A Neighborhood Effort

This year the Paseo de la Reforma was festively decorated for Day of the Dead.  But for a number of years one street in a less than elegant neighborhood has been decorating to the hilt.  In the southern district of Tlahuac, the residents of Francisco Santiago Borraz Street join together to create a Day of the Dead extravaganza.

Alejandro and I have gone there the past two years.  Last Sunday, the Day of the Dead, around noon, Alejandro said, "We didn't go to Tlahuac this year."  However he didn't feel like battling the traffic to drive there.  I said that I thought that we could take Line 12 of the Metro to the end of the line, and that the street would be within easy walking distance.  So, on the spur of the moment, we decided to go to Tlahuac.  We hopped on the Metrobus heading down Insurgentes Avenue, and got on Line 12.  Fortunately, the subway was not crowded, and we traveled the fifteen miles comfortably.  From the end of the line we walked less than ten minutes when we saw spotted the decorations at the entrance to the street.

At the entrance to Francisco Santiago Borraz Street

Some of the families have set up elaborate "ofrendas" on the sidewalk.

Sadly, this "ofrenda" is in memory of a relative who passed away at the age of only 27.

I'm posing with a papier mache skull on my head.

Alejandro chatting with a skeleton.

This skeleton enjoys bowling, while his friend prefers to sit and drink.

'Til death do us part.

There were a number of drunken skeletons.

This one passed out right in the middle of the street, and his wife obviously does not approve.

An artist did this chalk drawing on the street.  If you stand in the right spot, it looks 3-dimensional, as if the statue is really emerging out of the pavement.

The last two years that we visited this street we had a conversation with a very nice lady who lives here.  I believe that she and her family are instrumental in the organization of this annual event.  When she saw us coming down the street, she recognized us and greeted us.  It was the last day of the display, and she said that she was wondering if we were going to show up this year.  She invited us into her home to see their "ofrenda".

The altar is laden with the favorite foods and beverages of departed loved ones.

Outside their house was a large skull.  The family was asking people to sign it and tell where they were from.  The majority were from Mexico City and other parts of Mexico.  However there were people from Austria, Greece, England and Italy.

I was the only one from the United States.

"I am William.

I am from Mexico City,

previously from Ohio"

I guess they will be expecting us to return each year to Tlahuac.