La Sirena: Dia de los Muertos 2012 Un Paseo por la ciudad

Took a multi-taxi to town

where I found a few tucked away markets

with eager vendors and the Day of the Dead
or Dia De Los Muertos decor galore!

Exploration and adventure, was to my delight around every corner!

Dia de los Muertos is a national holiday so the market was full of leisurely shoppers. Families picking out items to take to the cemetery for decorating the tombs of loved ones past. Marigolds or Cempasuchils, are laid out and in small villages a pathway will lead from the cemetery to the altar in their homes, so the dead can smell their way back home to the physical plane. Pan de muerto, a special bread made for the occasion, along with water and salt to nourish and purify along the journey, favorites of the deceased will be added as well, possibly a favorite spirit of the material world such as tequila or the popular Mexican Buchanan's Whiskey. A photograph, favorite toy for children, sugar skulls or calaveras, personal belongings, candles and incense. This celebration of the dead has roots that reach as far back as the Aztecs and is seeped in Catholicism as well. On October 31, All Hallows Eve, the children make a children's altar to invite the angelitos (spirits of dead children) to come back for a visit. November 1st, considered All Saints Day in Mexico is known as "Día de los Inocentes" (Day of the Innocents), it honours children and infants passed. November 2, the adult spirits will come to visit. November 2 is All Souls Day, Dia De Los Muertos, when families go to the cemetery to decorate the

graves and tombs of their relatives. This three day celebration is a time for families and friends to share stories, traditional foods, and camaraderie with one another and their ancestors.

Calaveras de Azucar~Sugar Skulls

La Ultima Cerveza~The Last Beer

Many of the vendors at the mercado

had ofrendas or offerings for their loved ones

but the biggest alter I've ever seen was set up

in the middle of the market...

I just love the colors of Mexico

a feast for my eyes!

So after the hustle of the market

its time for a coffee at Caffe Sospeso

The evolution of coffee has hit Tijuana!

Now I as well as the sun setting in the sky were ready to explore the cemetery and it was getting busy. The afternoon light reflected off the marble, the angels seemed to be smiling.

Families making their way to the graves of

their ancestors, with buckets in hand to clean the head stones

with all the makings of their ofrendas.

The roving mariachi's were playing sad songs of days gone by. Children rolled around in the grass and the spirits

were rejoicing I'm sure!