Day(s) of the Dead- OAXACA!!!

I just absolutely love Day of the Dead in Oaxaca. This year my friends Vicki and her mom Tami accompanied me to Oaxaca so that I could spend a third year in a row in Oaxaca for Day of the Dead. It's an incredible feeling to be able to come here for this holiday and observe the people, the cemeteries (or Panteon), and just spend some time in one of my favorite places that I have ever visited. So here are some images of the Panteon San Miguel, the first cemetery that we went to on the night of the 31st of October. When people refer to the Day of the Dead in Mexico, I think we should really call it Days of the Dead because yes, Nov 1st and 2nd are the "true" days of the dead, but people begin celebrating these days at the end of October and into the first week of November so it's a celebration for over a week, not just one day! I love the mixture of religious symbols with ghostly (and sometimes ghastly) images of the dead! Oaxaca is the place to be (for me!) during Days of the Dead. This year was so much fun and I can't wait to post some more pics from my visit to Oaxaca and the time that Vicki, Tami and I were able to spend there.

And here are some more images from the Panteon de San Miguel. I just love the altars; they're so colorful and decorated quite ostentatiously. A band plays every year and it adds to the excitement and ambiance of the cemetery. There are several groups of people that come to this particular panteon in order to film these Days of the Dead for documentaries. Each year that I have been here, I have seen different decorations and different ways that they set up everything so it's interesting to compare and contrast the last three years at this panteon.

Here is the Panteon de Xoxo in Oaxaca. I have had the privilege of being able to come here three years in a row now!! There are always thousands of people here, the most that I have ever seen at a cemetery! It is just an amazing experience to be able to observe how the graves are decorated, what the people do (sing, tell stories, eat and sleep at the graves, etc.) and how these days are celebrated. This year was no exception to my amazement and pure joy of being able to come here again and share these Days of the Dead with my friends Vicki and Tami.

We had such a great time visiting the Panteones or cemeteries in Oaxaca. Finally this year I was able to take some pictures of the panteon Xoxo, which is short for Xoxocotlan, a barrio outside of the city of Oaxaca. I hope that some of these photos illustrate the ambiance of the panteon. I just think that the graves are so beautifully decorated with Zempasuchil, the flower of the Day of the Dead (marigolds). I was really excited that I was able to take pictures here without my camera either running out of battery power or not having any room for pics.