Day of the Dead

Many people are aware that the Catholic church's marking of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day on the first two days of November melded with traditional indigenous beliefs in the Americas to produce the Day of the Dead holiday. The best known of these celebrations within the US is the Mexican version, with its festive dancing skeletons and sugar skulls

Less well known in these parts is the Guatemalan kite flying festival, meant to connect the living with the spitits of the dead, held most notably in Santiago Sacatepequez, a town in the Sacatepequez district near popular tourist destination Antigua. I've been in the area a few times but never during the fest, thus I direct you to this site to see some cool photos of the event. Guatemalans also eat a dish called fiambre this day, which is only eaten today. I suppose this high overhead/low return policy of serving the dish once/year is why we never see fiambre restaurants...

I have been to Mexico shortly before the Day of the Dead celebration, which appears to be mixing in aspects of traditional American Halloween, and can therefore share these photos of awesome pastry and icing creations I took in Mexico City a few years ago. Enjoy.