Halloween, Mexican Style

Erin and I went to Mexico City the weekend before Halloween for a costume party being thrown by some other Fulbrighters. The three girls have a big apartment in a nice part of the city, and they told us we could spend the night with them and go back to Cuernavaca the next day (it’s only about an hour bus ride). We took advantage of the day by going to the Frida Kahlo museum (very cool), and going to the Zocalo. Of course we went to the Zocalo on the one day the Palacio Nacional was closed (there were “events” going on in the square, so they closed it off!) so we didn’t get to see all the famous murals by Diego Rivera and company. We also had the good fortune of seeing the Mexico City Metro in action. It only costs 2 pesos to ride (less than 20 cents), and it goes pretty much anywhere you’d want to go. But there were so many people on it, and when you stop at a station people literally shove you out the door. We found the people in Mexico City to be in more of a hurry than down south in the ‘burbs. We didn’t like it. But when we asked for directions they were just as friendly and helpful as the people in Cuernavaca, only they have a different accent, so that was fun.

The Halloween party went great. The girls decorated the whole place and we had tons of food and drinks. Erin dressed up as an 80s rock star, and I was a girl at a slumber party, slippers, pig tail braids, stuffed animal, and all. There were a few Fulbrighters that showed up, but most of the guests were the hosts’ coworkers, so we didn’t really know very many people. We still had a good time though. The costumes were really cute.

The other exciting part of the weekend was seeing Sara, my friend who I met studying abroad in Spain. She was in Mexico City for the weekend for a wedding, and we luckily got to meet up for lunch on Sunday. It was great to see her, and kind of crazy to see how paths cross.

November 2 is Day of the Dead in Mexico, honoring the family members who have died. The best celebrations are in the state of Michoacan, so Erin and I trekked out there to have a look. We went to Patzcuaro, which is a cute, old town near a lake. Supposedly there is a ceremony every year where they row out to an island in the lake with candles on the canoes. We heard that it was breathtaking, and we were really looking forward to it. But when we got there we found out that there was no such ceremony, I guess they don’t do it anymore, I’m really not sure. We went to the island at night and all we found were a bunch of drunk Mexicans. Not our idea of fun. We went back to the hotel and the women who work there told us that there were better places to go, so they took us to a cemetery in a nearby town. The biggest celebrations are in the people’s homes where they make “ofrendas”, which are kind of like altars to their deceased relatives, and in the cemeteries where they decorate the graves with flowers, candles, and food, and hold all-night vigils. The cemetery we went to was really impressive. It wasn’t very big, but it was beautifully decorated, and we were glad we went. Unfortunately it wasn’t the experience we were hoping for, but at least we got to see some ofrendas.

We went to Morelia, the capital of Michoacan, before returning to Cuernavaca. There were also a lot of exhibits and events going on there, so we spent the day roaming around the city, and had a delicious meal of traditional “comida michoacana.” Because the only accommodations we could find in Patzcuaro were way out of our price range (but we stayed there anyway), we decided to save a little and stay in a crappy little hostel in Morelia. It wasn’t dirty except that the first room we stayed in had a leak in the sink, but the next room was fine. But there were no seats on the toilet, no shower curtain, no door on the bathroom, and pillows that felt like old cotton balls. They also only gave us one towel for the two of us. When I asked for another one, the reply I got was, it’s only one towel per room. But there were two beds!! Oh well. Erin and I got back to the hostel at 11, got up at 6 and went straight to the bus station. Not something I’d like to do for more than one night, but in the interest of money, it wasn’t that bad.

It was a Friday when we got back to Cuernavaca, and we decided we wanted to spend the entire weekend at home because we had been traveling too much. So we bought some food, did our laundry, and rented some movies, and then just sat at home. We sun bathed a little bit in our yard (it was 85 degrees in the shade), cooked some good meals, watched a bunch of movies, and talked to our boyfriends online. Not a bad way to spend two days at all I think. We needed to recover a bit.