I arrive in Guatemala on The Day the Dead, November 1st. I’m curious about this holiday, so I go to the cemetery to what’s happening. What I find is quite interesting.
atmosphere is like a party. There are people everywhere. are sitting around the graves of their dead ancestors. clean the graves and add fresh flowers. I walk through the cemetery and admire the beauty all the colorful flowers.
There is also color the sky, because many kids are flying kites. Some families are having picnic next to the graves. They eat, drink, and chat together. laugh and smile.
In the Unites States, cemeteries are always somber. certainly never have festivals or parties next to graves. We don’t laugh play music or fly kites in cemeteries either.
I find that I prefer Guatemalan approach. I like the way they remember and celebrate who have passed away. I like that they acknowledge death, instead of denying it the way do. I like that there is life, as well as death, in their cemeteries.
Guatemalans it “The Day of the Dead”, but it is a day to appreciate life.