Dia de Muertos

Day of the Dead parade in Spectre 2015 

It’s a case of life imitating art. 

The most recent James Bond film, Spectre, released in November 2015 has an explosive beginning in Mexico City.  The famous British spy chases a bad guy through the historic downtown district while thousands enjoy a Day of the Dead parade. 

It was a fake parade, created just for the movie.

"Now,” according to the Minister of Tourism, “we’ve had to invent the Day of the Dead carnival because, after the James Bond movie, tourists will be looking for the carnival and they're not going to find it,” Enrique de la Madrid Cordero said when speaking to a convention of travel agents.

San Miguel de Allende - 2008, L Lock photo

In Mexico, November 1st honors children and infants "Día de los Inocentes”, and adults are honored on November 2nd as "Día de los Muertos".  The Day of the Dead (People) celebrations in Mexico can be traced back to the Olmec, Zapotec, Mixtec, Mexican or Aztec, Maya, P'urhépecha, and Totonac.  

Rituals celebrating the deaths of ancestors have been observed by these people for as long as 2500–3000 years.  In the pre-Hispanic-era, it was common to keep skulls as trophies and display them during the rituals to symbolize death and rebirth.  The Dia de los Muertos celebrations include building private altars honoring the deceased, using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed and visiting graves with these as gifts.  Some families leave a pillow and blanket outside the family home to provide a resting place for their loved ones.  In many places people have picnics at the gravesite of their family members.

Beauty-School altar Yucatan Living

Many tourists seeking a Day of the Dead experience head for rural indigenous communities in states such as Michoacán where cemeteries overflow with flowers, candles, color, and emotion.  

In Morelia, the capital of Michoacán state, it is evolving into a huge tourist attraction.  Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro better known as San Juan Nuevo, located 15 minutes from the city Uruapan features lighting of candles, release of balloons and floating candles, Passage of the Souls walk, a costume contest, music and art.  Closer to home, in Mérida the Passage of the Souls walk has grown to over fifty thousand participants. 

Here on Isla the municipality has created several new events to attract tourists to the Día de los Muertos.

Getty Images - Yucatan Expat

October 29^th will feature Flamenco Dancers at the Casa de la Cultura esplanda, that’s the area behind the building facing the ocean. 

October 30^th is the Magical Night of the Souls in the main square by City Hall, with troupes of folkloric dancers.

On November 2^nd The Parade of Silence, for the passage of the souls begins at the old cemetery at the north end of Hidalgo Avenue at six in the evening.  The route will take the participants down Hidalgo to Lopez Mateos and then culminate at the Casa de la Cultura.

But, please remember folks, it’s not Halloween.  It is a very intimate and personal way of conquering death, by bringing back dead loved ones for a visit with the family. 

November 2nd Festival de las Animas 

Join in the celebrations, but please be respectful of the customs. 

Cheers from paradise

Lynda & Lawrie

Blowing their own horns

Spine-tingling mariachi music at Due Torri Restaurante

The deep throaty notes from the trumpet made the small hairs on my arms dance with joy: pure joy.  

A seven-person mariachi band made their entrance at the opening night of a new Italian restaurant on Isla – Due Torri.   

They strolled through the restaurant, finally settling near the guests of honor.  Guitars, and violins, and horns, and strong melodic voices – just thinking about it is giving me goose-bumps again.  

Serenading the special guests

The mariachis were dressed in decorative eighteenth century charro (horseman) attire.  Tightfitting and secured with multiple silver fasteners, these traditional outfits were designed to ensure that no flapping material would spook the rider’s horse.  The boots have small heels to keep the rider’s foot in the stirrup, and the large sombreros, the sun from the rider’s head.  Most mariachi groups have forsaken the large unwieldy sombreros in favour of the bare-headed approach.

Mariachi group on Isla Mujeres 

But where did the name mariachi originate from?  Well, some documents state it was derived from the French word for marriage, dating from the 1860’s French Intervention in Mexico.  Other documents show that the word existed before that time.  

The music has, on the other hand, evolved through the centuries from the indigenous music, played with rattles, drums, flutes and conch-shell horns during religious celebrations.  

Eventually with the arrival of the Spanish settlers harps, guitars, violins, and brass instruments were added into the mix.  I enjoy listening to all of those instruments, but for me, it’s the brass horns that really make the music. 

Guadalajara Mariachi Festival 2012

The modern day mariachi tradition is very strong in Mexico with annual festivals, and competitions in Guadalajara, and Morelia in late August or early September.  We were lucky enough to enjoy a few days of the Guadalajara festival last year.  Outstanding music and amazing costumes! 

The actual music genre didn’t become widely popular until 1920 with the first recording of a mariachi band, played over the Mexican national radio airwaves.  Another boost to their worldwide popularity came from the Presidential candidate Lázaro Cárdenas whose 1935 election campaign featured multiple mariachi bands.

Agapito Mangana Sanchez - at Due Torri Restaurante

Meanwhile, inside the Due Torri restaurant on Isla Mujeres, ninety or so invited guests clapped and sang with great enthusiasm.  It seemed like everyone, but Lawrie and I, knew the words.  

Even the young keyboard musician who had quietly been entertaining the guests joined the mariachi band, belting out spine-tingling notes in a voice that couldn’t possibly originate from such a slight body. 

Mariachi music really gets in to your blood.  I might have been born into the wrong culture.  Perhaps I was meant to be Mexican, not Canadian. 

Amazing voice for such a slight person

But – Celtic music and Scottish bagpipes also produce that goose-bump tingling reaction of my senses.   

Music opens the door to my heart.

Hasta Luego 
Lynda and Lawrie

Ribbon cutting at Due Torri Restaurante - Isla 

Morelia - an unexpected detour

Dormant volcano being used for gravel

Cruising along two hundred kilometers south of Guadalajara, on the #15 multi-lane toll highway, the surrounding land is fertile, richly coloured. 

Numerous dormant volcanic mountains tower in the distance, their peaks obscured by low clouds.  The earth resembles grated cinnamon, un-sweetened dark chocolate, and freshly ground coffee. 


And the air smells of burning oil.  That can’t be good.
 
We turn off the road at a highway service area into the PeMex station, and shut off the truck.  Burning oil; dripping from an engine gasket onto the hot exhaust pipe.  The gas jockeys gather around the truck offering suggestions in Spanish and pointing.  Lawrie has a pretty good idea of the problem.  We add a litre of oil, and buy two more as a backup.  We decide to turn back, at least as far as the previous highway exit, to a place called Morelia.

Morelia Centro

Our first turn-back opportunity is at a toll booth populated with a dozen or so State Police.  I’m driving.  I power down the window, and sputter a few words hopefully explaining that the truck is broken.  “Camioneta roto.  Regreso a Morelia.” 

It works.  They laugh.  Smile.  And let us do a U-turn on the highway, picking up the traffic cones, waving us through – joking about the smoke pouring out from under the truck.  

Not the usual reaction we have had with Mexican State Police in our home state of Quintana Roo.   (Perhaps I mistakenly said that his stilettos were pretty?  Or that he had peanut butter stuck to his eyebrow?”)

Service Manager David and Lawrie discussing Sport Trac

We make our way to Morelia and ask the local police how to find the Ford Dealership.  More smiles.  Shoulder shrugs.  And then a passerby helps out.  “Straight ahead, through town, and it’s on the left.”  Easy!  Sure.

Morelia is a big beautiful city of around four million inhabitants and that day the main street was closed due to an accident.  

Morelia Centro on Saturday night

We spent the next hour trying to find our way around the various hilly side-streets, following first one taxi then another.  I pulled over at a little vehicle repair shop and asked for help; more directions in Spanish, and a hand-drawn map. 

As I got back into the truck the shop owner’s son pulled up beside me on his motorcycle.  “Follow me!”  He zipped along back streets, one-way streets, and tight corners and then we were there.   He waved off our offer of a tip for his efforts.  Just smiled and waved.  Gone.

We are now completely captivated by the City of Morelia.  Beautiful - and friendly. 

David, the Ford Dealership Service Department manager was very helpful – but it was Saturday, and they had already closed the service department for the day.  All the mechanics had finished work at two in the afternoon, and were done until nine in the morning on Monday.  There was nothing for us to do but find a decent hotel for a couple of nights and explore the city.  David handed our taxi driver a Ford Service Department coupon for a complimentary taxi ride to a hotel.  He suggested the Alameda Hotel, near from the gorgeous cathedral in Centro.  It was an interesting hotel, compiled of three old hacienda-style buildings.  The sturdy stone walls made the hotel rooms extremely quiet and cool.

Musicians in Morelia Centro Saturday night

Saturday night the Centro was buzzing with people.  People gathered in the cathedral square to watch entertainers, chat with friends, or enjoy a drink in a sidewalk café.   It was fascinating.  We spent the next two days exploring the city, on foot and by tour bus. 

Originally settled in the 7^th century, the city was later settled by the Spanish in 1525 and re-named as Valladolid in 1541.  The name was later changed to Morelia in 1828, to honor a local hero, José Maria Morelos Y Pavón for his part in the War of Independence from Spain.

Sunday morning mayhem in Centro Morelia

Sunday morning we stepped outside of our hotel to be confronted by an odd sight; dozens of people riding bicycles, children on plastic pedal cars, teenagers on roller blades with dogs running along beside.  Not a car in sight.  We wandered snapping photographs and exploring side-streets. 

By Monday we were anxious to make a decision on the truck – repair, or not.  We returned to the Ford Service Department.  A part was required, but it could take two or more weeks.  David said we could drive the vehicle as long as we checked the oil frequently.   Lawrie asked them to balance the front tires, and said we would be back in the morning to get the truck.

One of dozens of shoe shine stands in Centro

Lawrie made a phone call to the company in California that supplied, and imported the Sport Trac for us.  They apologized profusely.  They suggested we could either leave it in Morelia, or if we wanted we could drive it back to Guadalajara and leave it with their representative there.  They would find us another better vehicle, quickly. 

In the meantime, on our last night in Morelia, Lawrie happened upon a nearby restaurant that had great reviews on the internet: Casa Grande.  We decided to treat ourselves to a good dinner.  It wasn’t just good, it was fabulous! 

Appetizers, rack of lamb, dessert, and wine the total bill was around $80.00 dollars.  It was our tastiest dinner out in four years, including our recent trip to France and Italy. 

Roof top view at Casa Grande Restaurante in Morelia

Leaving Morelia on Tuesday morning we had an interesting drive through the scenic secondary roads back to Guadalajara, and back to our original hotel.  We flew home to Isla on Wednesday.

We’ll continue our cross country adventure at a later date, including a one-night return to the lovely City of Morelia. 

It was an unexpected delightful detour.

Yipee!  Our Canadian passports arrive