The Day of the Dead (and the Living!)

The day after Halloween is All Saints Day or "Day of the Dead" in many countries in Latin America. I have always been fascinated by this tradition. I'm not an expert on the holiday, but from what I can gather, it is the time when families return to the graves of their family members to clean and decorate them. Instead of a somber, dark event, the holiday is a celebration of their loved ones' lives and quite frankly, an opportunity to party! It just so happens that the cemetery in Huaycan is located right behind the classroom where we teach in English in Zone Z, so we were able to experience the holiday here in Peru in a very authentic setting. The morning of November 1st, I headed up to Zone Z to teach a student and I stopped on the way to check out the early morning preparations for this all day party (people stay late into the night and light candles on the graves.) Lots and lots of vendors selling food, flowers, candles, candy, beer and many other random things were lining the entrance to the cemetery.

People were already cleaning off the graves (most are made of cement or stone and are quite large- big enough to sit on top of!), painting them with a fresh coat of bright paint and decorating them with flowers. I ran into several of my students helping their families with the cleaning or taking advantage of the economic opportunity to sell food or water. When I returned in the afternoon with some of my fellow volunteers, the street was crammed with people and police were directing traffic! The cemetery was packed with people drinking beer, eating, brass bands playing music and people selling bright pink cotton candy displayed on poles. I could hardly believe that I was in a cemetery- my limited cemetery experience in the US has usually been pensive, sad and certainly much quieter and much less of a marketplace. Can you imagine people having a party in a cemetery in the US? Although it certainly felt foreign for me- and I think we all felt a little lost, with no family to join or grave to decorate- I really appreciate the fact that there seems to be a much different relationship with death and mourning here that in the US. As we climbed up through the cemetery and passed families sitting on the little benches incorporated into the graves, we got lots of whistles from the drunk revelers and many people asked to take their picture with us. It only makes sense- after all we were there to observe people practicing their traditions but they were just as curious in us. When we reached the top of the steep hill, we sat on some rocks and looked out at the incredible view. The sound of about five different brass bans tooting away all at different rhymes combined with the sight of a giant bouncy house down below to entertain the children and on top of it all, people carrying huge crates of beer on their shoulders was yet another reminder to me of how Peruvian culture, like all cultures, is filled with conflicting narratives and traditions. However, somehow, all of these things all occur alongside each other and create a reminder of the diversity of human experience and the value of celebrating life and death along side each other.