54 September 2014
I grew up in south Texas just a few miles from the border with Mexico. The local
culture was saturated with rich Spanish and "TexMex" traditions. It was quite
common to have mariachis playing at wedding receptions, a Spanish polka band
playing at high school graduations, or to spend an evening dancing at a neighbor's
Quinceañera — a birthday celebration for 15 year old girls graduating into young
womanhood. As such, it's probably no surprise that where I grew up, right after
Halloween everyone would celebrate Dia de los Muertos or, the "Day of the Dead."
Even though officially Dia de los Muertos was supposed to be a day for friends and
family to remember those who had died, for most of us it was just an excuse to
wear our Halloween costumes for one more day and to throw a big party!
Trio de los Muertos
By Marvin Niebuhr and Vern Graner Post comments on this article and find any associated files and/or downloads at www.nutsvolts.com/index.php?/magazine/article/september2014_Niebuhr.
