"For death is no more than a turning of us over from time to eternity." – William Penn

Date: November 2nd, 2017

Occasion:
Day of the Dead
Día de los Muertos
Día de los Difuntos

Country: Mexico

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XXXII | Sugar Skulls

Spooky Skeletons
By Chase Navarro

Ooh, look, I see squirrels over there. Do I have enough time to pet them before we go live? Wait, what? Are we live already? Why didn't you tell me?

So, ahem, hello. I should put on my announcer's voice for this. I'm Chase Navarro, coming live to you from Mexico City. Wait, can I redo that? I think I should've deepened my voice. You think it sounded fine? Well, if you say so.

So, I'm probably speaking for everyone when I say that today is the best day of the year. Colorful parades everywhere, people dressed as skeletons, singing and dancing and parades and parties through the night, that kind of thing is straight up my alley.

Let me backtrack a bit before I start getting into the nitty gritty observations. Today may be an ordinary day for most of you, but for us Mexicans, it's a treat. We call this the day of the dead, which is just as awesome as it sounds.

At first sight, it seems to just be the Mexican version of Halloween, but let me tell you, that's dead wrong. Haha, dead wrong. Get it? I love me a good pun.

While Halloween is packed with spooktacular activities that scare the living daylights out of you, the day of the dead is all about color. It celebrates both life and death, and demonstrates respect for deceased family members. So, shout out to my ancestors making sure I exist. I owe them a couple of beers when I float up to Heaven.

Wow, my sister just told me I would never make it to Heaven. Well, screw you, Jess. Hell sounds like a blast, so jokes on you. What was I saying? Oh yes, the point of Día de los Muertos. While some are freaked out about ghosts, we throw parties with them. We live on the wild side.

Oh, speaking of wild, I see that a parade is about to begin! People have begun marching down the street in their dope skeleton costumes. I should put mine on and join in soon. Jess will talk you through the history and whatnot, while I'm taking part in the fun.

The point of the skeletons is to symbolize the Calavera Catrina. In English? That means elegant skull, and boy, are our skulls elegant. We go all out for this occasion. Sugar skulls? Heard of those? They look awesome. They're basically a form of art, where you make skulls out of sugar. Meringue powder, to be specific. I have to restrain myself from eating them.

To elaborate on the history of the Calavera Catrina, so my sister gets to talk about some interesting stuff for a change, an artsy dude named José Guadalupe Posada carved an engraving to accompany a skull, or Calavera, written about in a book. This carving ended up being a personification of death, per se. Jess, get over yourself. Why are you so surprised that I know what per se means?

Anyhow, Posada gave his skeleton carving a makeover, dressing it up in a fancy French outfit, which represented the Mexican interpretation of European sophistication. Whoa, that rhymed! That was awesome. So, later on, another dude named Diego Rivera gave his skeleton bust a fancier makeover with richer garments, and thus, Calavera Catrina was born.

Ooh, time to get my parade on! I think some famous singer is going to start performing soon, since a crowd has formed around the stage, so this is where I make my exit. Also, bikes keep passing me on the street, for some reason. Does this have anything to do with the festival?

You know what? My sister will probably have an answer. She knows everything. Over to you, Jess. Quick tip, remember to actually make your recount interesting. You always bore me to death, so don't put your audience through the same torture.

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The History of Death Festivals
By Jessica Navarro

Wow, Chase, thanks for that glowing intro. You know, maybe you should take charisma classes yourself. After all, you spent a good chunk of your recount talking about that squirrel while not realizing you were live.

Also, for the record, my history teacher tells me that my presentations are superb, and that's good enough for me.

Anywho, back to the day of the dead. I'm live from Mexico City and standing on the side of the road, watching my brother prance around in a flimsy skeleton costume. Just a typical day in the Navarro household.

Though people here are partying their hearts out, some people spend this day bearing candles and flowers at the local cemetery. It's a way to pay respect to our ancestors, or as my brother would phrase it, the homies who gave birth to those who birthed us. Some clean and decorate the graves of their ancestors too. After all, even the dead need an occasional spring clean.

Ooh, I just spotted something across the street that resembles food. Excuse me, I need to get me some snacks. Oh, damn it, those are for the ancestors. Pardon me, sir, do you know where the human food is? Over by the oak tree? Alright, thanks a lot. I'm making my way over to the oak tree and ooh, enchiladas! Just let me chow down on that for a sec.

Right, yeah, history of the food, or whatever. So, traveling from the spirit world to the living world takes a ton of energy. In my opinion, those ghosties could just chug a dozen Red Bulls. That would fuel them for a few decades. But, since ghosts are picky, energy drinks just aren't good enough for them.

That's why pan de muerto exists, which translates to the bread of the dead. It rhymes, which is a bonus! The bread is typically sweet and decorated with bones and skulls made from dough. Dough teardrops represent sorrow, while the bones are arranged in a circle to represent the circle of life. My brother usually lifts the bread over his head and sings songs from The Lion King.

Chase, who just came back to grab a quick drink, tells me that any rational person would do the same if they got the chance. Well, dear brother, if you want to initiate it, then how will you carry it through? The Bread King? The Lion Bread? Think it through, man.

As my brother said, sugar skulls are a part of the food culture, even though they're not supposed to be eaten. People usually dye them rainbow colors, so you can bust out those skulls during pride month too. Kill two birds with one stone, ya know?

For drinks, pulque and atole are the way to go. Pulque is a sweet drink, made from agave sap, while atole is a porridge made from ingredients such as hot chocolate, cinnamon, and vanilla. Sounds weird, tastes great. I mean, none of the things I listed are porridge ingredients, but the drink tastes like autumn, which I love. So, don't knock it until you try it.

There are also altars which welcome the dead back to the living world. Humans usually load them with a bunch of offerings. Drinks, food, family photos, candles, the whole shebang. Children get toys sometimes, while marigold flowers are used to decorate the altar.

Man, why do people never get me any offerings? I'm very offended by this. They'd better spoil me when I die. Chase, you better spoil me when I die. I don't care if you die before me! Spoil me from Hell. Tell Satan to take me on a date, or whatever.

Oh, I almost forgot to talk about the paper picado! That translates to pierced paper, which is exactly what it is. Artisans stack colored tissue paper in loads of layers, then grab a chisel and poke the living hell out of it. It represents wind and the fragility of life, but I personally enjoy stabbing inanimate objects as a stress reliever.

To wrap up, Día de los Muertos is full of symbolic meaning. Chase and I haven't even scratched the surface. I mean, we did a decent job, but there's so much history that you're better off reading a journal article about it.

The point is, this festival celebrates the living and dead, and how we're not as separated as we think. It's beautiful, in a sense, that the memory of us lives on, even after our bodies decay. As the artsy dude who did the skull carving said, "todos somos calaveras," because, under our man-made garments, we are all the same skeletons.