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