First things first, I would like to humbly admit: Prior to the past month, I admittedly did not know much about Día de Muertos, and only had a vague understanding of how it was different from the Halloween / All Hallow’s Eve traditions we grew up with in America. I hadn’t even seen the movie ‘Coco’, which apparently, is how many foreigners seem to have been introduced to the cultural tradition.
Because of this, I won’t be going into any sort of detail about all the incredibly interesting history I’ve learned about the long-standing Día de Muertos traditions, the origin of the various elements, or how the festivities have evolved over time, because I’m simply not an authority on that in the slightest. If I were to do that, it would just be repeating things I’ve read. Instead, I’ll walk you through our first Día de Muertos, and let the photography speak for itself. So please, walk with me.
Friday, October 28 to Sunday, October 30, 2022 » San Andrés Huayapam, Oaxaca, Mexico
In the days leading up to Día de Muertos, the village of Huayapam really started coming to life with activity. The excitement was contagious, as the village was transformed into beautiful red, yellow, and orange with marigolds and ‘cresta de gallo’ (crest of the rooster, or, cockscomb) flowers. It was delightful to see the pop-up shops selling goods directly from the local fields; the wheelbarrows nearly hidden underneath overflowing bunches of marigolds; fruits, candles, herbs, and other things for families to use for creating their annual ofretas (altars to honor their ancestors and loved ones). The decorating and construction was done with a labor of love, seemingly not a chore.
The village of Huayapam had a series of comparsas (like parades, but I’ll explain in more detail later) to bring everyone together. We watched the parade of children in their costumes, led by a marching band. We visited the palácio (public square) many times, to see the flowers and market. And we observed with great interest as the village held a contest for tapetes (art made on the ground, with colorful sand, sparkles, flowers, and other elements).
While we were enjoying the Muertos decorations, we had some great interactions with people in the village: One family’s mother approached me to ask if their teenage son could talk with me to practice his English; we made small talk for about 15 minutes, and he let me practice my Spanish, too. Another time, we had a funny conversation with two young Huayapam boys, as they were admiring the beautiful and scary tapetes.
Monday, October 31, 2022 » Mitla, Oaxaca, Mexico
Based on recommendations from various locals, we decided to drive about an hour away to the beautiful village San Pablo Villa de Mitla. We had previously visited the area to explore the Zona Arquelógica de Yagul, a large ancient city-state built by the Zapotec people. Mitla was quite charming!
The day we visited, the village square had a beautiful display of altares (altars) of both modern and pre-Hispanic design. Much of the centro area had the streets closed off for a massive farmers market, selling all kinds of food (both for eating and decorating), clothing, treats, and live chickens. Farmers had brought their flowers to sell for use in decorating homes, altares, and ofrendas; the ground was covered in red, orange, and yellow flower petals and cuttings.
Evan decided to buy some small pieces of pottery, and struck up a conversation with the elderly couple vending their wares. A very friendly woman visiting Oaxaca from Mexico City came up and joined in; I think she thought that we might need some help interpreting, which was kind of her. She was so enthusiastic, asking us where we lived, how long we’d been in Mexico, how we enjoyed Mitla, and where else she should visit during her vacation in Oaxaca. Every time I would answer one of her questions (“We have lived in Huayapam for a few months, and Mexico for one year.”) she would excitedly repeat my answer for the potter couple (“¡¡¡Hace tres meses que vivimos en Huayapam y un año en México!!!”). I’ll think of Día de Muertos, Mitla, and this enthusiastic conversation, every time I look at the pottery.
The village of Mitla is home to multiple Zonas de Arquelógicas inside the city limits, as well. They were closed for the Muertos festivities, as most places tend to be, which is a good excuse to make another trip to Mitla before we leave Oaxaca. Since we’re traveling only with our small car, I’ve been hesitant to add any new items to our already full cargo. But now that it’s looking like we may be heading to Japan soon, I’m feeling more comfortable with buying a few nice outfits to replace all the clothes I gave away, or some nice Mexican blankets or wall tapestries for our future home.
Monday, October 31, 2022 » Municipal Panteón Atzompa, Cemetery in Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico
I’d like to preface this next section, by saying: We’re coming up on our one-year anniversary of living in Mexico, which also means that we haven’t had a “home” for that same length of time. Yes, we feel comfortable house-sitting. But traveling from one stranger’s house to another stranger’s house is obviously different from having a home of our own, with a sense of ‘place’ and purpose. The focus of Muertos on the family, both present, and ancestral, really brought up a lot of emotions, as it seemed to accentuate our lack thereof.
I had a really interesting conversation with a Mexican woman who was born and raised in Mexico City, but now lives in Oaxaca. This was her first Día de Muertos as well, so we were comparing notes about suggested events, and where to go on which date. She told me that Muertos is not widely celebrated in Mexico City, at least, not as widespread and deeply engrained as it is here in Oaxaca. I was surprised, but very appreciative of her honesty, when she said that, while Muertos is fun and enjoyable on the surface, experiencing these new (to her) cultural traditions, was actually bringing up feelings of guilt, around her disconnection from ancestors and her country’s traditions. But, as a highly-educated medical professional, she seemed to be embracing the “mystical” aspect with an open mind.
That being said: Everyone suggested going to at least one cemetery during an all-night candle-lit vigil. I was fairly uncomfortable with the idea of visiting a cemetery on this important night, as I suspected I would feel like I was being invasive, or intruding, or unwelcome as obviously my ancestors are not buried there. But many locals assured me that would not be the case, as all are welcome, it’s a public event, and it’s a time of joy and celebration. One particularly helpful piece of advice was to arrive at the cemetery with arms full of flowers or candles for decorating a grave that doesn’t seem to have family visiting. That way, we would be active participants, rather than bystanders.
We chose Atzompa cemetery, on the outskirts of Oaxaca city, as it’s known for being one of the most beautiful and blightly candle-lit. I could not be happier with our experience, and surprisingly, we felt completely welcome. We intended to arrive an hour before sunset, but due to unexpected heavy traffic, we arrived as the last light was leaving the sky. The way to the cemetery was led by excited people, carrying flowers, wheelbarrows of flowers, excited discussions, and moto-taxis speeding past to drop off visitors. Outside the entrance was another pop-up market with all kinds of vendors. Inside, families gathered around their beloved grave sites, elaborately decorating them with flowers, flower petals, and candles. I’ve never seen anything like it! I honestly wish that we had some sort of similar cultural tradition.
I won’t be able to put into words the way this all-night vigil moved me. So please let me photography speak.
Tuesday, November 1, 2022 » Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico
Of course, I wouldn’t miss the opportunity for a daytime photo-walk through Oaxaca’s elaborately decorated centro area. The city is always beautiful, but never more beautiful than when covered in flowers and freshly decorated for Muertos! New bandias (flags) had been hung across many streets, and finishing touches were being put on the storefronts. I didn’t think it was possible for Oaxaca to become even more colorful than usual!
An unexpected surprise from the Muertos decorations were the pigeons. Naturally, they saw the massive tapetes that popped up in the public plazas as their new sandy playground. Dozens of pigeons were eating the flowers, dust-bathing in the sand, and of course, doing their flashy mating dances to attract the ladies.
Tuesday, November 1, 2022 » Grán Comparsa » San Andrés Huayapam, Oaxaca, Mexico
Learning about Día de Muertos while living in Mexico has been reminiscent of learning about Carnival while living in Louisiana. Obviously, I’m not making a direct comparison between Muertos and Carnival, but, there are similarities in that both traditions are much, much more deep, historically important, complicated, and interesting, than the surface level “party” that attracts so many tourists.
One example of this is the Grán Comparsa in Huayapam. It felt like the whole village attended! As our friend explained to us, who is a local Oaxaqueño, the concept behind the comparsa is to ‘compartir’, which means to partake, or share. After meeting at the Panteón General (village cemetery), a lively brass band directed the crowd to various places around the village. Each time we stopped, we were at someone’s home. The host brought out baskets of food, treats, and drinks, to share with the crowd. After a few songs, the band marched the crowd to the next location, and repeat, long into the night!
I’ve said before that, of all the places in Mexico, San Andrés Huayapam feels the most like home. We’ve spent more time here than any other part of Mexico (over the course of house-sits #3, #4, and #7) and we’ve made the most new friends here, both other foreigners and locals. We’ve been invited into their homes, shared meals, and laughs. When we walk a few blocks through the village to go to our favorite frutería, or pick up laundry from the lavandería, or have something printed at the palelería, it seems like we inevitably see someone we know. We know exactly where all our favorite street dogs live. Everyone we pass on the street says hello, or even waves out the window as they drive past.
We will miss Huayapam very much!
Wednesday, November 2, 2022 » San Andrés Huayapam, Oaxaca, Mexico
We had big plans for the final day and night of Día de Muertos. During the day, we helped a local beekeeper with hive inspections for her three hives, which took a lot of energy (a full blog on that will be coming soon). For the evening, we were deciding between 1) going back to Oaxaca city for one of the elaborate neighborhood parades, with fireworks, beautiful costumes, and concerts; or 2) going to nearby village San Augustín Etla to see what many locals described as the biggest “party” scene. But, after our whirlwind of a few days, we wanted to just take it easy that night. After all, there’s no way to experience everything in one year, or two, or even three…
While walking our house-sit doggies that evening, we noticed that Luz de Luna, one of our favorite restaurants in the village, was open. We expected everything to be closed, so we decided to pop in for some traditional Oaxaca cuisine: tlayudas and tetelas. We were delighted to see some new art on display from our talented friends Jean and Chucho. We had a great time visiting with the bartender Pavel, who grew up in Huayapam and is part of the family that runs the restaurant, as well as another friendly patron of his speakeasy, and learning all about different local mezcal flavors. As it turns out, he even designed some really creative bottle labels for some of the local brands! So our final night of Día de Muertos was not what we expected, but, it ended up becoming another great memory.
In conclusion, we’ve never experienced anything quite like Día de Muertos in Oaxaca, Mexico. I will always be thankful that we were here in Oaxaca for our first one, and that we had the luxury of being able to see such a variety of different aspects. As with many things we see on our travels, we hope to keep a piece of this experience in our hearts, and make it a part of our future family’s traditions, whenever that comes to fruition, and wherever we end up.
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Formerly: Dani Mouser | Formerly Located: Dallas, Oregon » Portland, Oregon » New Orleans, Louisiana » Mexico
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Dani & Evan Benton
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