A dance with death: celebrating Día de los Muertos in Oaxaca
As a Chicana (a Mexican-American), Rebecca grew up in a family accustomed to colorful funerals full of music and food. She still makes it a point to create a small ofrenda honoring her deceased family members for Día de los Muertos. But nothing prepared her — and certainly not Jared — for the week-long festivities in Oaxaca.
Oaxaca is considered by many to be a culinary and cultural capital of Mexico, a place where ancient traditions live on in everyday life. Women with ribbons in their hair wear elaborate Tehuana dresses. People flock to one of the oldest and largest markets in Mexico on Sundays to eat and buy everything from plantains to live turkeys. Walking through the historic center you smell chiles, chocolate, and nuts melt together in rich moles. Every day it seems there is a comparsa (parade) winding through the streets with horns and fireworks and people toasting with mezcal. It is as if protected by the mountains that surround it, Oaxaca has proudly preserved the essence of Mexico.
Needless to say, Oaxaca is one of the best places to celebrate Día de los Muertos. In the days that lead up to November 1, comparsas dominate the cobblestone streets. The markets fill with traditional foods like pan de yema (yolk bread) and mole negro, and people can be seen carrying armfuls of cempasúchiles (the traditional orange marigolds that will adorn ofrendas and graves). You don't need to look for the festivities — just step outside your door or walk around the historic center and they can't be missed.
The night of October 31, we ventured to the outskirts of Oaxaca City to the panteón (cemetery) in Xoxocotlan with friends from Mexico and around the world. Live music played at the cemetery entrance and everywhere people were selling tostadas, elote, and ponche. The cemetery was packed.
At this time every year, families surround ornately decorated graves. Many bring chairs and blankets to spend the night at the graves of the deceased. People share food, beer, and mezcal — we saw one family even set up a grill to cook throughout the night. The intoxicating smell of copal drifts through the air. Mariachi bands circulate through the cemetery playing songs about death and people dance and sing. It is truly a celebration of life and death.
The next day we stayed in the historic center for the festivities. All around the Zócalo and up Calle Alcalá around the church of Santo Domingo, artists painted catrinas (the iconic skeleton associated with Día de los Muertos) on peoples' faces. We visited the public library's display of traditional ofrendas from the different pueblos of Oaxaca state, each decorated with different local foods and materials. Comparsas seemed to appear out of nowhere. Unlike parades in the US where there are parade participants and onlookers separated by a metal fence, here there was no distinction between the two. It was often impossible not to be swept into the dancing train of people. At night outside the church of Santo Domingo, a muerteada took place. A muerteada is like a comparsa except it is unique to Día de los Muertos in that the dead embody the dancers so that they can participate in the festivities.
The following day was filled with more face painting, fire works, and comparsas. Though we wanted to visit the Panteón General, the main cemetery in Oaxaca City, the cemetery was not open to celebrations this year due to damage from the September 7 earthquake. Instead we walked up candlelit Calle de Manuel García Vigil to the barrio of Xochimilco, one of the oldest barrios in Oaxaca City. There, in front of the panteón, was a poetry reading about death.
Like many things in Mexico, every part of this celebration is adorned with painstakingly thoughtful and elaborate detail. The floral arrangements, dresses, food, and music rival that of even the most elaborate weddings in the US. If you are celebrating Día de los Muertos in Oaxaca, prepare for sensory overload and make sure you have the stamina to eat, drink, and dance for days on end. Celebrating death in Oaxaca is something everyone should do at least once in their life.
