More Day of the Dead!!

So I thought that I would need two entries for Days of the Dead in Oaxaca and I was right! I could probably do a third one but I think that with these two entries, we can all get the picture, right? My good friends Vicki and Tami came down to Mexico to visit me and go with me to Oaxaca (where else?) for Days of the Dead. We had a great time and I enjoyed being able to spend some time with Vicki and Tami again. They even brought me this skeleton hoodie (and we could have zipped up the hood to look like real skeletons but we didn't do that). So we were the three amigos during our trip to Oaxaca. Here are just a few pictures from around Oaxaca (I love how even at restaurants they decorate with these big glowing orange crosses!). I thought that I would include the picture where three guys are trying to kill me! I couldn't really keep a straight face so it looks like their tickling me with their weapons and not trying to really kill me, but it was a funny moment anyhow. It was a great third year in a row in Oaxaca for Days of the Dead and I enjoyed it immensely!

The night of November 1st was truly a busy one for the centro of Oaxaca. There were several corteges, there was a presentation, kind of like a play, and various groups of people all dressed up walking around the zocalo. And kids kept coming up to us asking us for their "calaveritas" (which means 'little skulls' but actually they meant that they wanted candy or money!-one kid even suggested that I give him my sunglasses so I think that they wanted some kind of gift, no matter how large or small). But it was interesting to observe all of these different kinds of celebrations that were happening simultaneously in Oaxaca. I particularly liked the group of people that were all dressed up but had the skeleton masks on. Aren't they so cool?

Here are some pictures from the night of November 1st. Vicki, Tami and I were walking around the zocalo taking pictures and all of a sudden I noticed this cortege was forming and we ran to catch up to it and take some photos. I just absolutely love the centro of Oaxaca because of this. This procession came by and there was music and obviously dancing and these crazy costumes! And all of these people just started taking pictures and falling into the tail-end of the procession as it went around the streets of Oaxaca.

And lastly, here are some of the famous tapetes found in Oaxaca. This year, the tapetes were absolutely enormous! I remember that last year they were much smaller and there were several more of them because the people that make them could fit them much more easily into one city block. But I was very impressed with these; the colors, the designs, the time and the effort it took, and the proud and open display of the tapetes are all truly impressive components of celebrating these special days in Oaxaca. This first image is from what used to be the government municipal building of the city of Oaxaca but has now been converted into something else. I really enjoyed being able to spend this third year in a row in Oaxaca for Days of the Dead!!