by |Gianna DiPasquale
Editor-in-Chief
Dia de los Muertos is a time to remember those who have passed and honor their memories through food, music, family gatherings and more. While it is widely celebrated across Mexico and other Latin American countries, the Spanish club is bringing the traditions of the holiday into the school.
“We did a Dia de los Muertos altar. We actually did several of them in the library,” Spanish club sponsor Miriam Cardenas said.
In general the altars, or ofrendas, are made in memory of a loved one. The altars have a multitude of foods, candles, flowers, and other items that pertain to the person who is being remembered.
“First of all the most important thing is the picture, we like to put a picture of your loved one,” Cardenas said. “We also put flowers, we put something called papel picado, which is like the little flags.”
As with any holiday, food plays a big part in the altars and celebration of the holiday. There can be anything from tamales to sugar skulls, and it all plays a role in making Dia de los Muertos what it is.
“We put food that represents the person, like what they liked to eat,” Cardenas said. “There is, for example, dessert which is pan de muerto which is a circular bread, and it has kind of like a bun on the very top and it has a shape of a cross.”
Dia de los Muertos is filled with traditions and customs that are meant to show respect to those who have been lost, as well as celebrate the lives they lived and the things they liked. People use it as a time to gather and remember.
“Overall, people like to go visit the cemetery and they like to bring flowers,” Cardenas said. “I’ve been to a cemetery in Mexico during the Dia de los Muertos and it’s like a carnival.”
