el día de los muertos en México. The Day of the Dead
In Texas, where I’ve been living, we observe el día de los muertos, or the Day of the Dead, at the same time as Halloween or the day following, November 1.
I learned much more about this celebration when I taught at a high school for adolescent immigrants from Mexico. In my advisory class, we wrote a short skit and performed it for another class. All of the students were from Mexico except for one. Luyen was Vietnamese. She was put off by the play in a local cemetery. A colleague brought over some slides of family altars his aunt had prepared. I learned this was a day to celebrate those who had passed recently or years ago. The altar included food, clothes, music, or other items the relatives enjoyed. A can of Coca-Cola. Flowers. An album of a favorite musician.
The students were learning to put ideas together in English. Inspired, one student stood up enthusiastically, “It’s about life. It’s about death in life.” That was what the skeleton and costumes that showed skeleton frames meant. The butterfly, or mariposa, symbolizes a rebirth or transformation in life. In performing this play, we were all transformed. Luyen understood about the alter because they had an alter in her home when her grandfather passed away. Friends would bring flowers, food, or other items for the family.
They all decided they would like to see butterflies in the cemetery during the play to convey the idea of rebirth. The Mexican students and Luyen came closer that day. I learned more about my colleague. And the students felt confirmed by sharing this part of their culture deeply – and not just with “food” and “fun.”
Luyen means “to love, especially the love of one’s country.” We felt love that day. The students experienced a rebirth in their new country. We honored the cultures and countries of the students in our class that day. This alter, in the picture, is a memory of that day—and that play.