Dia de los Muertos

On Saturday last week I went downtown with a couple other girls to see how they celebrate Hanal Pixan, which is the Mayan equivalant to Day of the Dead or Halloween. They make these houses out of sticks basically and make an altar to the deceased. In the centro, there are about 60 different little houses from different pueblos or little towns around Merida. It was really interesting to not only see how the people dress and act, but to see how they set up the alters with a picture of the person in the center of a table with a cross behind it, sometimes with a traditional dress (hipil) on it. There is also a lot of food on the table, and many of the families were still cooking when we got there because they hand out the food to the people later in the day on Saturday. But there were bonfires in the middle of the sidewalks and animals in pens made the night before. I saw turkey, pig, and chicken in the midst of all the people. Many families were making tortillas by hand and that was also interesting to see. And there was inscence galor! The smell was strong with all the candles and flowers and people! Definitely an experience :)

But my family, because we`re Christians is against celebrating anything. We went to church like normal, and on Sunday we went to a pueblo to play volleyball, which was a load of fun! We also ate Pibes, which is the traditional Mayan food for the time of year, and it`s only ok to eat if it hasn`t been on an altar (for my family at least). It´s mashed corn with turdey and stuff in between and it`s in the shape of a pizza, HUGE! And it was very yummy. Lots of people went to the cemetaries that day too and painted the gravesites and tombs. The cemetaries are really different here. There is a certain spot to be burried and the tombs are mostly above ground. It´s like walking through a little city. There are places to put candles and even cabnet like places. Very interesting also is that due to lack of space in the cemetaries, people can rent tombs! I thought that was quite strange, but you pay about 300 dollars for three years for your body to lay there, and then afterward, they remove your bones, burn them, and give them back to your family! What a different tradition!

Then, on the day off, on Moday, we went to a place called the tres cenotes, or three waterholes. They are caverns in the ground that have water in them. They are very fresh which is nice for the hot weather. They were georgeous! And to get from one to the other, imagine train tracks, but about an arms length wide with little carts that could be put on or taken off pulled by horses. Quite an adventure as well!

And then this week has been a breeze, it went really really fast! It´s hard for me to believe we have less than a month left of school (because we have a trip at the end). Right now it´s really rainy too because I think a small huricane is coming toward the peninsula. I´ve heard it should hit Sunday, but it´s not strong at all. So we shall see! Hope everyone has a fantastic fin de semana!!!