I went to the Dia de Los Muertos Ceremonia diversity event. It is a Mexican holiday that translates to The Day of the Dead. Rituals are celebrated every year in Mexico and certain parts of The United States. It occurs on November 1 and 2 with the first day honoring children and infants, and the second honoring deceased adults. It is basically a day when family members get together and honor their deceased loved ones by building altars and decorating them with favorite foods of the deceased; and by visiting grave sites with certain gifts as well.
A speaker came and gave a lecture on the history and origin of the holiday. The session was very informative, and the holiday dates as far back as 3000 years. It was interesting to see how the Mexican culture views death differently the majority of the U.S. In the U.S. they view death as a time of mourning and sadness while in Mexico the celebrate with festivities like dancing and partying to honor their dead ones.
I already had some sort of previous knowledge of Dia de Los Muertos from Spanish classes in high school. My junior year in Spanish 3 everyone in the class turned their desk into an altar and brought in foods and drinks and we had a little party where we sang Spanish songs and learned dances. Our teacher even made us some very good hot chocolate.
I actually enjoyed attending this event and learning a little more about the holiday. I was surprised to see how people really go all out on this day buying lots of flowers and painting their faces like skulls. There are a lot of skeletons and skulls involved with this day which is why it gets related to Halloween a lot, but the two actually have little in common.
well done it was a cool experience
ReplyDeleteNice post Jacob. It's always good to learn about other cultures and it is very interesting how they can differ so much on some things like death. It's neat that you were exposed to the celebration in high school but I hope you still learned more about it. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's great that you recognized the point about Halloween and the Dead of the Dead. Sometimes ideas and views can be misintrepreted that's why it's important to understand other cultures so one is not offended.
ReplyDeleteCool event to attend. It's fun to look at the way other cultures celebrate different holidays.
ReplyDeleteIt's really cool how your Spanish class celebrated that. It kind of sounds like a first hand experience, yet not being at a real one.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I am not the only one who has studied this before.
ReplyDeleteI wish we would have done cooler stuff in German... we were never as cool as the spanish kids...
ReplyDeleteThis diversity event was very eye opening actually. Good event
ReplyDeleteNice post! I always find it neat to learn about different cultures and how they celebrate things.
ReplyDeleteI always wanted to know more about this holiday cause i hear a lot about it. Good job
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