Dead-ly Fun

So, while the rest of you were sitting at home, loading up a bowl of sweets for the trick-or-treaters and tuning into "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," down in Oaxaca we were getting ready to get a really dead-ly party started. After all, Oaxaca is the true epicenter for Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations, and the festivities start early and last long.

















We began with a mask-making workshop that certainly put our artistic talents to the test. After all, not only did we have to come up with compelling "characters" on which to base our masks—including traditional Oaxacan characters like "the widow" or "the drunk," North American derivations like Josh’s ode to Firestarter, or still other continental variations like my Venetian imitation—but we also had to execute these darn things--a feat which required several days' investment of time and creative energy.

Nonetheless, we were able to tout the fruits of our labor in our first ever comparsa, a costumed, live band-led parade/procession designed to draw the dead back to earth and celebrate their life. Imagine one of those wild New Orleans funeral processions, and you'll begin to get the idea. As you can see, the comparsa relies not only on the fun masks to revive the dead, but also copious amounts of mescal, which is administered throughout the procession from this ominous-looking vessel. (By last count, I think some of our contingent reported indulging in at least 16 mescal stops.) And the journey ends with offerings and a lot of bread and hot chocolate (to take the edge off of all of that mescal.) It was really a lot of fun, but it was only the beginning.

Following these festivities on the 29^th, we participated in the “real” Day of the Dead festivities by visiting local cemeteries during the eve of Oct 31 to see how people camped out at their relatives’ graves to eat, sing, chat, and celebrate their loved one’s lives. Really a wonderful tradition, I must say. These pictures of the beautiful adornments placed on the graves certainly don’t do justice to the tradition—imagine mariachis, streams of people, and a lively fair atmosphere to boot.

Of course, not all cemeteries or tourists are created equal, and we found that some of the Day of the Dead festivities at the older cemetery in Xoxocotlan bordered on the grotesque, not because of the local traditions but because of the voyeuristic intrusion of spring break-style tourists (although of an older age demographic), passing through the cemeteries with beers in hand looking for a party. But I guess my anthropologist is showing here, isn't it? Luckily, as always, the road to perdition was paved with yummy food. Yes, they can make even fried food look great.

Well, lest I sound too self-righteous, there was still more to come for the partier in all of us. On Nov 1, we journeyed to nearby Etla to witness their elaborate comparsa traditions, and we weren’t disappointed. We were totally blown away by the elaborate, very professional home-made costumes (of course nothing that could compete with Andrea's works of art), but also the incredibly lively, inclusive, and celebratory atmosphere there. The music was infectious, the crowd moved from house to house, and each stop featured a frenetic couple of numbers designed to whoop up the crowd and send the costumed masses into a frenzy. We certainly found ourselves caught up in the festivities, and I couldn’t resist when an un-costumed, but very sweet elderly resident brought me into the action. Luckily, my cumbia skills didn’t fail me.

By Nov 2 we, and every other Oaxacan, felt dead on our feet from so much late-night fun and merrymaking. Nonetheless, we did our best to indulge in local tradition and eat even more of the lovely Day of the Dead bread, which at this point was coming out of our ears due to Monica’s reputation as a bread fiend and local traditions of exchanging bread with friends.

All in all, we had a blast during the Day of the Dead festivities and could easily attest to the fact that all of the visiting spirits did as well; indeed, we could have all indulged in even later nights of fun had it not been for the looming realization that the here-and-now, and all of its attendant responsibilities was always right around the corner.