Dia de los Difuntos

 The second of November is known as Day of the Dead in many Spanish speaking countries. This is a day to visit cemeteries and celebrate and honor all deceased loved ones. In Mexico, it is usually a very happy holiday, where families gather in a cemetery and bring food and have a celebration where they sing songs to help the spirit pass on. Ecuador celebrates this day differently, with remorseful views on death more similar to ours in the US. From my observations, many people go to the cemetery and leave flowers for their loved ones. There was a Catholic mass at about 10 am, where a couple hundred people gathered around the stage where a priest talked, and music was played.

The cemetery in Cuenca which I visited was huge. It had to have been about five acres of land. The majority of the cemetery was filled with mausoleums for people who have been cremated. I estimate that there were about a thousand people visiting their loved ones while I was at this cemetery observing the culture. I really appreciate this holiday as being a time dedicated for all people to remember any loved one. I can only think to compare this day to memorial day in the US, but I like that this day is dedicated to all people, not just fallen soldiers. 

There are traditional foods for this holiday. Families and street vendors have "pan de guagua" and "colada morada". Pan de guagua is bread shaped like a person, and was traditionally used as a type of a gravestone, and also food for the deceased. Colada morada is a purple drink with chunks of fruit inside of it, usually served warm, and was also traditionally made as an offering to the spirit of a loved one. Today, these foods are solely consumed as a traditional seasonal treat, similar to us having pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. 

Pan de Guagua - 'M' standing for 'muerto' or dead

For the holiday at my house, Rosa made delicious colada morada, and my mom bought me the guagua de pan pictured below. My mom also took me and a few of the new in-laws to Caja's, a close by national park, which is where she spread the ashes of her husband seven years ago. This part of Cajas was a cemetery, and there were other people there praying for their loved ones. The atmosphere of the park was extremely calming, and I feel like I experienced a whole new part of my family.  

My mom and the tree she planted the first year of her husband's passing