start, but when they did, we were treated to a dance of men and women in drag, accompanied by the specter of death. My friend Arlo, one of the dancers, told me the meaning of this is that people dress in masks and opposite-gender clothing so that if death comes, he doesn't recognize them, and they dance so that they're not standing still long enough for death to catch them. After that, a choir performed, and then a troupe of modern dancers performed to the song "Recuerdame" from the movie Coco. From nowhere, the dancers suddenly revealed pictures of loved ones that had passed. That did it for me. I was a mess of tears. Next came the Catrinas y Catrines competition in which the participants dressed as skeleton figures in elaborate dress meant to satirize the upper classes. I felt bad having to judge them because each one was unique and all were stunning. These students had put such work and creativity into their costumes it became clear there are some real artists at this polytechnic school. Vote for your favorite in the comments! 

Hipster Catrines

Aztecas 

Raining cempasuchiles

The altars had been erected earlier as the students had started at dawn putting them together. Each one represented a different department such as Engineering, Finance, Animal Sciences, etc., and each honored a different historical figure. These were carefully planned, and incredibly ornate - each using thousands of flowers and petals. Jon, sitting nearby, was as much in awe of the magic and beauty as I was. 

Not sure who this altar honored

For Frida

The only problem was that all this time, the sun was rising higher and higher in the sky and the shade was receding. By the time we moved from the judges' table to the altars, about which the students read long explanations as we stood in the heat, I was wilting. I had been about two hours in the sun, shaded only by my umbrella which wasn't sufficient, and we all know how I do in the sun. Also, it had been about five hours since I had eaten, which is also a big no-no for me. I was getting dizzy. I tried to tell the tiny lady that I needed a break but such was not to be. Finally, the judging done, the awards handed out, I high-tailed it out of there, desperately searching for something, anything, I could eat. Damn, I should have packed that peanut-butter sandwich. I managed to find a lackluster snack and nosh a few bites before wedging myself on the packed Combi back to town. I won't go into the details of my meltdown once I got home, but more food and a nap pretty much restored me. 

Flower Market

Death and the dancers in drag

Altar for Francisco I Madero, who the university is named for, in the town center

The next day was Jon's birthday, and festivities in Tepa were in full swing. The big marketplace, which is normally only there on Sunday, had been going on for three days. There were flowers and sweets and food of every description. Honestly, we couldn't get enough of it. That night we went to dinner at our favorite restaurant, the only fancy one in Tepa, and had our own celebration. Afterward, we wandered back into the town center to find it swarming with children in costumes, trick or treating at all the different shops - yes, on November 1st! As we were headed back to the house, Jon was suddenly attacked by small children hugging him and wishing him a happy birthday. As I tried to make sense of it all, I realized they were our landlord Marco's kids accompanied by their dad. It was the perfect end to Jon's enchanted birthday.

Honoring Loved Ones

Wednesday the 2nd brought more marketplace craziness, and then, late in the afternoon, a trip by car to the graveyard with Arlo. We arrived to find a kind of impromptu city set up around the cemetery with all kinds of food and beverage stalls. This party was in full swing. We tromped around the graveyard, respectfully of course, and paid homage to Arlo's grandparents whose tombs were piled high with cempasuchil, the huge, orange marigolds that are the centerpiece of this holiday. As we made our way out of the cemetery, we ran into friends of Arlo's. They were drinking beer in huge cups and seemed pleasantly tipsy. We chatted up a storm, vibing on their vibe. My Spanish had never felt so fluid and free. It took us a while to get back to the car because people who knew Arlo (everyone knows Arlo) kept stopping him and, of course, we had to chat with them all. We finished the night off with taquitos in the town center, and went home full of joy and wonder. These three days of celebration in Tepa were not what tourists coming to Mexico flock to see, but they were beautiful and personal - the kind of experience we will treasure forever. 

Our own little decoration

Jon with local dog