Just because I am busy unpacking and organizing my apartment does not mean that I am not going to decorate my place for my first Day of the Dead as a resident of Mexico City!
I pulled out the decorations that I had purchased in previous years. I taped a cardboard picture of several "catrinas" to the window, and some "papel picado" (cut paper) skulls on the door.
I set up an "ofrenda" honoring friends and relatives who have passed away on the credenza in the guest bedroom.
Just down the street from the apartment there is a fellow who is always parked along the street selling house plants from the back of his van. This time of year, he has potted marigolds, an essential element of the "ofrenda". (The pungent aroma of the marigolds is thought to guide the souls of the dead to the altar.) As Alejandro and I were walking back to the apartment late at night after eating at a nearby taco joint, the guy was still there selling plants, so we bought a marigold from him.
Some of the electronic candles need new batteries, so we will have to buy batteries before the Day of the Dead.
I will have to put salt in one of the bowls (for the purification of the souls) and water in the small clay pitcher (to quench their thirst). I will also buy "pan de muerto" (Bread of the Dead) and some fruit and nuts to set out in front of the altar.
Last year, I bought a terra cotta jack-o-lantern made in Mexico. I set it out in the living room.
Alejandro asked me why I didn't put it with the "ofrenda", and I said that I am not going to mix the two the distinct holidays of Halloween and Day of the Dead together.
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