2. To be in Oaxaca for Days of the Dead (by Amy)

Four nights of being in Oaxaca at this very special time of year, and we have not blogged once so I am hoping to report on it now. Wait til you see photos, of beautiful Oaxacan nights by candlelight in the graveyards with many friendly masked, and unmasked, spirits around.

We arrived in Oaxaca city early on November 1, 2007, a day or two after many of the graveyard celebrations had started. On October 31, the spirits of children are celebrated at several cemeteries, most notably Xoxocotlan, called hoho for short, but we were not there. That´s ok, Oaxaca takes a little getting acclimated due to the altitude and we saw plenty of celebration and took part in it too, Nov 1 and 2.

Our first day of the celebration, we headed after breakfast in the lovely Zocalo of quesadillas with a tasty flavoring plant called epazote, black beans, spicy hot chocolate, coffee over to the main graveyard or Pantheon General to see people getting ready for nov 1, the day the adult spirits return, by sweeping and painting graves and bringing in armload after armload of bright orange marigolds (tzempazucil) and red cockscomb flowers. Outside the walls of the big cemetery, foodstalls and small carnival rides and games were setting up. From one stall we bought skeleton costume gloves, they were also selling masks. We thought this was because halloween is getting popular with kids here, but actually it was different than that. While we were still outside, we saw some brass bands appear with costumed participants on stilts, adult witches monsters and goblins, with many ids in great costumes as red devils and skeletons especially. Whole costumes for kids in black with white bones painted on, are very popular, with pull on gloves. The band went on into one of the many courtyards of the main cemetery, which is just a 30 peso taxi ride from downtown by the way, and set up in a corner and all the small kids danced, egged on by admiring parents. Meanwhile, in the sunshine, adults started washing graves and setting up flowers. In the alcoves where people have mausoleums, they had already set up a great many elaborate ofrendas, or offerings, where tables laden with flowers breads and photos and sand or flower paintings honored specific organizations or the beloved deceased. ç

There are many cemetaries in Oaxaca city and in the valley of Oaxaca. Some are decorated elaborately, others with just bunches of flowers. You can take expensive tours to each of these. We did too, but after learning how day of the dead is, I realize, this is not necessary! no one guides or controls day of the dead here. Our most satisfying time was at a lovely lovely small cemetary above town, San Felipe del Agua, which I had read about in a blog. we went up there the morning of Nov 2, to see preparations, in a taxi for 50 pesos, and went back at night, and had a wonderful time. There is no difficulty getting there or back, for all day, to get ready, people are going up there with flowers and fresh paint and all night people are coming home.

Back to our remembrances. Our first night Thursday Nov 1, we did pay for a tour, and this was kind of neat. We went to a hillside town far outside Oaxaca, to see something called ´Comparzas.´Comparzas means parades, of some vanished ritual significance. In these parades, many people dress the part of ´the dead´, meaning they wear skeleton costumes or wear sort of darth vader like suits of chain mail, mostly capes and body suites sewn with many glittering coins and jingle bells, with monster like modern rubber masks. They encounter some archetypal figures also in costumes: bishops, doctors, magically powered dwarfs and very sexy nurses. Some looked a lot like wookies. There are little plays about trying to cure the dead from death. It was a little like The Christmas Revels. We understood nothing of it but it all took place in great dance arenas with out of tune brass bands in these distant village streets. We spent all night from 9 to 2 am following these silly bands and costumed figures around town, sometimes drinking lots of local mezcal which is clear, white, odorless and tasty out of tiny little plastic shot glasses. We rapidly become plastered and one with the occasion. I don´t think we could have done this, without a tour, it was to a town called San Agustin Etla, it went on a bit long and was very disorganized and we have not much clear idea of the religious significance but what an experience! I got to talk to some of the local townsladies, since the men were dancing, and they said the women get to do it too about 9 days later. Everyone not dancing or playing in the band or in costume was looking on transfixed.

The second day of the Days of the Dead, we were in the morning watching preparations at the small cemetary, San Felipe del Agua, how lovely. This is about 2 acres of tombs under a few big trees, and people were using flowers, blossoms, petals and colored sands on the graves to create great pictures and heart and designs. Every grave with a fence got a new coat of paint. Every concrete multilevel grave got fresh bright colors, pink orange and turquoise. Every place got new flowers and some had many many candles and a bottle of wine stuck in. often groups of people were working together, more often it would be two ladies and our favorite corner of life, we just got to watch one man, probably in his 70s, just sit and gaze at his loved ones site. We sat on the large roots of a giant ficus tree for a while and just watched the weeding, painting and washing.

In the afternoon we went out of town again with a tour, to the town of Santa Maria del Tule, where they have a huge old tree. we went to their graveyard, here mostly people plopped down vases of orange and pink flowers and ate and began to get really drunk. there was a covered patio where bands were playing and we got to participate in the early dancing, then out come dancing like the comparzas of the night before, with costumed men women and kids. None of the noncostumed folks danced. You will like our pictures. As it got dark, we went back to Oaxaca and this time our van of tourists asked to be let off, on our own, at San Felipe del Agua again. What a contrast! if drunk, people were vibrantly happy. the lovely decorations and candles flickered everywhere. we had brought along a candle or two to light for our loved ones and when I mentioned to a family that I had recently lost my mom, we were taken to heart. We had such a time. We were all drinking clear mezcal and tequila, a trio of guitars started playing at the one gravesite, at the other gravesite we got to take pictures of everyone including lovely 10 year old Nayeli, a local zapotec name for ´lovely one´, wearing her devil costume, and we sang old Oaxacan favorites and other songs. We were with a new friend of ours from Columbia who also sang along. we had so, so much fun. in between times we would go eat street food outside the graveyard, great empanadas and oaxacan moles and specialties and drank hot chocolate, coffee, beer and atole, a warm spicy grain drink sometimes with chocolate.

I think that´s enough for now, our pictures will show the wonders of being out on the graves. It was easy to go and be there, bringing our own memories and some candles along.

When we are in Oaxaca we've always stayed at Las Golondrinas, cost is about $45 per double, very pretty rooms around courtyards, about 4-5 blocks from downtown.