Dia de los Muertos

Yesterday was Día de los Muertos. It is the first Sunday of November, and a day where everyone goes to the cemetery to clean and decorate the graves. We went to all three of the cemeteries in Catacamas with our family and it was very interesting. There were so many people at each cemetery and there were people outside the cemeteries selling flowers and food. Some people bring food with them and eat in the cemetery but our host mom said that she does not like to eat in the cemetery so we ate later. Most of the graves were covered in flowers or wreaths and the air smelled of flowers. It was really fascinating watching everyone honor their families and friends. We went to the graves of our host grandma who just died, our host mother’s husband (who we found out today died three years ago because his blood sugar got too low and he fainted and cracked open his head), and our host mother’s sister and her husband. The cemeteries were very different; the oldest having mostly above ground tombs was much smaller and unorganized. The newest, and biggest, was composed mostly of below ground graves which were somewhat organized and there were a lot less weeds. We thoroughly enjoyed this cultural event that was totally different than anything we do in the U.S.