School Celebrations for Days of the Dead

The kids usually go to public school on Mondays, but Elena's English teacher had told her she might enjoy the celebrations for Days of the Dead on Friday, October 30th.  It was a half-day, so Chiara and I went, too.

I thought these seat-covers in Daniel's classroom were so cute.  Winnie the Pooh for the boys and Disney Princess for the girls.

Here's Daniel with his teacher.

 All of the buildings had ofrendas in them.  These are offerings for the dead.  The tradition fuses Catholic and Aztec traditions to honor those who have died.  This is the altar in Daniel's building.

The students in 6th grade each made small models of ofrendas and brought them to display on Friday.

Here is one of the more elaborate models.  Several of the model ofrendas were dedicated to Michael Jackson.

All the bulletin boards were decorated for Days of the Dead.

This was the ofrenda in Elena's building.  The secondaria has four different buildings, and each one has some kind of presentation.

The ofrenda that the students in Elena's group had made, remembered 49 children who died in a fire at a daycare last July.  There is outrage that safety regulations are not better enforced in Mexico.  The emergency exit was locked and the workers didn't have a key.  Along with the traditional foods and flowers, the students had placed some children's toys and shoes on the altar.

Elena participated in the presentation of her ofrenda.  The students alternated between English and Spanish.  Elena gaver her part in Spanish and she read it, but most of the students had their part memorized.

Elena participated in the presentation of her group's ofrenda.  The students alternated betweeen English and Spanish.  Elena gave her part in Spanish, and she read it, but the rest of the students had their part memorized.  In this picture, the students are practicing their presentation.  One student has the school's P.E. uniform on. 

At this ofrenda you can see all the different cutout designs that are common.  I think the students might have cut these out.

Some of the common foods for the Days of the Dead are mole (a spicy sauce which contains chocolate), pan de muerto (bread of the dead - it's got a crossbone pattern on top and it's delicious), oranges (yes, they are green), bananas, and sugar cane.

This girl dressed up as "La Catrina" which is a work of art by Jose Guadalupe Posada.  The image has come to represent the Days of the Dead.

Another ofrenda

I think this ofrenda honored some kind of revolutionary hero.  Maybe Pancho Villa.

These girls are waiting to perform the Dance of the Old Men.

They did a great job.

The students performed a skit telling the legend of the Llorona (which means crying woman).  Apparently there was an extremely jealous woman who had three children.  She sees her husband with another woman, and in a rage she goes home and kills her children.  When her husband returns, she kills him, too.  Then she hangs herself.  She is said to have been rejected by both heaven and hell, so she roams the earth looking for her children, but she will never find them.  There are stories here about hearing her crying, and someone even told us about seeing her (dressed in white and it got cold as they approached her).

The next skit has a woman who learns of her husband death, so she asks death to kill her, too.  At least I think that's what it was about.  At the bottom of this picture are rows of lighted candles.

Here's the cast of the skit.

On the ground at this alter is either sand or sawdust.  It was also for some past hero of Mexico.

Elena with some other students.

When school was over, the kids in Daniel's class got to choose something from the ofrenda.  He and his buddy were happy to get sugar cane.  Daniel didn't even know what he was choosing - he thought it looked like a cool stick.  All the kids had fun sucking the sweetness out of it.

The kids school, which is only a few blocks from where Karl teaches, looks out to this countryside.

On our way home we saw this truck loaded down with flowers.  These bright pinkish-purple flowers seem to be a variety of marigold.  They are much bigger than we have in the states.  These and the orange flowers are the most common flowers used during Days of the Dead, but you also see quite a few calla lilies and a variety of other flowers.