Day of the Dead (El Día de los Muertos)

This weekend at Cervantes Institute in Moscow, during class, our lovely Spanish professor made us a nice surprise. During class we went to hall of expositions and learned about an old Mexican tradition which is dating back to indigenous Mexican tribes like Aztec, Maya, etc… , altars. Altar is a table which is prepared for the day of deads, which is known in Spanish as El Día de Los Muertos. This holiday is celebrated at 1-st and 2-nd of November. After catholics conquered Mexico, this ancient tradition is mixed with Catholic religion. On this day, people go to cemeteries, build private altars for the relatives whom they have lost. They believe that, the souls of death people will come back and enjoy this table. Therefore, at this table, they prepare foods and drinks that they liked to eat and drink when alive. The altar consists of 3 different levels which tells us about the life and death cycle. There are many symbols of this day. Among those, i can say catrina (the lady of dead, a skeleton dressed in an elegant way), the Cruz (catholic addition), the bread of dead (el pan de muerto), calaveras (skulls), deserts and toys for children (dulces).But be careful, don’t eat the bread, it is for dead, not you. There were many details which i skipped here, for more details, you should google a little bit. Here are the keywords for you: El Dia de Los Muertos, calavera, catrina, el pan de los muertos.