Monday, November 2, 2009

Dulces/Día de Muertos 2009

Buying candy for Día de Muertos.
Yesyerday we went downtown to the main market to buy candy for Día de Muertos. There are many places here where candy is sold my grams. This is really a candy lover's paradise. We bought lots of candy for the kids who would go to our house asking for them, but we also bought some for my kids. They love "panditas" (gummy bears), and other candies for which I do not know their English names.
Then we went home to prepare the Altar de Muertos. We weren't going to put one up this year, but at the last minute we did.
So here are the photos. The altar ones are kind of blurry, but it was dark and I couldn't see how they came out at the moment.





This is the store where we bought the candy.



These are called "perfumados".



Lots of gummy candy.



These are covered with chilli powder.



In the back are the packaged candies.



Attacking the gummy bear bag.



My son's favorite.



Oh, Pandita, how sweet art thou!!



Our personal stash.



This is the altar. It looks a lot like last year's, but this
year I included my father in law, and an ex-student of mine
who passed away a month ago.



Sugar cane and tangerines.



A small cup of expresso coffee for my dad,
and some mole for my father in law.



The black and white photo of my father in law, Edmundo.
The big photo is of my dad, Louis.
And the smallest photo is of José Antonio Leal who was
my student in 5th grade. A great kid
who is missed by so many of us.


Some of the kids who came asking for candy.



Great looking mummy.



And what do you think about these little girls
dressed like "Merlina" from the Addams Family?
I think theEnglish name of that character
is Wednesday.
They are really cute!

We sat outside to wait for the candy asking kids, and since it was a bit chilly I got out my coffee maker, and made some coffee. Soon some of our neighbors came over to have a cup, and in no time we had a nice crowd of people chatting and enjoying the evening.
Hope your Día de Muertos was just a nice as ours.
And hope you have a great week!!



5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks and sounds fun. So, you don't celebrate Halloween at all but kids dress up and come for candy on Dia de los Meurtos?

Angie said...

OK, let me see if I can explain this phenomenon. When I arrived here 26 years ago, there was no Halloween. The kids would have a cardboard box (like a shoe box)with eyes and mouth cut out,and a candle in it, and they would ask for money on November 1. As the years went by, and Halloween crept into Mexico, kids started to dress up and ask for candy, but only on the 1st and 2nd of November (yep, two days). Now kids celebrate Halloween, AND the 1st and 2nd of November (three days!).We had kids knocking on our door the three days, but we put up our altar on the 1st, and that was the only day we gave candy (not money). Whew!!Things are very mixed up here, but the kids are the ones that have the most benefit! Hope that explains things a bit.

Anonymous said...

Wow! This candy shop is incredible!

That´s very interesting! Several years ago nobody in Germany celebrates Halloween, but within the last years the Halloween "Fever" swept over from America to Germany. The kids dress up and ask for "trick or treat".
Normaly Oct. 31th is called Reformation Day. It is a religious holiday celebrated in remembrance of the Reformation, particularly by Lutheran and some reformed church communities.
On Nov. 1st the people in the south of Germany celebrate "All Saints´ Day".
The 3rd Sunday in November is "Totensonntag" or "sunday of the dead". I think it´s like your Día de Muertos. People remember the dead, but we don´t have altars. We go to the graves on the graveyard and bring a bouquet.
All 3 days are very silent days.

Angie said...

Luna, I didn't know Germany also celebrated their dead. All of that is very interesting. Here the dead are also celebrtated in the cemetery on November 1 and 2, but there is nothing solemn about it. On the contrary, lots of music, Mariachis (YES, at the cemetery), flowers, etc. Of course, there are people crying and all that, but still it is very colorful.

Christy Amular said...

OMG, I'm going to go crazy in that candy store! wow!