Day of the Dead

We have found that in each culture there are different celebrations honoring certain people. In Costa Rica they had a big celebration to honor the farmers or their country. Here in Ecuador they have a celebration honoring the dead.

Every year on November 2nd as a result of the combination of Catholic and indigenous beliefs, the Day of the Dead takes place among families. They see it as a way to "catch up" with the ones who are no longer with us but have a life in a different world. People pack lunches of traditional food, flowers and offerings for the dead and head to the cemeteries where they spend the day as a family talking, eating, cleaning up the gravesite and speaking to the dead person. Ceremonial foods for this festivity include colada morada, a thick purple drink served hot made with raspberries, blueberries, cinnamon, pineapple and other fruits. To some this drink symbolizes blood showing the life of the ones that have moved on from this existence. The other traditional fare is the guagua de pan. This is a piece of bread shaped like a person. They decorate the bread with icing and it often has a filling of guava paste, chocolate or cream cheese inside.

Although the tradition of visiting the cemeteries has declined in the urban areas, it is still very common to see the bread and morada sold here in the stores for celebrations in homes around the city. Last Tuesday at our national women's Bible study I took my neighbor, Adrianna, to celebrate the holiday together at the home of one of the ladies from the study. She made the colada morada from scratch and we had two types of guagua to eat. The drink made fresh is wonderful. I tried to make it at home with a mix...not so great, but fresh, fantastic! The bread is a little sweet and really good with the guava filling.

The children at school even enjoy this tradition as all 3 of our kids had parties in their respective classrooms. Cade's daycare combined Halloween and Day of the Dead with having the children decorate their own bread and having them wear costumes and hunt for candy. I was told that Halloween in not permitted here in Ecuador as the current president does not desire for any foreign holidays to be a part of Ecuadorian culture. I don't believe the people necessarily care about that because plenty of moms, dads, and kids were enjoying their little version of trick or treat at the party.

One interesting fact is there are 3 national holidays over this same weekend. For the celebration on November 1st, All Saints Day, they have colorful parades and festivities in the southern provinces of the Sierra honoring their favorite Catholic saints. The 3rd of November marks the Independence of the province of Cuenca, so it is a 4 day holiday weekend for us.