…and catching up on photos!
Here are a few from our most recent trip to Oaxaca, Mexico, for the Day of the Dead festival.
Oaxaca was a vibrant city full of good food, wonderful authentic people, and unique and deeply-held customs. We spent the week leading up to All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days there, and every day something incredible happened.
Some customs seem to be put on just for the tourists, but Dia de los Muertos isn’t one of them. We ran into countless parades put on by churches, schools, and community groups. They were clearly proud and happy to be celebrating – a few times we were even offered candy by small children in the crowd!
Oaxaca has managed to resist the American Halloween. The traditional costume for women and girls is the Calavera Catrina, a face-painting resembling a delicate and colorful skull. The male equivalent is the Catrín.
The festival has a large religious component, with a mix of Catholicism and lightly syncretized prehispanic ritual that seems completely natural.
On our second day we went to a “dog costume contest and parade” in the neighborhood of Jalatlaco. I enjoyed seeing the dogs and their owners, although some of the dogs looked slightly to absolutely miserable to be dressed up in public.
