Or ¨Day of the Dead¨ is a Latin American holiday celebrated on the 1st and 2nd of November. During these days, family members of the deceased go to the cemetary and take care of the graves of their loved ones. They clean and repaint the headstones, sweep the grave (if it is covered in cement or tile) or reform the dirt mound, and then finally decorate it with flowers and candles. The 1st of the month is ususally in remeberance of children and the 2nd for adults.
I went with Iris, Rafael, and other family members up to the cemetary. It was almost festive with people decorating, selling food and drinks. Iris went to decorate the graves of Niña Chella´s parents (I don´t know how to spell her name, but Iris´s mother in law), a sibling of Don Justo and the brother of Rafael (Rafael is her husband, son of Don Justo the Mayor). Apparently he was a twin, but the brother died several days after they were born.
The cemetary itself was very different. There seemed to be graves everywhere (yes, I am aware of what a cemetary is). It was just a little more disorganized and I hated the feeling of stepping on someone´s grave. But, it was also more cared after and you could see the old flowers from previous visits along side fresh flowers.
In all we were only there for about a 1/2 an hour, but it was nice. Iris was surprised that we don´t have an equivilant holiday up in the United States....I think I´ll have to agree with her on this one.
Anywho, that´s all for now.
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