Mexico!

So how did that come about? Well… I could say that I’ve thought about it for years and put a lot of effort into researching what / where / when… but that would be a big fat lie. Of course, I’d always been keen to go, but I've done absolutely nothing for it. Instead, my photographer friend Oscar did all the research and then asked me to come along. And I just happened to be on the American continent, so it would have been rude not to. What a good friend I am, I know! And surprise surprise, I really enjoyed. All of it (although my back pain was pretty bad and spoiled the fun at times). It can be summarised very briefly: spending good times with friends, photographing day and night, dancing in parades and at cemeteries (more on that later), surviving taking boats across a lake at night, driving a battered car with useless head lights, making myself understood (with mixed success) with hand gestures and half formed sentences, eating a lot of tacos and drinking a lot of margaritas. That was mostly it, and believe it or not, it was exhausting!

And now for the details: Michoacan is one of the 2 states that has a tradition of celebrating the day of the dead (with Oaxaca). Yep, it’s not all Mexico, although it’s now catching on, curtesy of a James Bond movie. Or so I am told. So, we basically travelled between villages and explored cemeteries. And, more often than not, there was a parade (with various degree of organisation) with music, traditional costumes, dancing… The 2 important nights of celebrations were that of the 31/10 and 1/11, but the previous days were spent cleaning graves, starting to place marigolds in cemeteries, building shrines at home etc. A lot of prep.

On the 31st, in the village of Cuanajo (not everywhere) people particularly celebrate children and unmarried adults that have passed away by opening their homes to everyone. It lasts all night. There are photos and flowers and decorations to celebrate the deceased, gifts of drinks and tamales for the visitors, and a continuous flow of people coming in and out of houses and kids running around. Depending on the wealth of the family, there can also be a band playing (and dancing, of course). And a lot of Mezcal.

But the 1/11 is the big night. This is when people spend the night by the grave of their loved ones. The cemeteries are beautifully lit and decorated, and again, there are parades, bands and dancing in between graves, and lots of candles, beer and Mezcal. There are people moving around, walking on graves, sitting, chatting, laughing, singing… We went to the normally quiet village of Tzintzuntzan, which has got 2 cemeteries but also gets very very crowded with locals and national tourists. In fact, there were buses parked for about a km before the entrance to the village. So super crowded but also super fun. Then we drove to another village, that one was quieter (a lot less tourists). At first, it is very strange, this mix of all things (at least it was to me), but it also feels healthy to celebrate loved ones like that. And this party lasted all night. I didn’t, sadly, but when I came back the next morning, some people were going home, others were coming for the day shift.

So a real experience. Not sure my pictures have done it justice, but it’s been a blast, and that’s the main thing! Now I am back in the US to continue (almost) where I left off – this next section, starting in Arizona, will mostly be about canyons and national parks. Maybe there will be snow! Whoop.