So sorry everyone. I fell down on the job this week and didn’t get anything posted!! I had stuff in progress, but I was just very tired. I thought since it is November 1 and 2 while I am writing my blog post that I should post about Día de Los Muertos. Now mind you, I am not 100% Hispanic like Jesse is. My dad’s dad came from Mexico. So I am Hispanic, but I grew up in a Caucasian household with my Mom and her parents (not Mexican). Even though you could say I am more white than anything (not to mention I love my pumpkin spice latte), I still am happy to have my Latin blood. I also love learning about my ancestors and where we come from, and I love learning about different cultures. I learned a lot about are my Hispanic/Mexican and Scottish/Viking cultures. Now, I do have a lot more than that because I took a DNA test, and my DNA goes to South America, Native America/Mexico, a small part of Africa, and all across Europe, but the Mexican and Scottish heritages are the ones that stand out the most for me.
When I was in 1st-4th grade at the Montessori school I went to, the Spanish teacher taught us about Día de Los Muertos. She brought the sugar skulls and bread for us to try. We made decorations and learned about the celebration. Fast forward to more recent times. I hadn’t thought too much about it, but I still remembered everything I learned but then Coco came out. The vivid colors and music brought the story to life. After the movie came out, Jesse lost both his Grandmothers, and I lost my Grandmother. I had a hard time losing her because I would talk to her about everything. I began to appreciate the remembrance of her and my Grandpop. So I decided to celebrate Día de Los Muertos but in my own way. Now on November 1st or 2nd I go with my mom and brother to my grandparents’ grave. We clean the gravestone, leave flowers, and light candles. Here is where we change it a little. We don’t set up an ofrenda, and we don’t leave food for them. We do get bread, but we eat it ourselves at the gravesite while we talk about the memories we have of my grandparents. This year was extra special because it was the first time I took Gideon to visit their grave.
On another note, while I went to UTPB (University of Texas of the Permian Basin) for my Master’s, they had a Day of the Dead celebration where they put up ofrendas and had food. They also were making t-shirts with the sugar skulls on them (for free!!). The other part of the celebration was a poetry contest. There were two categories, poems in Spanish and poems in English/Spanglish. To gain inspiration, we could look up Calaverita Literaria, or “skull literature”. They are satirical or light-hearted poems that are typically written to talk about difficult topics. I decided to enter the competition, and I won first place in the English/Spanglish category. It was fun because we got to read our poem at the celebration, and I got a prize of a book from a Spanish author and a book to help with inspiration for writing more poems! So please enjoy my Calaverita Literaria!
Vida y Muerte de Una Flor by Margaret Chavez
La Flor, blossom and bloom,
Work your encanto to beat the gloom.
Though bringing joy to all, La Flor was sad.
For all its amigos, casas they had.
All alone with a droop and a sigh,
A lady muy bonita, ella bailó by.
La Flor, old and weary, stood alta once more
Señor de Vida gazed with amor.
He smiled as his Senora danced.
He picked La Flor, to give, he chanced.
Señor de Vida, handed her La Flor,
But poor La Flor, had strength no more.
Señor de Vida said, “A gift, mi amor.”
La Flor wilted and died, but una sonrisa, Senora wore.
“Gracias, mi amor. I am Senora de la Muerte.
Flor Chiquita, once more I give you fuerte.”
Upon her head una corona de flores rested.
La Flor, fuerte y orgullosa, knew it was blessed.
The poem is absolutely amazing!!! I had no idea UTPB did that!
Your post brought some tears to my eyes. Very moving both the story and poem.