Spanish Immersion Program during the Day of the Dead in Oaxaca
By John Slocum
In the southern states of Mexico where indigenous people
and their cultures thrive, the Day of the Dead is a very important syncretistic
festival from October 31st November 2nd and is dedicated to the family and their
deceased family members. I was glad I had chosen my Spanish immersion program
during these dates.
Repetitive chanting solemn alternating with joyous song
excitement of children running around all night vigils. Those were some
observations of our visit to the cemetery of Xoxocotlan in Oaxaca that drew us
in with a sense of complete disbelief and wonderment during our Spanish
Immersion Experience in Mexico. I was experiencing the Day of the Dead, a
traditional celebration in Oaxaca that would make my Spanish immersion
experience incredible!
All of our senses were alive that night as we very
cautiously edged our way through the maze of hundreds of crowded tombstones,
watching each step carefully along darkened and bumpy paths lit only by candles
and the occasional camera flash from visitors.
Families were seated on the ground around the gravesites
waiting out their overnight vigil with food, drinks, cigarettes, music and
friends to keep them company. Our entry into the cemetery was no less than
amazing, lit by candles and accompanied by a blanket of somber music being
played.
The best part of my trip was that it was a complete
Spanish immersion experience where I got involved in the culture. A week or two
in advance of the 3-day festival, the families begin preparing for the actual
return of their loved ones to the gravesite and I was there. Preparations
include cleaning the grave to refresh the dirt and flowers around it and
planting new flowers, making loaves of beautifully decorated pan de muertos (a
special sweet bread) and other foods that their loved one enjoyed while alive,
molding chocolate into shapes and constructing the altar.
The making of an altar is very personal, varying from
one family to the next, built to display special items of remembrance of the
deceased person in an attempt at bringing them back home once a year. No matter
how modest the house is, everyone makes some type of altar. It may be as plain
as a table with the loved one's photo and offerings such as chocolate, pan de
muertos and flowers or it may involve a more elaborate assemblage of several
step-like platforms
with all of these items plus miniature calaveras
(skeleton figures) and more. The structures themselves are covered in a cloth
sheet before adding personal items and bright gold marigold-type flowers called
zempasuchil are added.
During my Spanish immersion experience I visited the
open-air Abastos market in Oaxaca, there was a stand dedicated to making and
selling all types of chocolate. Not surprisingly, this stand was one of the more
popular stops for visitors and locals alike who would take their chocolate home
to mold it into shapes for the dead. I remember watching the shop employees make
the chocolate fresh for purchase. After buying some chocolate, it was handed to
you still hot and in liquid form in a big plastic bag.
Later during the week, through the
Spanish
immersion experience in Oaxaca I visited the market. We bought some
chocolate for our host mother who used some of it for her altar and then watched
as she prepared a homemade hot chocolate that she served to us every morning
along with slices of pan de muertos and other typical Oaxacan dishes. She first
placed broken pieces of the chocolate into a blue-glazed clay pitcher, poured in
boiling milk and then used a
wooden utensil called molinillo (similar to a honey
dipper but larger) which, when the long handle was twirled back and forth
between her hands, created a frothy layer on the chocolate. As she poured some
chocolate into 2 mugs, she explained to us that the way we should eat the pan de
muertos is by first dunking it into the chocolate. The combination of the sweet
bread and warm chocolate was enough to make us happy for the rest of the day,
thinking about the following day's breakfast that would undoubtedly include
chocolate.
All in all, my Spanish immersion experience in Oaxaca
was unforgettable. Experiencing the Day of the Dead during my Spanish immersion
program abroad helped me realize that it is not enough to learn the language, do
a Spanish immersion program, live with a local family but the combination of all
these components that make you really learn the culture. About the Author
Enjoy a free Spanish Phrase ebook
- This 30-pager is great if you quickly want to learn Spanish phrases for
travel or life in general. Also pronunciation and basic grammar. John
Slocum is the president of AmeriSpan, a leader in language programs and study
abroad since 1993. 85 cities, 35 countries. 25,000 past participants. To learn
more about a Cultural Immersion Experience visit
AmeriSpan .
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