Gifts for the Day of the Dead

The Day of the Dead, that uniquely Mexican holiday which honors the dead and at the same time pokes fun of death, will be here in a couple of weeks.  I bought a couple of little presents to give to Alejandro's seven year old nephew.

I wrote that I was in a market a couple days ago and found a lot of Day of the Dead items already for sale in the stalls.  I purchased this little, clay jack o' lantern, handmade in Oaxaca.  It cost 20 pesos, just over one U.S. dollar.

I also bought one of the sugar skulls which are traditionally given to children.  I did not buy this in the market where these sweet confections are sitting in the open, exposed to any passing bee or fly.  Instead, I picked one up at the supermarket, where they are hygienically packaged in plastic.