Día de los Muertos Part 1: Going to Market and Building an Altar

The official day for Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is November 2nd but it is celebrated about a week prior to that. The holiday focuses on family and friends gathering to remember loved ones they have lost. Part of the tradition includes building private altars honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds (cempasúchil,) the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, photos of the deceased and memorabilia. People also visit cemeteries and decorate the graves with ofrendas (offerings.) The intent is to encourage visits by the soul so the soul may hear the prayers and comments of the living directed to them.

Since I am in Mexico and I've always been fascinated by this holiday, I wanted to partake in making an altar. My father passed away last year so I built my altar in honor of him. My dad, Terry, was a huge OU and Chicago Bears fan. (This has trickled down to my brother and I.) An overall big sports fan really. I incorporated these things into my altar for him. I used some of my clothes to represent this. I had to get some marigolds, candles and sugar skulls to decorate with so I went to the market that Ariana and I have frequented before. On this particular trip, it was just Olivia and myself. A big step for me since my Spanish is still pretty poor. I managed quite well though and Olivia had a blast.

Sugar skulls, they come in various sizes and designs.

They had chocolate ones too.



Candied coffins

View of market in the front of the building.

One of the vegetable stalls inside.

Fresh fish

Fresh chicken

This guy was nice enough to let me photograph him.

Some papier-mâché skulls.

Pig heads in a case.

The grain stand where I buy my granola mix I like so much.

I bought some marigolds from this stand.

For my altar, I used three different sized boxes to make a pyramid shape. I draped one of my Bears shirt over the main one. I used a pair of OU Sooners shorts for another box. Since my dad was a huge fan of these teams I had to represent this. I was pretty limited on what I had available so I did the best I could. Conveniently, I had brought photos of him with me. He liked to drink Dr. Pepper so I bought a can. It's kind of difficult finding Dr. Pepper here. Mexico is more of a Coke place. I bought a piece of pan de muerto. That is very common to place in altars. I also bought some sugar skulls, candles, a big bundle of marigolds and a few neat looking purple flowers. Pretty simple really. I think I will make another altar next year and get a little more elaborate.

The final outcome

Lit up at night

My dad when he was a young man.

Close-up of the Pan de Muerto.



Olivia helped out.

I have come to really appreciate this holiday and understand its purpose. It really allows you to take time to reflect on the ones you have lost and to remember those moments that make life so great.

Next blog: Día de los Muertos Part 2: UNAM (lots of altars and lots of photos)