Days of the Dead
Come to Mexico at the end of October to study Spanish and celebrate the Days of the Dead with Cemanahuac. This is one of the most poignant and culturally-significant times of the year to be in Mexico, when families visit with the souls of the deceased.
We’ll go to Mexico City, Cuernavaca, and small villages to visit cemeteries and see public and private ofrendas (altars), dedicated to those who have died, but whose spirits will return on October 31 and November 1 to spend a few hours with their loved ones. It’s impossible to describe the reverence the living demonstrate to the returning spirits…you really have to be here to sense the anticipation and to share it with our families. Much Mexican art, literature, and popular art revolves around the duality of life and death, and the Days of the Dead represent this very well.
We'll travel to Mexico City on Saturday, October 19 to experience the Alebrijes Parade on Paseo de la Reforma. This vibrant parade features giant colorful sculptures of fantastical creatures known as alebrijes.
On Thursday, October 24 we’ll travel to Yecapixtla, a town nestled at the base of Popocatepetl volcano, to go to the grandest Day of the Dead market in the state of Morelos. Vendors from around central Mexico gather here to sell marigolds (cempasúchil), candles, copal incense, traditional foods, and display material essential for setting up an ofrenda (an offering, though in this case ‘altar’ is a better translation). The countryside will be ablaze with marigolds and other fragrant flowers.
We will travel to Ocotepec on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings (October 30-November 1). We‘ll be welcomed into the homes in which a person has died in the previous 365 days. If that was a child we’ll be welcomed to the home on October 31st, if an adult, it will be on the evening of November 1st. By going ahead of time we’ll be able to see the town on a ‘regular’ day though we’ll see, and take note of clues which will alert us to which houses will be opened for us to visit on Thursday and Friday. We’ll visit the cemetery to see how families decorate the tombs of their close relatives.
On Friday, November 1 we will decorate the tomb of John Spencer, an English artist with no relatives in Mexico. John was an admirer of Vincent Van Gogh, and we’ll recreate a painting with flower petals on his tomb. We’ll start with a visit to Cuernavaca’s central market to purchase large bundles of marigolds. John’s friends came from many countries, from all walks of life, and many of them did not know each other, so this activity is a good time to make new friends. This is a project requiring many hands. Even though we’ll have a pattern to follow, there a many challenges involved creating a floral mosaic of chopped flower petals. We’ll be surrounded by the fantastical walls that John built.
We’ll go to Mexico City, Cuernavaca, and small villages to visit cemeteries and see public and private ofrendas (altars), dedicated to those who have died, but whose spirits will return on October 31 and November 1 to spend a few hours with their loved ones. It’s impossible to describe the reverence the living demonstrate to the returning spirits…you really have to be here to sense the anticipation and to share it with our families. Much Mexican art, literature, and popular art revolves around the duality of life and death, and the Days of the Dead represent this very well.
We'll travel to Mexico City on Saturday, October 19 to experience the Alebrijes Parade on Paseo de la Reforma. This vibrant parade features giant colorful sculptures of fantastical creatures known as alebrijes.
On Thursday, October 24 we’ll travel to Yecapixtla, a town nestled at the base of Popocatepetl volcano, to go to the grandest Day of the Dead market in the state of Morelos. Vendors from around central Mexico gather here to sell marigolds (cempasúchil), candles, copal incense, traditional foods, and display material essential for setting up an ofrenda (an offering, though in this case ‘altar’ is a better translation). The countryside will be ablaze with marigolds and other fragrant flowers.
We will travel to Ocotepec on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings (October 30-November 1). We‘ll be welcomed into the homes in which a person has died in the previous 365 days. If that was a child we’ll be welcomed to the home on October 31st, if an adult, it will be on the evening of November 1st. By going ahead of time we’ll be able to see the town on a ‘regular’ day though we’ll see, and take note of clues which will alert us to which houses will be opened for us to visit on Thursday and Friday. We’ll visit the cemetery to see how families decorate the tombs of their close relatives.
On Friday, November 1 we will decorate the tomb of John Spencer, an English artist with no relatives in Mexico. John was an admirer of Vincent Van Gogh, and we’ll recreate a painting with flower petals on his tomb. We’ll start with a visit to Cuernavaca’s central market to purchase large bundles of marigolds. John’s friends came from many countries, from all walks of life, and many of them did not know each other, so this activity is a good time to make new friends. This is a project requiring many hands. Even though we’ll have a pattern to follow, there a many challenges involved creating a floral mosaic of chopped flower petals. We’ll be surrounded by the fantastical walls that John built.