Day of the Dead

Pan de Muerto for the Day of the Dead at Chedraui

One of the many reasons I love living here is most things are predictable. I love the rhythm of the different holidays for different months. Carnival, Easter, Independence Day, Day of the Dead, and finally Christmas with lots more holidays thrown in between.

Walking through Chedraui this afternoon, the guys were setting up for the Day of the Dead festivities. Out comes the Pan de Muerto and the candles to honor those who have gone before us. It is a happy, but solemn time as we contemplate our loved ones who have left this life. 

Candles on display at Chedraui

It coincides with our Halloween, so I had to assume they have the same roots, so I did a quick wiki search and sure enough, Halloween is the day before All Saint's Day and is the Day to remember the hallows, or saints - to honor the recently departed. More info on the history of Halloween can be found here. But how many of us knew that? To me, Halloween was more about trick-or-treating, decorating, carving pumpkins and playing pranks. I had a vague sense of its larger meaning but never really thought about it much.

I love that living in Mexico, I get to know about the roots of the traditions. Christmas is not Xmas and Halloween retains its religious significance. On our local Cozumel Parks and Tours Facebook page, I found this ....

Photo courtesy of Cozumel Parks and Tours

with this description ...

We celebrate the Day of the Dead to remember our friends and family even when they're gone, we prepare their altar with their pictures, favorite flowers, toys and food to let them know their essence will always be in our hearts and minds.


We also get to eat Mucbil pollo. In the Yucatan, Dia de los Muertos is called Hanal Pixan and we eat a traditional dish made from corn and chicken that includes chicken bones inside. The chicken bones represent our dearly departed and we eat it for the Day of the Dead. I love it, even though it sits on the stomach like a ton of bricks. I look forward to going to my sister-in-law's house to have some again this year, just like the last 12 years. 

The link here is in Spanish and is a recipe for Mucbil pollo from Merida.