Dia de Muertos in Mexico (LIFE CHANGING)

Welcome to Dia de Muertos! Buenos dias! Good morning Country Collectors. We are so excited because we are back in one of our favorite cities in all of Mexico, OAXACA! Our excitement extends beyond our love for this beautiful city because it is Dia de Muertos, day of the dead! During these sacred days it's believed that the veil between the afterlife and ours is at its thinnest. So your deceased relatives can actually come back and enjoy the celebration of life with you. Most Mexicans believe that these days are the most important out of the year so before we join in the festivities we're going to take a tour to learn about the significance of this tradition, so we can better appreciate it. Let's get started! The main focus of today's tour is the ofrenda or altar. The ofrenda is the backbone of this tradition and it's what connects the spirit world with ours here on earth. Throughout the day we are going to learn about its significance as well as collect some of the components to build our own altar. We are starting at the cut flower farm where we are going to collect some flowers for the altar. The ofrendas are where the living leave offerings for the spirit such as their favorite foods and presents it is here where the spirits enter the living world but there must be items that tickle their senses and draw them home hence the importance of these aromatic flowers. Cresta de Gallo I picked out some beautiful yellows, pinks some really rich dark pinks. I think these are going to bring the spirits to our ofrenda later. We are now heading to a local market to learn some more and collect some more components for our altar. Come with us! All altars have to have the four elements on them earth, wind, water, and fire. That's where the candles come from that papel picado, those are to show the wind to the spirits. The water is there or the mezcal. The mezcal serves two purposes it's not only something that your spirit that's visiting might like to drink but it also is very aromatic and will help to draw them. They also have dirt. Which is what's going to be at the base of all these, whether it's sand or actual dirt. The market is a little bit crazy today it's normally on a Friday but because of the holiday it's actually been rescheduled to Sunday. There are so many people here and they're all picking up their last minute pieces for their ofrendas. another main component of the ofrenda is pan de muerto. There are a lot of different vendors selling it around here. So we got a little bag of it to put on our altar later. Just like the flowers we showed you earlier the anis that they bake into the bread has such a strong aroma that it actually draws the dead to the ofrendas in your home. They have all different styles of the pan de muerto. This is a cuerpo or it's in the shape of a body. It has a head the arms are crossed right here and you can actually see the bones in the legs. I'm just so impressed with this I feel like everything we've done today has just blown my mind a little bit more! So we're getting our order. We're getting cacao, cinnamon, a little bit of almond and a little bit of sugar. They're actually milling our mixture right now! This is so cool the smell of chocolate in here is making my mouth water it smells delicious! On this stop we picked up these marigolds there are four kinds but this is the most traditional one. This wonderful lady just showed me this copal which is the incense. This is something that they put on the ofrendas as well because of the smell. It brings the spirit in! And we just picked up the last thing we needed to complete our ofrenda which is jicama! We are about to head to a traditional kitchen where we're gonna have some homemade tamales that were made just for us. I hope you're hungry let's go! They offered us this space for us today so we share like a little bit more local. And she has been prepared tamales for us so we'll be able to take the tamale just from the just from the pot. But before we get to try that we are walking up the street here to cut some more flowers for our ofrenda. We are going to have a lesson in how to cut these flowers. You're going with both? Man, choices choices choices! (pirate voice) Yar need to cut some flowers? You want to take it down by the base of the stem here. Take this and cut it on a not towards you! Then you want to hold it upside down! You do not want to cut it like Adam did. Which he cut it towards him. Cut it like me, don't cut it like me do whatever you want. I'm more of an expert with the machete! okay! Watch this, ready? Okay that was easier and safer. (laughter) Or pull it out of the ground! Cool! These guys are awesome! Yeah are you ready to go make our altar? I am ready to go make our altar and maybe have some tamales! Yeah sounds good! Let's go! Al that flower cutting worked up quite the appetite so we are going to eat some tamales because they are ready now and then we are going to build our ofrenda. And the tamales will differ according to the region where you live because we are in Oaxaca and mole is so popular and prevalent here that is what they use to put inside the tamales here. These are the three different moles that we are having today. We have amarillo, coloradito and negro. oh so good! It's a tradition for Dia de Muertos to make tamales with your family. It's enjoyed by everyone. When you open them it's a big surprise when we were at the market today people were buying all the ingredients for this. They say that for the Day of the Dead things need to be prepared slowly. You cannot rush anything. So even though at the market it was very busy the people were picking up ingredients they could go home and take the time that is required to make them properly with the tradition and enjoy them together. I feel like it's Christmas morning! Yeah! Unwrapping my. Sorprendo! Ooo it's a coloradito! Oh, they're so nice and thin. Sometimes we get those really thick ones. That looks so delicious! When they prepare these traditionally in the banana leaf it is so moist and honestly I know I say this all the time but this is the best tamal I have ever had! Gracias Tia! It has a little bit of chicken and that red mole! Yum! We're now making tortillas with mole and oaxaca cheese melted in there. I'm really looking forward to this! Behind us you can see they're making the tortillas on a comal. This is a traditional kitchen here in Mexico. And right underneath you can see where the fire is. What are you doing? I'm going to make a handmade tortilla. Take a little bit of this push it down here. I learned from the expert, there we go! Good job! Thank you I went to school for this! Make it into a ball. And make it into a nice little mini tortilla. It goes right down there in the press. We're going to use some leverage. Oh yeah I knew this weight was good for something! Oh it's too thin. Oh no no. Es muy delgado. Oh muy muy delgado. Louis delgado - I went to school with a kid named that. I have to go back to school. I'm still learning this is my first tortilla people! Give me a break! She's cleaning up the mess! Ahora No muy, no mucho! No mucho! Just gentle. Okay, okay just poquito! one more, uno mas meno meno! Just a little bit. Alright, let's flip her. And then do a quick like she did! Ooooo! Despacio! (Cheering) Good job! I'm gonna go with some yellow mole, amarillo. Some red mole, coloradito! Y negro! Wow! (She is telling us that the word in her native language, Zapotec is giit) Ooo that does look delicious! Adam is a happy man today! Wow I am a really good chef apparently! It is time to build our ofrenda, the altar. She told us don't forget you need the four elements. So we need to put water, wind, earth and fire into it. Isn't that the name of a band? Yeah! And she just said go crazy use your imagination, so come along as we have some fun! Remember this is the gateway that your ancestors are gonna be coming back to see you. So this is extremely important. What you put on this is what they're gonna be welcomed by. Our guide was just telling us that you actually make sure your house is clean because what if your mother comes back to visit you and your house is dirty? She's going to be like you didn't care that I was coming to visit you? Or your mother-in-law! Or your mother-in-law don't tell anybody! So this is actually a very important part of this entire ceremony that we're doing today and I'm really excited to build this. And we feel so grateful and blessed to be here. Gracias tia! This little arch right here actually represents the gateway that they're gonna pass through when they come through the veil from the afterlife to our world. I love it everyone's getting really into this and so far it looks amazing. They built a little road with the candles so the spirits can come down that as well as like the the orange carpet like the red carpet to come in and we are just now going to put some of the offerings that we got in the market on here as well. So we're laying down these beautiful flower petals that we cut from before so that when our ancestors come and they cross through the veil and over the altar they can actually make their way out into the world so they walk right down here. It's the flowers that guide them. We have pretty much placed everything on the ofrenda. They are just lighting some of the candles right now. It looks really special! We just finished our altar and honestly it is beautiful. They said that this is one of the nicest first-time altars they've ever seen. The incense it's one of the most important things but also the whole setup. I mean to have dry fruit, bread, the flowers the colors the candles the paper remember we need all of this so it's an announcement. And we do it in the housing because it's where the memories are. This has definitely been one of the most touching and significant moments we have had here in Mexico so far. It's just such a beautiful tradition to be part of and to understand it. We always say that understanding the culture that you're experiencing makes it so much better and right now just doing this, hearing what all of these pieces were. Going to that market, eating traditional foods. It really hits home. Absolutely! So tomorrow and the next day when we go out in the city to celebrate and take part in those parades we will actually understand the meaning behind this. Thank you so much for coming along on the journey! We're so happy to have you! We hope you enjoyed learning all about the significance of the ofrenda. Now that we have this deeper understanding we are going to hit the streets of Oaxaca and see how they are celebrating today. Make sure to stay tuned to later when we're going to be heading outside of the city to a small village that is known for its wild celebrations! Alright let's get started! Wow Oaxaca is so lively already it's only mid-morning and there are people everywhere! Just down here on my right I can see Santo Domingo the main church in town and there are decorations everywhere! Let's go check it out! The Day of the Dead is observed on November 2nd but it's important to remember that the festivities normally start October 28th with each day being dedicated to a different form of death. Last night at midnight marked the start of Dia de los Angelitos which is dedicated to the children who have passed away and have come back today to spend the day with their beloved families. There is so much to learn about this beautifully spiritual tradition and we're so glad to share it with you! It's so lively down here. Everyone's just out dressed up. They've got their marigold headbands on. A few people have face paint, it's really nice! Right now we are on the main pedestrian street Alcala and it is just so beautiful. There are flowers strung down the entire length of the road. There are skeletons everywhere! People are just chatting, taking photos. I am loving this and I hope you are too! Right behind me you can see the papel picado it's actually not papel because that means paper. It is plastic because we are outside and if it rained it would get ruined. But this is one of my favorite things about celebrations in all of Mexico. The bright colors and how it just flows in the wind, it is so pretty! One of the main things we've noticed today walking around the city is the difference in celebrations between here and Ocotlan where we were yesterday. Here in Oaxaca City it has a lot more of a Halloweeny-ish kind of feel and don't mistake this as Mexican halloween because it is not. But there are a lot more costumes, there's face painting, there's so much more partying going on. People in the streets. Whereas we were it was a lot more religious. I think both ways are cool. I think when you come to a city because there's so many people and so many different beliefs that things sort of evolve and get mashed together so it's different it's still beautiful. You should definitely check out both if you get the chance. The first time we came to Oaxaca I noticed an overwhelmingly amount of street art that was depicting the femicide that goes on in this region. It's okay. It's something that you're passionate about. And something that people should know about. Yeah I'm getting really choked up. Yeah because this this is an altar to the women that have been murdered solely because they were female. It's so unjust and it's not talked about enough and we need to do more to try to stop this issue and this problem. And behind me it's stating that this is a pandemic that isn't talked about so this is kind of like the voice for those women and this alter is here to celebrate their lives because they were obviously taken way too early and to and to give a voice for them and show us that we need to do more to help this issue. We just made it down to the zocalo. Normally there would be vendors here selling balloons, toys, candy, food. I'm not really sure why they're not here. There might be some sort of internal issue that we can't even begin to comprehend. So let's just go take a walk around and see what we can find! As you can see this is a beautiful place to come down and buy some souvenirs buy a nice shirt for yourself for the celebrations. And check out this guy selling these headbands! They are made of those traditional flowers we showed you yesterday that we put in our ofrenda. I'm gonna get one, they are 80 pesos or four dollars - and they're all natural! Which one? This one or this one? What do you think? I think it's beautiful! Yeah! As you're walking around the city you will notice a lot of people getting their faces painted. We need to be very sensitive with cultural appropriation so we asked our friends who are locals here what they thought about it if it was okay for foreigners to get their faces painted and overwhelmingly they said yes and they couldn't wait to see how they turned out. So when you come here just know that little bit of information that it is okay to get your faces painted because they want you to enjoy and celebrate in their tradition as much as you can. Now that we've checked out el centro we are going to go to our favorite barrios here in Oaxaca city! We are going to start first in Jalatlaco, come with us! And one of the best things of this entire weekend is.... Chelsea! Hey everybody! This is our friend Chelsea we have known her for over 10 years and she just happened to be in Oaxaca at the same time! So we are gonna go out and explore the city with her! First bug of the day! HUG BUG! Behind me here is our favorite neighborhood the barrio Jalatlaco. And I cannot wait to show you around! There is so much beautiful art here. It just has this whole other vibe that the city has. It's going to be great! And when you're walking around the barrios make sure to pop in the restaurants and shops because a lot of them have set up their own ofrendas and they are also unique and beautiful. As you can see behind me here they have very colorful skeletons and flowers and it's actually a nod to death. It's saying we're not afraid of you, we understand that you're part of our lives and that's why this is such a significant holiday Hug Bug! whoa You don't want to get on his bad side! When you come to Oaxaca you definitely have to make a trip over to Jalatlaco. It is so beautiful as you can see but right now we are gonna head over to Xochimilco to see more! Beautiful Chelsea is gonna head back to her place but don't you worry because we are going to see her later when we take that trip to the village tonight for the big celebration! See you guys later! If you are enjoying the festivities and the celebration make sure to give this video a big thumbs up. Right now we are heading to Xochimilco which in my opinion is the most charming of barrios here in Oaxaca and I cannot wait to see what they have set up for the Day of the Dead! Come with us! One of the most significant landmarks of Xochimilco is the aqueduct that runs all the way down into the heart of the barrio. So when you see it just follow it all the way, and you'll be there! Let's go! Welcome to the heart of Xochimilco! Is that a tuba? Yeah I think so! I hear a tuba too! It's a tuba, I see the tuba! And it looks like the celebrations are going off here! Oh yeah they're having a party up here! This is cool! What are they doing? Looks like they're about to put on - oh sorry I didn't know you guys were here! It looks like they're about to put on some sort of a traditional show. Maybe we should check it out? Yeah absolutely! How lucky are we to be in the right place at the right time? We just caught the beginning of this comparsa which has a lot of meaning and significance to the celebration of life. Let's go check it out! So you can join one when you see one and just take a tour and celebrate! Don't just join it dance with it live it love it! They're even giving out mezcal! Look at this guy behind me! I love it! The bands here! I don't know where we're going but let's go! We have ended up here at somebody's home. It looks like there's an altar right in front of us. We're not really sure what's going on but we're so happy we found this and get to be a part of it! What a stroke of luck. I mean this is incredible! I think this is what the holiday is really all about when you're celebrating with people out and yeah I'm loving it i hope you're having as good of a time as we are! You see it is a celebration, it's a celebration of life! And I'm tearing up. It really is so beautiful. I understand why Heidi is getting choked up because I feel the same way. And they just started throwing candy down. It's raining candy! And I'm pretty sure the children went inside to dance because like I said today is the children's day this is when the children come back from the afterlife to visit their beloved families. I don't even think that words are enough to really get this experience across to you the candy's raining down the kids are dancing the music's playing everyone is happy and celebrating and I hope that you're having as an incredible experience as we are. Well I'm so glad we got to take part in that but now we have to go explore more of Xochimilco! Heidi please don't talk to death, you don't know where he's been. I like him we danced together earlier. Much of the art here that depicts the Day of the Dead has hummingbirds or butterflies in it. The Aztecs believed that this was your actual ancestor spirit that was returning to your home. Behind me here this is a tapete de arena it is made from sand. We learned yesterday that after you pass away one of these is made at your home and it is sort of like a carpet (rug) made out of sand or other materials. I don't know the exact meaning behind it but I know it is absolutely beautiful. I just heard that the barrio the neighborhood has a competition going on to see who decorated the front of the house the best. So we're gonna have to go check them all out and judge them ourselves. This one looks really nice. What's really awesome is this is a metal workshop so all of these decorations are made from metal. This is a good place for a selfie. Oh! Yeah! Get in between them Adam. You got to get in between them there's even a seat. Ahh. There you go. Stay! What's really beautiful about this tradition is that the Mexicans love to share the culture with you as well so people like this have actually opened their home so you can come in and see the ofrendas that they built for their ancestors. Let's go check it out. This is a really beautiful one. You can see the flowers, the dead bread. They have cigarettes and candles for the fire. It's just stunning. The papel picado is cut behind it right there. What a beautiful arch this gateway from the spirit world to the living world. It looks like it's from multiple members of their family. And at the top is the cross. Isn't is just such a beautiful tradition that they have passed on from generation to generation? Something that started with the indigenous who believed that there was an afterlife and then blended with Christianity, so that religious part of it. All saints and All souls day. And man it it's just, it's it's humbling it's transformative. I've just learned so much throughout this entire process that I'm gonna take on with me throughout my life's journey. We just showed you that beautiful ofrenda and we are so grateful to that family that invited us in to see that. But behind us this group of rowdy people came in they were obviously drunk belligerent acting very disrespectful in front of the altar. Be grateful that the Mexicans have been so open and willing to share this incredible tradition with us. Don't get drunk and disrespect them. That's horrible. It's a really bad look. So yeah please be respectful. Xochimilco has definitely been the most lively barrio we have been to so far. The art is amazing, all of the decorations are so beautiful. They have a lot of beautiful restaurants you can check out as well. It's probably our favorite place to come for breakfast at a.m siempre cafe as well as dinner at Ancestral! Oh it looks like someone's been having some fun! You know me and the boys are just having some drinks. I think we're going to go out tonight. You better be home by midnight or you're dead! We're so glad we got to show you around our two favorite barrios here. And how lucky were we to join in that parade? I mean we had no idea! So many things have been cancelled due to Covid so just the fact that we walked in five minutes before that happened and got to be part of it right in the front row! Impressive! That was incredible. I feel so fortunate and I'm so glad that you got to come along with us today and experience that! Right now we are going to head back change and then head to the meeting point of our tour. As I said earlier we are heading about 30 minutes north to a village I believe called Etla. They're supposed to have a wild fiesta for Dia de Muertos and we are so excited so come with us! Come on yo ol' bag of bones! Heyyy! I already got the bald part going for me! You're one step there. Hey! (laughing) We just picked up Chelsea and we are heading down to the square. The energy is palpable and I can't wait to go to a more local place and experience what they have to offer. I hope you're ready for some fun. We have just arrived at the first stop. We are in the town of Etla and it was about a 20-30 minute drive from Oaxaca. We are going into a local family's home and gonna have some dinner and some traditional beverages. Um, just so you know it's juice with mezcal and they call it Jugo Magical, the magical juice. Sounds so good. It does sound so good. All right let's check it out! Oh dogs are included in the tour. Look at this cuties! Oh I know you're so excited! We have already tried the maracuja one and it is so delicious. We have moved on to the pecan. Or Nuez. Pecan. PECAN (with funny accent) Its Pecan! I'm already feeling it! Is she? (Laughing) And I didn't even know but we're getting our faces painted here as well. This is pretty awesome! Yeah you look great I think it's my turn! This really makes me feel like I'm part of this. My little angel Heidi back here is getting her face done right now and she looks great! So this is my first look at myself. Ooooooo! It looks so good! I asked her if she could do it a little more feminine. Adam's was really dark and a little scary. It looks so good! Muchas Gracias! Yay! Now it's time to party! Have you ever seen suicide squad? Yeah. I feel like that guy. The guy who breathes fire! HHHHHH! (Laughing) We love this! Thanks so much for coming along! Now we are enjoying a delicious traditional meal. We have a bunch of tostadas and empanadas and a lot more mezcal. It's the espadin and it is delicious! Watch the makeup! How's my makeup? (Laughing) Okay we're good. I'm calling the party to start, the spirits. I'm getting my mojo going! Go Chelsea! Wooooooo! (Laughing) What a special evening we have already had. Muchas gracias Samuell y Sandra. The food was great, the mascara was even better and I love this face paint. I think I might start doing this every day. Please don't....(Laughing) We are now gonna head to another village for some more festivities. I can't wait! I hope you're ready. Come along! We have just entered Santiago Suchilquitongo. I believe is the name. And we have to cross a river to get into this. So the entire van is crossing the river right now (Laughing) Yeah, we're good. Oh there's a lot of cars here and we're starting to hear the music! It's gonna be a lot of fun. Ahhhhh, I don't even know what to say! This seems crazy! Yeah there's a lot going on! Oh look at this costume! That's hilarious! WOW this is crazy! (SCREAMING and loud marching band music) WOW! The energy is...you can see it. You can feel it . Yeah it's something else. It seems like they're having a battle right now! IT IS INSANE! AND I LOVE IT! So that was just battle number one. We're moving on to battle number two right now. Let's see how it goes! Absolutely incredible. Didn't even imagine this was what we were coming to partake in. It's very cool it's definitely one of the most culturally significant things i've ever been a part of. We have followed the parade to somebody's house. I have never been to a party like this ever! EVER! As is true everywhere we followed the band so they could get paid. Are we groupies? I think we might be groupies at this point. We are sitting in someone's yard. They just put on a complete performance and the family is now paying them for the honor of having all these people in the band here to celebrate with them. This is such an awesome experience we're so glad that you came with us. We've said it so many times throughout this entire video every different aspect from making our own ofrenda, learning about the significance of this holiday, seeing the decorations, experiencing the food. The two families that took us in to share this very sacred holiday with us. Talking, yeah talking to people about what it means to them and having them tell us how special it is to share it with us. They love sharing their traditions and it's it's it's so special and it's definitely become one of our favorite countries, if not our favorite country as you can tell. I mean we have been all over the world. Its because of the people. And the people here have made us feel more welcome than any other place we've ever been. It's just been so wonderful and so beautiful. Muchas gracias Mexico. Muchas muchas gracias. So if you enjoyed this video definitely give us a big thumbs up. You're not only giving us a thumbs up but todo Mexico. All of the los gentes. All of the people. And write us a comment. Let us know what Dia De Muertos means to you. How this maybe changed your view of death. You know anything that, anything that you felt. Just let us know. And of course subscribe and don't forget to... Dling, dling, dling, dling the bell 🔔 ! We'll see you, next time. Adios!