Day of the Dead

It´s been a month since I´ve last published a blog. This is partially from laziness on my part, but also due to the fact that not a lot of interesting things have happened to me of late. My life has become a bit of a routine; as I´m trying to save money I haven´t had the opportunity to get out of Toluca lately. But last week´s Day of the Dead celebrations beg to be written about, so I am once again forced out of retirement.
For those people who haven´t heard about Day of the Dead - or watched the movie ¨Assasins,¨with Antonio Banderas and Sylvester Stallone - I will fill you in on the religious holiday. Basically every year on November 1st and 2nd, Mexicans all over the Republic (and some in the U.S. and Canada) go on a pilgrimage back to their hometowns to visit the cemetaries where their loved ones have been laid to rest. (The Japanese follow a similar custom in mid August called Obon). In the cemetary, in memory of the deceased, they bring flowers - typically marigolds - candles and pictures and they stay up all night either singing or telling stories. In addition, families set up altars in their homes with offerings of fruit or candy (typically shaped like skulls) and bread called ¨pan del muerto¨ (bread of the dead).
Last week, in the days leading up to the first, there were stands all over downtown selling the skull shaped candy along with chocolate bones and tiny skeleton ornaments for the altars. While seeming morbid, I was assured that the tradition is a meant to be sacred and in fact has been celebrated in Mexico for thousands of years, first as an Aztec custom in the summer and then moved to November to coincide with All Saints Day. Very cool indeed.