Day of the Dead Weekend

This past Thursday was the Day of the Dead and like I think I mentioned in one of my last blogs, it´s a traditional holiday that honors the dead. We had a day off so we went to the northern tip of our state to a small town called Huejutla. There they really celebrate the holidayand we visited a cementery that was quite a site. People were pouring in, hands full of food and flowers, firecrackers were going off spontaneously and bands were playing. The gravestones we saw were covered in bright purple and orange flower petals and often a cross made of orange flower petals were laid out in front of the stone. Cups of soda, tamales, and the favorite foods of the deceased were laid on their gravestones for them to enjoy. The families kind of camp out at the gravestones and I really think its a beautiful tradition; I think they probably take comfort in the thought that when they pass on their families will honor them in the same way each year. The interesting thing about Huejutla is that there they do a very interesting dance. We saw some people doing it in the cementery and werent quite sure what to think. Men dress up like women and wear masks and do this stomping dance to the music of a guitar and violin. Its pretty strange. Im not sure the name of it, Id have to google it. It was a sight to see. We also got to see an international dance show in the main plaza that night of groups from Peru, Colombia, Mexico, and Costa Rica. My favorite was Peru. It was pretty cool. Except for the fact that it lasted over three hours and we had already sat in a bus for five. Let me tell you getting to Huejutla was no piece of cake. Looking at a map you´d say theres no way it could take 5 hours from Pachuca. But thats because its 5 hours of a narrow winding mountain road with wicked turns that force you to go 15 miles per hour the whole way. The cliff down the one side would have made my mom pass out sometimes. We found out later that many people never go that route because its so dangerous. Well we survived. And it was pretty cool to see the terrain change. We started with canyons of cacti, to a temperate region that was like a more mountainous Pennsylvania, to thick jungle that made us sweat the whole time we were in Huejutla. We actually missed chilly Pachuca.
We came back Saturday night so Sunday we decided to visit the pyramids of Teotihuacan that are a must see in Mexico and only an hour from Pachuca. They are super impressive and we hiked all the way to the top of the highest one. it was a real trek, its super steep at times, and really windy up top. Not much is known at all about the people who built them or what happened to them. The layout of the city is still intact though, it was cool to imagine it all. The adventure however happened before i even got to hike the pyramids. As soon I had gotten off the bus I went to pay for the ticket to enter the pyramids and realized I didnt have my wallet. I freaked out for a second and then asked the police man at the gate what I should do. He said my best option was to chase the bus in a taxi! So I grabbed a taxi, we cut corners, belive it or not, caught the bus, got on, and they had my wallet!!!! Unbelievable, and I was never so happy to see it. I had left it in the seat on the bus instead of putting it in my purse. My excuse is that my hands were full because I had just bought a paste before getting on the bus. Still a dumb move. But now a good story!
hasta la proxima vez....